UB's KeyBank Dance Series to Present "Savion Glover: Improvography 2005 Tour"

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo will present "Savion Glover: Improvography 2005" at 8 p.m. on April 22 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus. A pre-performance talk will be held at 7 p.m. The performance is sponsored by KeyBank. Media sponsors are WJYE-FM and WGRZ-TV.

Tony Award-winner Savion Glover continues an eight-week multi-city tour of brilliant improvisation and heart stopping choreography that will meld breathtaking tap with the sounds of jazz, hip-hop, R&B, neo-soul, rock and funk. Accompanied by his band, Glover will electrify the stage in an exhilarating new series of rhythmic performances.

The tap impresario will perform various improvised musical numbers with his four-piece jazz band, as well as selections from his hit show "Improvography," which will be performed with members of his dance troupe Ti Dii. "Improvography" made its debut in December 2003 for an unprecedented sold-out three-week run at New York's Joyce Theater.

Glover is the 1996 Tony Award-winner for his choreography in the Broadway smash hit "Bring In 'Da Noise, Bring In 'Da Funk." Glover also won the 1996 Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award for choreography, two Obie Awards and two Fred Astaire Awards for his performance, as well as the 1996 Dance Magazine Choreographer of the Year Award. He made his Broadway debut, at age 12, starring in "The Tap Dance Kid." Additional Broadway credits include "Black and Blue" and "Jelly's Last Jam," co-starring with Gregory Hines. Glover made his film debut at age 13 in "Tap" with Hines and Sammy Davis, Jr. On TV, he was a series regular on "Sesame Street" for five seasons and was featured in Kenny G's video "Havanna" and in Puff Daddy and the Family's video for "All About the Benjamins." Glover executive produced and choreographed the ABC special "Savion Glover's Nu York." He starred in the Showtime movie "The Wall" and choreographed the HBO movie "The Rat Pack."

In 1997, Glover created a dance company, NYOTs (Not Your Ordinary Tappers), with which he performed nationally and internationally, and on the 1997 ABC opening to "Monday Night Football." Glover performed for President Clinton in "Savion Glover's Stomp, Slide and Swing: In Performance at the White House" for PBS and in "Savion Glover/Downtown: Live Communication" at the Variety Arts Theater in New York City. In 2000, Mr. Glover paid homage to the legends of tap with the international tour of "Savion Glover in Foot Notes, The Concert" in which he shared the stage with tap greats Jimmy Slyde, Buster Brown and Dianne Walker as well as prodigy Cartier Williams. Glover also starred in Spike Lee's feature film "Bamboozled", released October 2000.

Tickets for Savion Glover are $46, $41, $36, $31. Exclusive discount coupons will be available starting March 21 at all KeyBank locations. Patrons may also present their Key To Your Town key tag at the box office to receive the same discount. Tickets are available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday in the Center for the Arts Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations, including Kaufmann's. To charge tickets, call 852-5000; in Canada, call 1-416-870-8000. For group sales, call 645-6771. For more information, call 645-ARTS. The Center for the Arts is a Ticketfast location.