Photo from Cirque Éloize.

The next season at Hancher Auditorium promises to be a melding of old favorites and new experiences—from the silken-voiced legend Emmylou Harris to a Hancher-commissioned celebration of the Paul Taylor Dance Company’s 50th anniversary.

Tickets are now available by mail-order.

Among the season’s Hancher debuts are the hit Broadway musical version of The Full Monty, the young Brentano String Quartet, the Drummers of West Africa, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Cuban jazz-piano virtuoso Gonzalo Rubalcaba with Iowa-born bassist Charlie Haden, the music of ABBA in Mamma Mia!, and the SoVoSó a cappella group founded by Bobby McFerrin.

Hancher Season 2003-04 September 13 Emmylou Harris 20 Stefon Harris Quartet 23-28 The Full Monty October 8 Brentano String Quartet 11 Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company 18 Academy of St. Martin in the Fields 19 Drummers of West Africa 23 Terence Blanchard 26 Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir November 12 Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan 15 Charlie Haden and Gonzalo Rubalcaba December 9-14 Mamma Mia! January 24 Urban Tap 28 SoVoSó 30 Moscow Festival Ballet, Cinderella February 6-8 Cirque Eloize 11 Christopher O'Riley and the UI Symphony Orchestra 17-18 Aquila Theatre Company, Othello 19 New York Festival of Song 24 Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio 28 Bang on a Can All-Stars with special guest Terry Riley March 5 Philobolus Dance Theatre 25 Antares April 16-17 Paul Taylor Dance Company

Other performances new to the venue include the dramatic acrobatics of Cirque Éloize, the Moscow Festival Ballet performing Cinderella, the contemporary dance pyrotechnics of Urban Tap, jazz “young lions” Stefon Harris and Terence Blanchard, the unusual instrumentation of the chamber group Antares, and the New York Festival of Song celebrating the music and poetry of the Harlem Renaissance.

Three Hancher commissions celebrate landmarks in the history of prominent dance companies with which the University has enjoyed a long association: the 20th anniversary of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company; the 30th anniversary of the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, founded and directed by Iowa Writers’ Workshop alumnus Lin Hwai-Min; and the 50th anniversary of the Paul Taylor Dance Company.

There are opportunities to reserve catered dinners before the Terence Blanchard, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, and SoVoSó performances, and to purchase tickets for the UI Dance Department’s Dance Gala 2003, and the UI Martha-Ellen Tye Opera Theater production of Carmen.

Charles Swanson, Hancher’s executive director, suggests that employees send in orders as soon as possible.

“The Broadway shows promise to be great hits that no one will want to miss, so faculty and staff should get their orders in early,” he says. “We encourage employees to take advantage of the payroll deduction option, which they can use if they make their purchase through the mail prior to July 1. This way they can pay their bill in three installments: September, October, and November.”

A full-color brochure that includes mail order forms is available from the Hancher Box Office, (33)5-1160 or hancher-box-office@uiowa.edu. Patrons also may download an order form from www.uiowa.edu/hancher. Box office hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays.

Article by Winston Barclay