Oakland, CA - Gus Solomons Jr., a leading figure in postmodern and experimental dance, will present a free public lecture entitled “50 Million Ways to Make a Dance” at Mills College on Thursday, October 4, 2007, at 5:15 pm. He will discuss the evolution of the choreographic process throughout his 40-year career. The lecture will be held in Danforth Hall on the Mills campus, located at 5000 MacArthur Boulevard in Oakland. Solomons’ visit is sponsored by the Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Program.

Solomons has performed as a soloist in the companies of Donald McKayle, Joyce Trisler, Pearl Lang, Martha Graham, and Merce Cunningham, among others, and trained in the Laban technique with Jan Veen at the Boston Conservatory of Music and in the Graham technique with Robert Cohan. He has created more than 165 dances for his company, the Solomons Company/Dance, which he founded in 1972. Solomons also creates dances for professional companies throughout North America, including the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble and the Berkshire Ballet, as well as numerous colleges and universities. Influenced by his undergraduate background in architecture at MIT, Solomons creates many site-specific dances for alternative performance venues, such as public plazas, churches, city streets, and libraries.

Solomons won a "Bessie" (New York Dance and Performance Award) in 2000 for sustained achievement in choreography, and in 2001 MIT awarded him the first annual Robert A. Muh Award, recognizing him as a distinguished artist alumnus.

In addition to teaching, touring, performing, and lecturing, Solomons frequently serves as an adjudicator and dance panelist for state arts councils, artistic advisory boards, and private foundations. He has contributed to several books on dance and written for Ballet News, Attitude, and Instep, and currently reviews and writes for Dance Magazine, the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Village Voice, and the New York Times.

Established in 1956, the Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Program selects 12 or more scholars each year to visit up to 100 colleges and universities with Phi Beta Kappa chapters. Scholars typically spend two days on campus, meeting with students and faculty, taking part in classroom discussions, and giving public lectures. The purpose of the program is to contribute to the intellectual life of each institution through an exchange of ideas between the visiting scholars and faculty and students. In addition to Solomons, this year’s Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholars are Marcia L. Colish, Raymond J. DeMallie, Eric J. Heller, Chris Impey, Margaret Levy, Walter Benn Michaels, Sarah Morris, Gary B. Nash, Thomas G. Rawski, Barry Schwartz, Jean E. Taylor, and Rosanna Warren.

Mills College is a nationally renowned, independent liberal arts college offering innovative degree programs to approximately 900 undergraduate women and 500 graduate women and men. Ranked one of the top colleges in the West by U.S. News & World Report and one of the Best 366 Colleges by The Princeton Review, Mills provides a dynamic liberal arts education fostering women's leadership, social responsibility, and creativity. Nestled in the foothills of Oakland, California, on 135 lush acres, Mills was recently selected by the New York Times as one of three outstanding California colleges for students to consider.

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