American College Dance Festival Association

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Neguif Angeles

Courtesy of, ACDFA Website

Neguif Angeles, Bridge Reporter

The American College Dance Festival Association (ACDFA) makes its way down to South Texas for the first time. Texas A&M International University will host this vast dance conference starting Tuesday February 28 through Saturday March 3, 2012. ACDFA will be closed to the public.

As stated in the official ACDFA web site, “The American College Dance Festival Association exists to support and affirm dance in higher education through regional conferences, the adjudication process, and national festivals.” ACDFA is an academic conference for dance, in which dance programs from different universities are brought together from states such as Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Florida. Throughout the week of the event, students will learn dance techniques from professors of the visiting universities. Classes will begin at 8:15 A.M and continue until 6:00 P.M.

Students in the conference will have the opportunity to perform in adjudicated dance concerts. Every university will chose one or two group choreography’s that will represent their school. The first dance piece will be choreographed by a faculty guest artist, and the second one will be a student dance piece. They will then receive feedback from acclaimed national artists in dance.

An estimated 29 academic institutions will participate in ACDFA including, Miami Dade College, New Mexico State University, Rice University, Sam Houston State University, and University of Texas Pan American among many.

A total of 500 dancers will be at TAMIU participating in the conference. There will be a variety of classes offered ranging from Pilates, Yoga, African, Bollywood, Modern, Ballet, Tap, Jazz, and various other courses.

Approximately 30 TAMIU students were selected to represent the university in ACDFA. One of the choreography’s selected by TAMIU includes Flamenco, a classical Spanish dance. This dance piece, choreographed by Rogelio Rodriguez, utilizes a “Pericon” which is a large fan that is displayed by the female dancers. TAMIU student Selma Gonzalez choreographed a modern dance piece, based on a tragedy that occurred with the murder of one of her cousins.
Bede Leyendecker, Department Chair of Fine and Performing Arts, started planning this dance conference five years ago in partnership with important people that are both active on campus and in the community. Leyendecker expressed, “We are really excited about having our colleagues from the region come to Laredo; this is the first time that this conference has ever been held in South Texas, so it’s a first and hopefully not a last.”

If you would like to know more about ACDFA and its history please visit their website at www.acdfa.org

The Bridge will have further coverage on ACDFA. Feel free to leave your comments
This Article has been published at www.thebridgenewspaper.com.

Review: Shen Yun, Detroit Opera House, Jan 26, 2012

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Admin

By Julie Gervais

Shen Yun is on a mission.

The 5,000 years of Chinese civilization are not uppermost in American minds these days, when we think about China. Economists focus on trade imbalances and currency “misalignments”, some people pay attention to human rights issues, and most everyone else just wonders whether we’ll ever get our jobs back. Yet relieving these tensions is not Shen Yun’s mission, exactly.

The Michigan Falun Dafa Association, which presents the company, wishes to ‘reclaim and renew the true, divinely-inspired cultural heritage of China’. It’s a noble goal, also a tall order. They spare no effort or expense in pursuit of it.

Shen Yun

Monkey kings and joyful little monks, flower fairies and Taiwan’s indigenous peoples…unless you are schooled in this or have grown up with it, it’s all very exotic, very new, very…foreign. This includes, of course, the music – all original compositions but, we are made to understand, styled in the manner of tradition.

The beauty is almost blinding. So many stunning costumes, exquisitely wrought. So much highly trained classical Chinese dancing (which contains elements of ballet, folk dance and what we call gymnastics). Such lovely singing, earnest and impassioned. It’s dazzling, really.

Yet the performance as a whole is difficult to love. Each dance or song is introduced by two emcees, a man and a woman in elegant evening wear who offer both English and Mandarin in alternating turns. (This is great for anyone studying the language.) Applause after each number is followed by more applause after each subsequent introduction. All of the pieces are quite short, giving the evening a rather choppy feeling. Dance recitals and competitions have this format by necessity, but it’s not at all clear why a professional company would choose it, given its limitations on development of themes, stories, and characters. For some of the dances, which seem meant to convey only beauty or traditional values such as compassion and loyalty, the brevity is fine.

The dances with stories, however, are somewhat inscrutable: ‘Crazy Ji was an unconventional monk who overstepped the rules. When villains gang up on an innocent flower girl, Ji’s clever antics outsmart them to save the day’. It’s charming and timeless, but we never quite get time to attach to Ji, to know and love him for his quirky character, and consequently have to make an effort to feel gratitude when he saves the day.

The stories that present most clearly are the ones about the practitioners of Falun Gong, who are persecuted in China. These stories are all too real, and contemporary, and they resonate. And when intervention comes, maybe from the mountain fairies or from Lord Buddha, there’s a real sense of relief. We have glimpsed their struggles and their pain, and we feel for them.

Sometimes these stories even involve interpersonal relations, such as those between a man and a woman! It’s so rare that it almost seems shocking. Is Chinese tradition really so hands-off about this? Non-Asian people mostly know that Asian culture places emphasis on the group, so it is no surprise that much of the work is corps work. Choreographically, it’s as fine a study of unison and cohesiveness as can be seen anywhere.

Shen Yun ensemble work

Yet, the absence of individuals only serves to increase the distance between cultures, not to lessen it. How do we connect with people when we never get to know them? We can admire their work, their refinement and their traditions. But without a personal connection, we remain remote and strange to each other.

The people who comprise Shen Yun are devoted, inspired and highly accomplished. Perhaps one day they will visit again and tell us their tales in a way that we can really connect to.

What Is Posture?

Posted on January 19, 2012 by amypro

By Amy Pronovost

Posture is the characteristic way of bearing one’s body. It is the manner in which the body is held upright against gravity while sitting, standing or lying down.

What is ideal posture?

Ideal posture involves a minimal amount of stress and is conducive to maximum efficiency of the body. It requires the least amount of muscular energy since all opposing muscle groups are in a state of balance. The natural curves of the spine are preserved and the bones of the lower extremities are in proper alignment for weight bearing.

How does ideal postural alignment relate to dance technique?

Since the efficiency of movement is greatest with proper alignment there is less effort and strain to achieve good technique. Before each exercise imagine an invisible plumb line running through the center of the body. The ears should be in line with the shoulders, the shoulders in line with the hips, the hips in line with the knees and the knees in line with the ankles. The weight of the body should be in the center of the foot. As movement begins imagine the plumb line staying in the center of the body. The image of the plumb line is particularly important while turning and jumping as proper alignment is essential for shock absorption.

Next Topic- Common postural deviations

References: Muscles, Testing and Function 4^th Edition 1993 written by Florence Kendall

Vince Paul, Artistic Director of Detroit’s Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts, on the Upcoming Presentation of FELA!

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Admin

Recently, dancepanorama sat down to talk with Mr. Paul in the midst of whirlwind preparations for the Music Hall’s hosting of ‘Fela!’ It’s a three-week residency for this Tony Award winning Broadway hit, and preparations have been under way for well over a year. Producers are Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Will and Jada Pinkett Smith. How does such a big project get rolling, and just how much energy and enthusiasm has to be generated to ensure its success?

Compiled by Julie Gervais

On Bringing FELA! To Detroit

In my life journey, I did a lot of African shows. I was the production stage manager for a show called Africa Oye, and it really was the first authentic collection of African artists that toured throughout the U.S. In our travels, Fela Kuti’s music was played on the bus everyday. Everyone in Africa knows Fela; he’s a household name. Fast forward twenty years later, and someone does a musical based on his life. And I went to see the show, and I was just stunned. I was inspired, riveted…part of it is the super high energy and the incredible quality of the dancing. It seems hard to believe they’re going to do it again the next night, the energy level is so high. It started off as a dance project, and of course Bill T. Jones is an American master. It was like a full-length ballet set to Fela’s music, and so well crafted.

But then all this other stuff started to come into view, posing questions of social fairness, corruption, and it was about Lagos (Nigeria), yet it could have been about Detroit. The similarity of the issues is extraordinary. And that’s when it hit me…Detroit needs to see this. And I need to move heaven and earth, because it is a healing experience to see it. Suddenly, our issues are put into context: we’re not alone on earth with these issues. And if it helps us to focus on the causes of our issues, it’s the first step toward fixing them. But it’s packaged in such a fast moving, happy way. It puts ideas in your head, and they stay there, but he moves right on. And a week later you’re thinking – “wow is that what he said!?” That’s the sign of a great masterwork – that it resonates for weeks, months. I’ll never forget it as long as I live.

The Music Hall’s Educational Mission and History, in the Context of Detroit’s Very Rich Cultural Mix

It really was a very heavy decision to bring the show. It’s very expensive; it’s a multi-million dollar project. And we’re running it for three weeks! Ok, if we ran it for a week, it would probably sell out, and it would be a great experience. But unless we engaged it for a longer run, it wouldn’t fulfill our mission: to augment education in Southeast Michigan. It’s our number one mission as a non-profit: to teach.

The performing arts as a teaching guide, or as a medium, for education – this is really one of the best tools we have. Who hasn’t been influenced by a song, a movie? Especially if you’re introducing people to whole new ideas; to entire cultures. We have so many cultures here, and our programming reflects that. When you come to see at show at Music Hall, it’s a show, but it’s also about exposure to cultures and ideas that may not be your own.

People from all over the world have put down deep roots here, and that has resulted in an incredibly high level of cultural output coming out of this area throughout our history. Metro Detroit has produced more artists of world renown than anywhere on earth! It’s because of the evolution that happens when ideas and cultures coexist and evolve by learning from each other.

This building has always been about diversity. Matilda Dodge Wilson built this theatre in 1928 and it became the first performing arts center of its caliber to offer open access to all people. She was a pioneer in so many ways, and we follow her mission to this day. It’s a terrific reflection of Detroit’s history.

So, many months ago, we started by creating a 30-foot exhibit that shows the timeline of Fela’s life, and students can get to know about him.

FELA! Study Guide Section

The exhibit has traveled throughout Detroit metro… Cranbrook, the Detroit Public Library, DTE, Cass Tech, Roper…and when the show leaves Detroit, the exhibit will travel with the tour. The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History has built an entire static exhibit in one of their galleries and it runs for six months. We have a high school assembly program that we take out; it includes an introduction with a screen and narrator, then there’s some African dancers, and we talk about Afrobeat (Fela is considered the father of Afrobeat music), and we play the kids some James Brown drum rhythms, some Tupac rhythms, then we give them a scratchy recording from 1950 and everyone says “Oh! So that’s where they got that!” Because once they understand how music evolves, then they can participate in evolving it. And then they further the tradition of Metro Detroit’s cultural fertility; they take it out into the world.

Scale and Scope

This is, as far as I can tell, the largest initiative Music Hall has undertaken – ever – for a show. I hope we have created a template for future projects. Of course we always need to have a rich mix of programming, but if there were ever again a show that moves us like this, and with which we’re able to satisfy so many considerations, we’d do this again.

Fela’s Humanity and Complexity

The educational programming goes above and beyond what can be covered in an evening’s performance. The show covers a lot of territory, though. This a man with faults, but it’s a real story. We should beware the hero that is too pure. Of course heavy issues are toned down when working with younger kids, but I don’t think Bill T. Jones shies away from them. It’s honest. I think older students really appreciate that we’re not trying to cover anything up, it adds credibility. Kids are smart!

The Master Classes

The dancers are booking master classes throughout the area. (See dancepanorama calendar for this contact info!) I think the surprise will be the level of technique they bring. Being Bill T. Jones’ dancers, they are of course all highly trained and accomplished in ballet, modern and jazz before they even begin to study his movement, and that’s a deep study. It includes the western African dance forms and he is a master of those. The way he brings all of these influences together, the choreography and level of the dancing in this show – will leave you breathless. And it’s hard to sit still in your seat!

Building a Community Team

Detroit has a very rich history, and is complicated. It’s important that we learn to harness our collective power; it’s what will carry us forward. For this show, we have gathered so many organizations and demographics, and we’re all working together to support this show as a community. There are cultural and civic groups, educational institutions, professional societies, chambers of commerce, museums, galleries, libraries, real estate interests, other arts presenters, and of course the media…a very long and diverse list. The Opening Night Gala on Valentine’s Day will be incredible; there will be a day devoted to fundraising for the Jalen Rose Academy and we’ll do a Fab Five theme on February 19…I like to make these crossover connections and they are very important. The show is more than just a show, it’s a unity project. You will see representation from throughout the Metro area. It doesn’t happen fast, but in twenty years, this city is going to be a different place, if we keep working together like this! Not doing so would be the only thing that prevents us from becoming, once again, the Paris of the Midwest.

French Choreographer Julie Bour graces Wayne State University with her Fairy Tale

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Admin

By: Megan Drabant

Once upon a time, there was a French choreographer who brought her European flair to a lucky school in the United States. That choreographer just so happens to be Julie Bour, artistic director of Compagnie Julie Bour, and the lucky school is our very own Maggie Allesee Department of Dance at Wayne State University (WSU). Bour graduated from the Conservatoire National de Paris and followed her career to work with a variety of renowned choreographers around the world including Angelin Preljocaj, Inbal Pinto and Cave Canem company. As assistant to the French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj, Bour has re-staged his repertory in New York City and Bordeaux, France. Also, she had the pleasure to work with director Julie Taymor on the Opera “Grendel”. She received a Bessie Award for “Best performer of the year” in New York City.

Bour does not feel restricted by a style, a history or a technique. As a choreographer, she is driven by the need to question, mix and share. By exploring the dynamics of contemporary culture through the prism of who she is now, on any particular day, she creates work which resonates in the cultural moment. The key to Bour’s creative process is to work consistently with dancers who are committed to movement invention and to develop a technique and language over time. Bour founded The Flying Mammoth with Loic Noisette in 2006 as a bridge between the different arts, cultures and countries they have encountered over the course of their careers. The unorthodoxy and internationality of both her professional and personal paths are strongly present in her choreographic process.

As the Fall 2011 Allesee Artist in Residence, Bour worked for a week with the talented dancers of WSU through teaching morning modern technique classes and then rehearsing in the evening with the dancers selected to be in her piece. The dancers found Bour’s choreographic process to be quite refreshing and different than any other residencies they have experienced before. Senior, Jordan Holland describes Bour’s movement to be “Deep, visceral, and organic; everything has intention.” The work is very detail oriented; yet Bour’s process of developing movement directly on the spot with the dancers is different for many of the WSU students.

In setting her new work entitled “Rouge,” Bour found inspiration in the classic tale of Little Red Ridding Hood. However, Bour’s rendition of the story is twisted with a modern spin of three different endings. The multiple endings relate to the concepts of defeating, being defeated, and indecision. All three endings can be witnessed at one time during the piece as the whimsical, yet contemporary music strings the story along. Bour pushes the dancers to be strong characters and precision movers with musically, pedestrian movement. Overall, Bour’s new version of Little Red Ridding Hood is pleasantly enthralling with an underlying parallel between real life and fairy tale.

Come see “Rouge” performed at the informance on Monday, October 31, at 12:30pm in the Maggie Allesee Studio Theatre, 3317 Old Main Building, 4841 Cass Detroit, MI 48201.

This is a free event and seating is limited so please arrive fifteen minutes early. Also, “Rouge” will be performed at the December Departmental Dance Concert on December 1-2 at 7:30pm and December 4 at 2:00pm and 7:00pm in the Maggie Allesee Studio Theatre, where other works choreographed by both students and faculty will be premiered.

REVIEW: Ballet Russe ‘Stars of Russian Ballet’ Gala, Aug 27 2011

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Admin

by Julie Gervais

It was indeed a starry starry night in Ann Arbor on Saturday, when Ballet Russe/Russian Artists International presented the second ‘Stars of Russian Ballet’ Gala.

The concept of a gala performance is one of shameless indulgence. It can be likened to an entire menu of dessert courses – service of at least a dozen exquisite treats usually reserved for the end of the meal. (This metaphor holds true only for those with a sweet tooth.) But the ballet world is human too, and once in a while, it’s a very good idea to throw the rules out the window.

The success of a Gala depends entirely on the quality of the dancers. Aside from technical excellence, they must be accomplished artists who can, in just a few moments, draw an audience in – to the character, the setting, the whole world of a ballet that is normally developed over a period of hours. No one exemplified this better on Saturday night than Olga Pavlova.

Ms. Pavlova is a mensch. She’s a prima ballerina as well as a master teacher, and could easily direct everyone on the stage. (Full disclosure: I’ve watched her work in the studio and in rehearsals.) She first appeared on Saturday as Schéhérazade, dripping with a knowing sensuality. The intensity of her focus is gripping. Even someone who doesn’t know about ‘One Thousand and One Nights’ will be in no doubt about what this woman means to accomplish.Her next appearance, that of the already-deceased Giselle in that ballet’s Act II, is so solemnly sad and yet full of steely will and determination to save her love, Count Albrecht (Ludovico Pace) from a terrible fate, proving you can have strength of spirit even when you’re just a spirit. To conjure these characters out of thin air requires that every gesture, every step, and every glance be true, and Ms. Pavlova’s are.

Her Schéhérazade partner, Sergei Sidorski, is a welcome returning guest from last year’s Gala. Principal dancer of the National Ballet of Ukraine, he brings a commanding but refined power to everything he dances, and does so in an unassuming and gallant way. He had a busy night, also partnering the very young Patricia Zhou in the Swan Lake adagio, and in the evening’s final treat, dancing the firecracker Don Quixote pas de deux with Yana Salenko, Principal dancer of Staatsballet Berlin.

Ms. Zhou’s work shows remarkable maturity. She is in the category of “very tiny” ballerinas, and her upper body moves with a delicate fragility. Her Odette benefited from this quality and was set off beautifully with a strong and proud back. Her contemporary and fellow Detroiter, Haley Schwan, has a very American verve, now embedded in her polished classical training. In addition to her Corsaire Odalisque and solo part of the Don Quixote pas de deux, she got to dig into the most lighthearted fun of the evening in a contemporary piece called ‘Come Neve al Sole’, also with Ludovico Pace. Done in soft slippers, it was a great example of the sophistication brought to contemporary work by classically trained dancers.

Ms. Salenko was a delight, spinning her way slowly out of attitude tours in the Corsaire pas deux like a spider throwing a web, and holding remarkable balances. One of these, during the Don Q pas de deux, went on so long that it threatened to hold up the proceedings and produced an admiring smile from her partner.

Maria Kochetkova (San Francisco Ballet Principal) has an uncanny ability to color a step with what would seem to be conflicting characteristics – she can be razor sharp and velvety soft at the same time, to remarkable effect. She was partnered in the Sleeping Beauty pas de deux and in the Tchaikovsky pas de deux by Gennadi Nedvigin (also a SFB Principal) whose beautiful ballon and crisp tours en l’air were all of a piece with his perfect form.

Ana Sophia Scheller (New York City Ballet soloist) and Joseph Phillips (American Ballet Theatre) offered two pas de deux: Diana and Acteon, and Esmerelda. Perhaps the least well known of the pieces on the program (and therefore both slightly bigger challenges for an audience that is expecting all familiar crowd-pleasers), they nevertheless won hearts. (And the Esmerelda coda, musically, is an uphill battle. It fails to build momentum and just wanders aimlessly – a mashup of coda ideas.) Shinobu Takita (also a principal dancer in Ukraine) gracefully returned again this year and presented perhaps one of the most emotional Dying Swans in memory.Ukrainian native Simon Wexler bounded and rebounded through an authentic Ukrainian Gopak that fairly defined what it means to be young and ebullient.

At this point, people who saw the performance are wondering why I have left someone out. All right, so, Daniil Simkin was also there. Of course, he wasn’t just there. He electrified the house. If Hurricane Irene had taken a westward detour and knocked out power (to the Power Center!), this show would have gone on. With his every step, he made clear that his current position as ballet’s young prince is entirely based on merit

Simkin in 'Les Bourgeois'

(well, plus charm). He turned superbly, he jumped effortlessly, he did things in the air that will require several slow motion replays to even understand. In addition to opening the show with Yana Salenko in the Corsaire pas de deux, he brought his signature ‘Bourgeois’ to life from fans’ (doubtless many) YouTube views. I think Jacques Brel would love it. The audience certainly did.

The ‘Stars of Russian Ballet’ Gala is the culminating event in a two-week Russian Ballet Festival that gives students the opportunity to study with many of these extraordinary artists at the Academy of Russian Classical Ballet in Novi. It was these students who were first out on the stage in the Sleeping Beauty waltz, demonstrating that the whole endeavor is, at its heart, an educational mission as well as a cultural one. Ann Arbor and Detroit metro are all the richer for this, and if there are some who feel regretful at having missed it, be advised: next year’s Gala is scheduled for August 18. Mark your calendars!

//END//

Patricia Zhou of Canton, MI to Perform in ‘Stars of Russian Ballet Gala’

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Admin

Patricia Zhou was born in Canada but raised in Canton, MI. She left home at age 13 to attend the renowned Kirov Academy in Washington, D.C., beginning her serious ballet training so late, by ballet’s timetable, as to put a professional career out of reach to all but the most gifted of dancers. The swiftness of her progress is a testament to what can be achieved when extreme talent is met by unrelenting hard work. She has amassed a startling collection of awards in international ballet competitions, including at the Prix de Lausanne in 2011, the 2010 Beijing International Ballet Festival, and the Youth America Grand Prix. She has been featured in the national dance publications Pointe and DanceSpirit, and made her national television debut in May on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. She begins her professional career in the fall as an apprentice, with the title of Prix de Lausanne dancer, in London’s Royal Ballet. She will perform in Saturday’s Ann Arbor Gala in the Act II adagio from Swan Lake, a variation in the Don Q suite, and in one of the Odalisque variations from Le Corsaire.

dp: What was your dance training prior to leaving MI?

PZ: I started dancing when I was seven, very recreationally. I did tap/ballet combo, and slowly over the years i started doing jazz, lyrical, acro, etc. I competed as a lyrical dancer for a few years before I started really getting serious about dancing at 13, and considering a professional career in ballet.

dp: Then…

PZ: I then was introduced to the Kirov Academy. Knowing nothing about ballet, I just decided to audition and see if I could even get in. To my surprise, I got in with a 50% scholarship half-way through the audition. I decided as soon as I got out of the audition that I wanted to go there and study.

dp: What was it like there, both at first and once you got used to it?

PZ: At first, I was so in awe. All of the students were so proper and poised-very different than the teenagers I was used to seeing. I soon got used to the environment, and I feel it was a very good place to grow up. In ballet, I was always so nervous. I was in the lowest group, with all of the youngest students. I still had very little experience and it took me a while to learn all of the terms and pick up the combinations. After a few months, I was moved up a level, and I started to slowly get it more and more.

dp: How old were you when you made the decision to be a dancer? I mean, I know a lot of little girls get that idea, but mostly it fades away, while those that are serious eventually make an “informed” decision, i.e. when you really understood how much work it is and how tough the odds are.

PZ: I was 13 when I realized that I actually liked dancing and want to pursue a professional career. It was very surprising for my parents-even for me. It kind of came out of nowhere!! I didn’t really understand how competitive it was and how much hard work it took until quite recently when I got to work with and compete against dancers my own age from all over the world. Seeing what others have accomplished made me realize what I wanted, and needed, to accomplish in order to make it.

dp: Was the idea of leaving school and entering the professional world a bit scary at first?

PZ: Yes it was definitely very scary for me. I am still transitioning because working is definitely very different than studying. Most of the dancers have been with the company for a while so I am still trying to find my place in the company. I was very worried about not having a teacher hovering over my every move, making sure it was done correctly, but after a few days with the company, I am finding class very enjoyable, and I feel like my technique is still improving because now I am learning from watching the other dancers around me.

dp: How many dancers are in the Royal Ballet, and can you pick something that most exciting about being there?

PZ: There are about 90 dancers….[most exciting] dancing and working with such famous, world-class dancers, working at the Royal Opera House… It is so beautiful and grand!!

dp: Did you both know that you’d likely end up working outside the U.S.? And do you feel that the companies have kind of an international feel, so being a “foreigner” isn’t too big of a deal, or are there any issues that go with this?

PZ: I always wanted to dance in Europe. I feel like the dancers are treated better and more respected. I also like the repertoire of the European companies more, and they tend to do more full-length ballets. There are also dancers from all over the world, so I think it is more accepting to different cultures.

dp: . You’rejust starting out, and I know dancers are modest, so I’ll ask about short-term goals rather than long-term. What would you like to accomplish over the next couple of years? Do you have some dream roles you’d like to learn?

PZ: I would love to dance special parts and soloist roles. That would be amazing, especially performing at the beautiful Royal Opera House alongside such incredible dancers. I would love to dance “Giselle” and “Romeo and Juliet” someday as well as Forsythe’s “In the Middle Somewhat Elevated”. I would also enjoy learning Balanchine repertoire and working on new contemporary works.

dp: What is the most fun thing, or your favorite thing, you’ve done so far as a dancer?

PZ: My favorite thing about being a dancer is when you go on stage and just forget everything and dance. It has only truly happened a few times, but it feels incredible: like your body is dancing on its own, and all you have to do is enjoy the feeling of being onstage.

dp: Is there something you’d like to say to a young student who may be considering the same path?

PZ: My only advice is to work hard and never give up. If your mind is truly set on becoming a dancer, it’s necessary to understand that it will be incredibly difficult-physically, but even more so mentally. Dancing can be very discouraging and at times it may look hopeless, but those are the times you have to keep pushing yourself and just believe that you can achieve anything you’ve set your mind upon.

//END//

Haley Schwan of Howell, MI to Perform in ‘Stars of Russian Ballet’ Gala

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Admin

Haley Schwan is from Howell, MI and became a member of the Corps de Ballet, Staatsballet Berlin in 2010. On her way to Berlin, she spent two years as a full-time student at the legendary Vaganova Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1738, the Academy and the training method that bears its name have given to the dance world most of its superstars. To say it is extremely selective is an understatement. Among the thousands of children that audition for a place in the beginning class, approximately 60 are selected each year. Only recently have they begun to admit a few foreign students. Look for Haley on Saturday night in a variation from Don Quixote, and in the contemporary work ‘Come Neve al Sole’, choreographed by Rolando d’Alesio, which she will dance with Ludovico Pace.

dp: Where did you study dance prior to leaving MI?

HS: I studied primarily at Glenn’s School of Dance in Howell, Michigan. And actually, ballet was my least favorite class until Sergey [Rayevskiy, of the Academy of Russian Classical Ballet in Novi, MI] started teaching classes at Glenn’s.

dp: Then where did you go?

HS: Looking for a way to improve my technique for jazz, I went to a summer program at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C. and after about a week into the intensive I fell in love with ballet. The following September (2004) I began my first year [there as a full-time student], and I stayed until 2008. In September 2008, I went to St. Petersburg, Russia to study at the Vaganova Ballet Academy. After studying there for two years, I graduated and moved on to work for Staatsballet Berlin in August 2010.

dp:What was it like there, both at first and once you got used to it?

HS: The Kirov Academy became a second home to me over the four years I was there. I was quite an outgoing kid, so leaving home at 12 years old, I’m not sure I fully understood what a big step I was really taking, it was more like an adventure. But by the end of my time there, the people of the staff were like aunts and uncles, classmates like brothers and sisters. Moving to Russia was a huge shock at first, it was definitely the most challenging experience I’ve ever had. But I grew up a LOT as a person and as a dancer from going through it – In such a situation you can realistically fathom how important dance is to you. When you’re living unbelievably far away from home, almost no one speaks English, and you’re being yelled at and worked to the bone everyday…. You’ve got to either love dance or be a masochist. And so there is where i really understood how much I want this, and luckily I was in the absolute best place to nurture that. Not being able to understand the people or the culture was something that obviously took time, but I would say that by the beginning of my second year I was comfortable there.

dp: How old were you when you made the decision to be a dancer? A lot of little girls get that idea, but mostly it fades away, while those that are serious eventually make an “informed” decision, when you really understood how much work it is and how tough the odds are.

HS: I kind of got ahead of myself in the previous question about this, but I would say I was 16 – when I moved to Russia. It was there that I really saw how much goes into succeeding in the dance world. I’ve always been quite a hard worker in class, but there are so many things that you need to do outside of the studio to keep your body in shape. It really is a full time job.

dp: Was the idea of leaving school and entering the professional world a bit scary at first? HS: At first, yes it was scary….but I was more scared before I started to audition places. I didn’t feel ready to begin working and there were still a lot of things I wanted to work on before becoming a professional. But then I went to my first audition, in Berlin (which was actually a company that I had wanted to go to), and they offered me a contract. From that day on, I was honestly just really excited to start working and have more time on stage, which is what I’d been working for!

dp:How big is SB, and can you pick something that is most exciting about being there:

HS: About 90 people. I am not sure what the most exciting thing is….but I love working with choreographers on a new creation. You have long days in the studio just trying different movements and piecing them together until you’re dead – then you come back the next day and keep going! Starting from raw movements and watching as it all comes together bit by bit is exciting, it’s like you also grow with the piece and your name will always be there as the original cast. Kinda cool I also love just being on stage. In school you were always working for months and months at a time for one weekend of performances twice a year. It was just never enough! The thrill of being able to perform so often keeps me on my toes (literally) and excited to come to work the next day.

dp:Did you know that you’d likely end up working outside the U.S.? And do you feel that the companies have kind of an international feel, so being a “foreigner” isn’t too big of a deal, or are there any issues that go with this?

HS: Honestly, I have always wanted to end up in Europe. I find that ballet is much more appreciated outside of the U.S., and the repertoire tends to be a bit more my style. I have also always found Europe more appealing as a place to live because it’s so inspiring and charming. There is a different feel to ballet when it’s in an original opera house, or when you walk on your way to work you see beautiful historical architecture. There is so much to learn from other forms of art and Europe is just like a walking museum. In the company I don’t feel like a foreigner at all because there are actually only 3 or 4 Germans! Even though we are in Germany, all the classes and rehearsals are given in English, but of course outside of the studio some people tend to hang out with other people who speak their native language. But I don’t mind because it’s a good opportunity for me to keep up with my Russian and learn other new languages!

dp: You’re just starting out, and I know dancers are modest, so I’ll ask about short-term goals rather than long-term: what would you like to accomplish over the next couple of years? Are there some dream roles you’d like to learn?

HS: I would have to say that some of my short term goals would be for this next season to be able to dance the roles that I was given the opportunity to rehearse last season, but didn’t dance. This includes things like 11 couples in Caravaggio (Mauro Bigonzetti), 4 friends in La Esmeralda, etc. Other than that, I would just say that my goals would be to keep working and improving my technique and hope that brings some exciting roles to work for! As far as dream roles…I would say Tatjana from Onegin (John Cranko), Juliet from Romeo and Juliet, death in Le Jeune Homme et La Mort (Roland Petit) and be able to work with choreographers such as Jiří Kylián and William Forsythe.

dp: What is the most fun thing, or your favorite thing, you’ve done so far as a dancer?

HS: I think that as a dancer you have a lot of opportunities to have a good time. Of course work is work, but when you are at work surrounded by people like you everyday, things can be really fun. Everyone always says that dancers are really their own kind of people – we’re artsy people and so on stage there almost always seems to be a little joke or even a change of your character that keeps things entertaining. But one thing that no one can ever take away from me, are the moments I had on the Mariinsky stage. Having the opportunity to dance on such a historical stage was exhilarating and gave me this amazing feeling of success.

dp: Is there something you’d like to say to a young student who may be considering the same path?
HS: Work until you feel like there is nothing more you could possibly do, but make time in your day to relax and take care of yourself – there has to be a balance in your body. Always be respectful and listen to your teachers, but don’t ever let someone discourage you – If you want something, nothing should be able to get in your way.

//END//

Samantha Shelton, Faculty, ABT Detroit Summer Intensive

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Admin

Samantha Shelton

SAMANTHA SHELTON is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at Alma College in the Theatre and Dance Department, where she also co-directs the Alma College Dance Company. She received her professional training from the Joffrey Ballet and the David Howard Dance Center in New York and in Michigan with Rose Marie Floyd. She has also trained in London with Anita Young, former soloist with the Royal Ballet and at the Cecchetti Summer Program in Chichester, England. For the past fifteen years, she has been on the ballet faculty for American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive, teaching, setting ABT repertoire and choreographing new ballets for the final performance at the Detroit Opera House. She has also taught and choreographed for the professional ballet program at the Walnut Hill School in Boston, directed by former ABT principal, Michael Owen and was on faculty at the Interlochen Arts Academy for three summers. Recently, she was invited to choreograph a new ballet for Wayne State University and to set her ballet “Two Seasons” on the dancers at Grand Valley State University. She has performed extensively in both classical and contemporary ballets, including the Grand Pas from Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, also principal roles in Giselle and Raymonda. She had been on the ballet faculties at Wayne State University and the Detroit Opera House, where she was the artistic director for the Detroit Opera House’s Civic Dance Ensemble. Samantha holds an M.F.A in Dance from the University of Michigan, where she was awarded a Rackham Thesis grant, and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Michigan. She has also done graduate work at New York University in Performing Arts Administration with internships in development and marketing at Carnegie Hall and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Recently, she was elected to the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre & Dance Alumni Society Board of Governors and the Executive Board of the Michigan Dance Council. She is certified through the American Ballet Theatre National Curriculum Training Program.

dp: Congratulations on another ABT Detroit Summer Intensive! How many years has the program been running? How many students participate each year, and how many levels do you divide them into? Is the structure of the Detroit program quite similar to the NYC program, and to the others around the country?

SS: Thanks! This year was our 15^th Intensive here in Detroit. This year we had 140 students; it hovers around there but has been as high as 165. We run for 4 weeks (the programs in CA, TX & AL are 3 weeks and NYC is 5), and we group the students into four levels now. It used to be five but we eliminated the youngest level, although we still do accept some 12-year olds and even a couple of 11-year olds, but they tend to be a little more advanced for their age. In Detroit the upper age limit is 18.

dp: In 2007 ABT announced the development of the National Training Curriculum. Who are the principal architects, and what was the genesis of it?What is the basic structure?

SS: Franco De Vita and Raymond Lukens developed the curriculum with the help of several others. Alaine Haubert, the Artistic Coordinator for the DSI, and Melissa Ann Bowman who now coordinates all the ABT intensives, both worked on it, and there is an advisory council whose members contributed too.I think there was a feeling that it was time for an American training method. Both men have thorough knowledge of all of the major world methods, and I think their goal was to sort out the various influences and come up with a guideline for American training in the 21^st century. They use the Italian arm positions, body positions, and arabesques, but they incorporate information from both the Russian and French methods. It lays out the steps to be covered at each level of training and is very clear and age-appropriate, but does not specify how the teacher should combine steps, and it leaves plenty of room for teachers’ discretion about how to structure the material. It’s not a syllabus, but a set of elements to be taught and mastered at each level. And it does consider the technical evolution of ballet and how things have changed, but one thing that’s really interesting is that they include steps, mostly at the advanced levels, that are kind of rarely seen anymore, things that may have been in danger of being forgotten.

dp: Are there exams?

SS: There are. It is not mandatory, but schools can elect to bring an ABT examiner to their location.

dp: I understand that there is also information in the NTC that goes beyond steps. Tell me about this.

SS: Yes, the Advisory Board includes professionals from multiple disciplines and they have all contributed to the NTC: physical therapists, psychologists, sports medicine specialists, orthopedists. There’s a section on the psychological development of dancers, helping teachers to understand stages of development and how to best support the learning experience at different stages. For example, kids around age 5 respond really well to mimicry; they tune in to that. They also address physical stages of development, and the hazards of doing too much too soon. There’s nutrition information, and injury prevention. So it’s really well-rounded. In fact the title of the Teacher Training manual is ‘Training the Whole Dancer’.

dp: And all of the ABT intensives incorporate the NTC?

SS: Yes, all of the faculty has to be trained in the curriculum. And I think this is great for the students, because we all reference the concepts, there’s a lot of reinforcement. For example there are 10 Training Principles, and they support the work in the classroom, kind of tie it together. It makes for a really cohesive experience.

dp: Tell me about the teacher training

SS: They offer the training in sections every summer in NYC, and also in February. There are three sections: two weeks for the first one, classes 9-5 everyday including weekends. Then the second two sections of, I think, ten days each. You don’t take it all at once, you have to come back separately for the last section. There were maybe a hundred in our group, and the interest level seems really high. A few of us were already ABT intensive teachers, some were former ABT dancers, but mostly it was just teachers from all over the world who wanted to learn the method. Many were already certified in other training methods. There’s a lot of great detail work: for example, how to build the skills needed to execute a good assemblee – what exercises can you give to prepare a young dancer to learn that step. How to strengthen the legs, the feet in preparation for that…what are the components of it. Of course every teacher develops these ideas through experience too, but it’s great to have it all documented; it’s an incredible resource. Raymond Lukens taught most of our classes, and he has so much knowledge about all the steps, their various versions, and historical information about them, and it blends seamlessly; it’s really fascinating. Also, in the development phase they consulted with so many people, did research, integrated ideas, so it’s really rich.

dp: Is there an idea of establishing nationally-known standards, because in the US we’ve never really had our own?

SS: I think so. I think that one of the goals is to increase the general awareness of this training so that the public will recognize it as a valid credential, and its significance. By no means do I want to minimize the credentials and standards of those who teach the Cecchetti method, the Vaganova method, etc. It’s all valid. I think the goal with this work is to reach out to a broad base, make this accessible to everyone.

dp: Is there a revisions process, for periodic review etc., or it pretty much set?

SS: It’s open to that. It’s part of the reason they didn’t put together set combinations; they want it to be useful without being too rigid, so it can evolve.

dp: do you feel that the training has changed your teaching, and if so how?

SS: I think – I hope – that it has made me more thorough, and given me new insights about how to approach certain things. I really appreciated the affirmation of the importance of not rushing the training. Sometimes there’s such a push to do so much with kids, and the NTC is straightforward about this, about how it’s ok to just work for a long time to establish a good passé before working on a pirouette. And this is integrated with the data about physical development, so it’s very clear why there are some things that are inappropriate for, say, an 8-year old, things that could injure them. It’s really kind of a brave voice too, because they’re taking a stand on some controversial stuff.

dp: Thanks so much for taking the time to share this information

SS: Happy to!

//END//

Complexions Contemporary Ballet Detroit Summer Intensive Informance

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Admin

by Julie Gervais

The one and only. Desmond Richardson teaching in the Complexions WSU Summer Intensive. Photo (c) Meg Paul

One week. One artistic team: high art, high-wattage, and highly committed. One hundred and twenty-seven supercharged young dancers. This was the week that Complexions came to Detroit.

A combination of good timing and longstanding professional relationships made Detroit the lucky city to be the first to host a Complexions summer intensive outside of NYC. Program Director Meg Paul, who serves as Ballet Lecturer and Company Director of the Maggie Allesee Department of Dance at Wayne State University, helped get the ball rolling. And boy did it roll! The students showed up, in the best sense: ready to work, open to new ideas, and eager to bend their bodies and their brains around the slightly challenging demands of some straight –up Complexions repertory. No modifications, thank you very much.

Desmond Richardson, Co-Artistic Director of Complexions, taught the students along with Sarita Allen, Artist-in-Residence with the Company; Jae Man Joo, Ballet Master; and Christina Dooling & Clifford Williams, both Company dancers.

Friday afternoon, the students presented their week’s work in two scheduled informances in the Maggie Allesee Studio Theatre at WSU. Mr. Richardson introduced each session and spoke of the joy of discovery that flavored the week, and of the boundaries that can be broken when no one has anything to prove to anyone except oneself.

It was a remarkable tribute to the power of showing up. Four levels, grouped after an initial Sunday placement class, dug in on Monday to several of Complexions’ works and pushed themselves to move in ways and at speeds that, it’s fair to say, they probably haven’t experienced before.

The youngest group was first on the program, and they all stepped out with true ear-to-ear grins, not the pasted-on kind. They were completely clear: whatever happened next, they would enjoy every moment. And they did, and so did we. Sections of several ballets – Mercy, Moon Over Jupiter, Rise, and the brand-new Testament – appeared, often several times, as repeated by multiple groups and sub-groups from the various levels. Seeing the same material worked by a range of student ages and abilities is a glimpse into process, a kind of time-lapse view of dancer training. A shoulder ripple is seen as a slight shudder, a larger wave, or a full spasm traveling the entire body. An arc of the torso is at hip level, or dips lower to the knee, or is thrown with daring abandon almost to brush the floor. On professional dancers, these gradations are mostly (and rightly) invisible, and while the joys of watching professional work are many, student performances offer the viewer the chance to come along, just a little, on the journey taken by dancers-in-training, with all their triumphs and their struggles.

Students in the Complexions WSU Intensive: Raquel Mar (L) and KC Shonk (R). Photo (c) Meg Paul

There was improvisation too, introduced by Jae Man Joo, who calmly announced that he had no idea what was about to happen. No breaks of focus or concentration showed as the young dancers explored paths sometimes all their own, sometimes intertwined with each other, and sometimes involving the first-row audience members. Perhaps the largest goose bumps of the afternoon were caused by a small girl during the improv section. Tiniest by far of all the students, she found herself in wordless conversation of gesture with none other than Maggie Allesee, Detroit’s guardian angel of dance. It would be tough to script a more touching moment.

Soloist Joseph Badalamenti deserves special mention for the electricity generated by his ravenous appetite for movement. Some dancers burn into the retina, in a good way. It will be fun to follow the progress of Joseph and the rest of Detroit’s talented dance students as they make their way.