From Swan Lake to nuclear war protesting, the NIU theatre dance department will cover it all Thursday night at the premiere of the annual fall dance concert.

The concert will feature members of NIU’s theatre dance department performing in five distinctly different pieces ranging in style from classical ballet to modern dance, dance Instructor Jere Tulk said.

Tulk, along with dance faculty member Randall Newsom, choreographed all of the pieces included in the concert, which runs December 3 through 6 at 8 p.m. and December 6 at 2 p.m.

“Vincula,” a modern dance piece, deals with the after-effects of nuclear war. “‘Vincula’ literally translates as tie,” Tulk said. “The dance, therefore, is about the tie that binds people together and their inability to stay together. It’s definitely an anti-war protest,” she added. The dance features the music of Franck/Fucik combined with the sounds of war.

“Western Suite #1,” on the other hand, is “purely for fun,” Tulk said. “It’s a modern dance take-off on western movies,” she said. The song that accompanies the dance, “Death Valley Suite,” was composed by Ferde Grofe.

Newsom originally choreographed the final modern piece, “Down So Long It Seems Like Up,” for a dance troupe in England in the early 1970s. “The piece is a look at the bag ladies, winos and geriatrics that we know as street people,” Newsom said. The music for this piece was composed by British pub band Harvey Anderson and Graham Cooper.

“Pas de Trois” from the first act of Tchaikovsky’s famed “Swan Lake” and “Grande Pas” from the turn of the century ballet “Paquita” will be the classical ballet selections featured in the concert.

Tickets for the concert are $3.50 for NIU students. They can be purchased at the Stevens Building box office from 9:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. and for one hour before each performance.