Dancer/choreographer Michel Yang in concert Feb. 1

Michel Yang, the 2005-06 Marcus Artists for the Dance Program in Washington University’s Performing Arts Department (PAD) in Arts & Sciences, will present an informal concert of improvisational works at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1.

The performance is free and open to the public and will take place in the Annelise Mertz Dance Studio, Room 207, Mallinckrodt Student Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. The program will feature one work from Yang’s repertory as well as a duet with David Marchant, senior lecturer in dance, and an ensemble piece featuring Washington University students. For more information, call (314) 935-5858.

In addition to the performance, Yang will be in residence with the Dance Program Jan. 27 to Feb. 1 to conduct a series of master classes with intermediate and upper-level dance students.

Now based in Brussels, Belgium, Yang earned a special major in dance and dance science from Washington University in 1995 and an MFA in dance from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 1997. Her work frequently involves improvisation and/or performance installations such as decompressed, a piece for two dancers, two inflatable chairs and video. Collaborators include Walter Verdin, Sachiyo Takehashi and Unidentified Flying Arts Company.

Yang has appeared at a number of prestigious dance venues, including New York’s Dance Theater Workshop, Danspace Projects, PS122 and Movement Research at the Judson Church, as well as at the Centre Cultural Jacques Franck and DansCentrumJette in Belgium. In 2000, she was featured in the PAD’s Dance Close-Up Alumni Celebration concert in Edison Theatre.

Major awards include a 2003 Vlaams Gemeenschapscommissie Dans Subsidie for her piece Waste Paper Basket. She currently teaches contemporary dance at the Yantra Dance Academy in Brussels.

The Marcus Residency is funded by a gift to the Performing Arts Department by Morris D. Marcus, M.D., a dermatologist and professor emeritus of Washington University School of Medicine. Marcus established the annual residency in memory of his wife, Margaret, who was a dancer, teacher and choreographer.