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After U. student is shot to death, Odyssey Dance removes violent segments of ‘Thriller’ from Kingsbury Hall performances

In the wake of the killing of a University of Utah student, Odyssey Dance Theatre has pulled two segments from its on-campus performances of “Thriller.”

“We feel it incumbent upon us to remove two long-standing segments from our Thriller performances at Kingsbury Hall for the remainder of this year’s run,” said Derryl Yeager, ODT’s founder and artistic director.

On Monday, University of Utah student-athlete Lauren McCluskey was shot to death on campus by convicted sex offender Melvin S. Rowland, who later shot himself to death.

In one of the deleted segments, “The Sugarplums Finale,” the Sugar Plum Fairy is murdered by a masked killer.