BALTIMORE - Flowing movements and music that revels in the expressiveness of the human voice will be on display at UMBC when Baltimore Voice(And Body)Works, a professional troup-in-residence at UMBC, presents Requiem. The evening length piece, conducted by UMBC artist-in-residence Toby Twining, will be performed at 8 p.m. on Saturday, November 1 and Sunday, November 2; admission is $8 general and $5 for students and seniors.

Requiem, a Catholic funeral mass written by Twining, is a cross-cultural blend of vocal technique, instrumentation and dance. The piece focuses on the ritual of burial and concludes with a discovery of peace through dance. Twelve dancers and six singers will be accompanied by an ensemble of vibraphones, percussion, brass and synthesizer. Choreography by artist-in-residence Darla Stanley combines the fluidity of release technique with more consciously driven movement. Dancers, adorned in rich jewel-tone colors, develop their movements through athletic partnering and improvisations focusing on heightened sensory perception.

Twining is known for his ability to blend vocal techniques from different cultures. He weaves the sounds of Mongolian overtone singing, African drumming, Tibetan >vocal fry= and yodeling in traditional metered scores. In Requiem, Twining uses custom-made vibraphones with overtone singing and extended vocal technique in a non-traditional arrangement. Of his music Twining says, AThe possibilities for vocal sound are infinite...musical experience is not all cognitive; its sensual too. If you can=t groove with it, something is probably lacking."

As an artist-in-residence, Twining brings a wealth of professional experience to UMBC. He studied piano at the University of Houston and composition at the University of Illinois. In 1989 he founded Mouth Music which debuted in Seoul, Korea, and three years later established Toby Twining Music, which made its European debut at De IJsbreker in Amsterdam.

Darla Stanley=s choreography is influenced by sensory movements and release technique -- a post-modern style emphasizing the fluid movement of bones, not muscles. She has a degree in dance from Virginia Commonwealth University and has performed with a number of dance troups including ZeroMoving Dance Co. (Karen Bamonte Danceworks) and Melanie Stewart Dance. Stanley has choreographed performances in the eastern United States, Europe and South Africa.

For additional information please call 410-455-MUSC or visit Arts