Shepherd University’s Performing Arts Series (PASS) will begin its spring 2012 season with the Viver Brasil dance company’s program “Feet on the Ground” on Saturday, Feb. 18, at 8 p.m. in the Frank Center. There will be a children’s showcase performance at 4 p.m. Viver Brasil will also lead a free master class in Brazilian social dance on Friday, Feb. 17.

Viver Brasil is an award-winning dance company rooted in the traditional and contemporary forms and techniques of Brazil, Salvador and Bahia. “Feet on the Ground” showcases Brazil’s racial, social and political history through dance, stunning costumes, electrifying percussion and live music. The program features the stories of the African orixas, capoeira (Brazilian martial arts/dancing) and the exhilarating dances and music of Carnival.

“From the first exhilarating sound of the atabaque drums, a surge of electricity sweeps through the audience, unites us with the irrepressibly energetic troupe of dancers, drummers and singers and keeps us in an elevated, almost combustible state until well past the last sound fades away,” said LA Weekly.

This program is made possible through an allocation of student activity fees by the Student Government Association on behalf of the students of Shepherd University with additional financial support provided by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History and the National Endowment for the Arts with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

Tickets to this event may be purchased through the Shepherd University Bookstore at 304-876-5219, online at www.shepherdbook.com, or in person at the bookstore, located on the ground level of the Shepherd Student Center. Tickets are $15 for general public; $10 for senior citizens and Shepherd staff; $5 for children under 18; and free to Shepherd students with valid Rambler ID. Tickets to the children’s showcase are $5.

For more information or to register for the master class, contact Rachael Meads at rmeads@shepherd.edu.