4teachers – Page 48

Special Benefit Performance: Dance Chicago

August 11, 2010 by 4dancers

Dance Chicago is going to kick-off it’s 16^th season with a special performance on September 25, 2010, at the Illinois Valley Community College (IVCC). This event will benefit victims of last June’s tornado which devastated Streator and parts of LaSalle County.

All monies from the ticket sales and private contributions will go to a special fund to help rebuild Engle Lane Theater in Streator, Illinois. If you live in the area–come out and support the community that day.

Here are the details:

Illinois Valley Community College

Cultural Center (Building F – Map)

815 N Orlando Smith Avenue

Oglesby, IL 61348

Parking Free in Parking Lot 7. This parking lot is directly east of Building F

September 25, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.

General admission tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at http://www.dancechicago.com/tour_performances.html, or after August 23 at Centrue Bank locations in Streator, Ottawa, Peru, and Princeton http://www.centrue.com/. Contributions can be made to The Show Must Go On – Engle Lane Tornado Relief, PO Box 883, Streator, IL 61364. Victims of the tornado can attend at no cost by contacting the City of Streator at 815-672-2517.

http://www.dancechicago.com/tour_performances.html

10 Questions With…Carolyn Judson

August 10, 2010 by 4dancers

And today on “10 Questions With…” the lovely Carolyn Judson…

1. What was the road to becoming a dancer like for you?

The road to becoming a dancer for me was pretty usual, I think. I began by dancing as a child, just enjoying my after-school hobby. During high school, I began going to summer programs and learning that I could potentially dance as a profession! I decided to leave home during my senior year of high school to train with the Houston Ballet Academy in hopes of deciding for sure if this was the path I wanted to take in my life. I had the most amazing year in Houston and I learned that dancing ballet was really what I wanted to do “when I grew up” and, thanks to my supportive family, I deferred acceptance to college and continued to pursue a ballet career.

After another year in Houston, I fell in love with the Houston Ballet, the company that their director, Ben Stevenson, had created. When Ben announced his resignation as the director of the Houston Ballet and informed us that he would be moving to direct a company in Fort Worth, I decided to audition for that company. I got accepted as a corps member with his company, Texas Ballet Theater, and have been dancing happily there for 7 years now.

2. What are you currently doing in dance?

Carolyn Judson

Because I am in Ben Stevenson’s company, I get the privilage to dance his amazing choreography. I dance in many of his classical story ballets and neoclassical ballets. This season, Texas Ballet Theater is performing Ben’s Cinderella and his Four Last Songs, two of my all-time favorites of his work. I’m very excited about that!

3. Do you have any advice for those who want to dance professionally?

My advice would be to stay true to yourself. If you want to pursue a professional dance career, you already know that you love it. Don’t forget that. Don’t be afraid to pour your heart into it, because if you really enjoy what you’re doing, it will come across on stage and, ultimately, be so fullfilling.

4. For you, how does the music fit into dancing?

For me, it is all about the music. The music is what I use to communicate with people and what I use to convey a message or tell a story. It tells me how to move, how to react with other people, and how to feel. The music is my favorite part about dancing.

5. Would you share a special moment from your career thus far?

I have had some really special moments on stage, some that only last for a second, but I’ll never forget them. Usually, moments are special when I have a really natural connection with a person on stage. A moment when I am really “in it.” Those are the moments that I live for on stage because it means that I’ve given my whole self to the character. I often will go back and watch the video of the special show or of the special moment, but it’s never the same. I just have to keep those moments in my memory!

6. What has been your favorite role to date, and why?

My favorite role to dance is the role of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. One reason is that the music in the ballet is more than beautiful. I can’t even think of words to describe it that would do it justice. The other reason is that it is so amazing to create such a strong connection with someone else on stage. It is so thrilling to be Juliet, following her heart and loving someone so completely. I have danced the role twice now, and I hope there will be more opportunities to be Juliet in my future!

7. Do you think that dance has helped you in your personal life? If so, how?

Whenever I had a bad day at school or I felt stressed out about something, I could always depend on dance class to lift my spirits when I was younger. I loved that I could forget about whatever else was happening and I could just focus on my dancing. I still love that. Whether I am in a dance studio or on stage, dancing has given me a place where I’ve always felt comfortable and a place where I can be myself. I’m never as comfortable in my own skin as I am when I’m dancing.

8. What do you think the future of dance holds?

I think that the future of dance is very bright. It’s always so interesting and inspiring to see all of the new choreography that is being created. Also, there has been such a huge developement in the popularity of dance, largely because of TV shows such as So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing With The Stars. It is so great that the awarness of dance is being spread. While dancers take enormous amounts of joy from dancing for ourselves, a huge part of this profession is dancing for other people. If we didnt have the interest, where would dance be?

9. What has been your biggest challenge in dance?

I think that my biggest challenge in dance is the fact that I don’t always believe in myself. I set very high standards for myself, which I think is important to some degree, but sometimes those standards are so high that I doubt myself and my abilities. I’m so afraid of not being great and of what people think of me that it is easy for me to miss out on opportunities and great new experiences. I’m still working on that!

10. What is next for you?

Next for me is another great season with Texas Ballet Theater! As I mentioned before, I am excited about dancing in Cinderella and Four Last Songs, which we will be performing in our upcoming 2010-2011 season. We are also going to be performing Don Quixote and I am excited about that as well becuase I have never been in it before! Besides ballet, though, the next thing I’ll be doing is getting married next summer! I can’t wait for that day!

Bio: Carolyn Judson moved from Sacramento, California to Houston, Texas in 2001 to train with Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy. She joined Texas Ballet Theater in 2003 where she has been featured in the title roles in Ben Stevenson’s Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, and Cleopatra. At the end of the 2008-2009 season, Carolyn received the Ben Stevenson Award. This is her eighth season with Texas Ballet Theater.

Social Media: The Free Marketing Solution

August 9, 2010 by 4dancers

Have a tight budget for marketing your dance studio? Looking for ways to cut back on costs? If this sounds like you it is probably time to take a good hard look at social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn if you haven’t already done so.

If your first instinct is to roll your eyes and think, “Who has time?” or, “I don’t understand this stuff”, try to have an open mind. Social media not only offers you the ability to meet potential customers where they are at (on the web), but just as importantly, it is free.

Rather than pouring your hard-earned money into another ad campaign in the local paper, why not take an hour a week and begin setting up your social media campaign. You can learn a little at a time, and before you know it, you’ll be up and running on the web. Ask yourself–can you afford to do without a free marketing option that really works?

Introducing… “Post Curtain Chat” With Matthew Powell

August 7, 2010 by 4dancers

4dancers is about to launch a new feature on the site–“Post Curtain Chat”, with Matthew Powell. Matthew has signed on to provide us with an untailored glimpse into the everyday lives of the dancers, teachers, directors, and choreographers who comprise the dance community of today. From hobbies, to food, to love life, to nightlife, see how these incredible talents like to spend their time once the curtain has closed.

Joshua Grant of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo will be the first person to share some thoughts with us here. Be sure and look for this great new feature on Friday, August 13th.

In case you missed his interview on 4dancers, here’s a little bit about our new contributor:

MATTHEW FLTC VB(6) copy — Photo by Jordan Matter

As a teacher, Matthew was a faculty member with the Kansas City Ballet School, and has taught classes at institutions such as the Universities of Iowa and Alabama, The Rock School, Marymount Manhattan, and Ballet Academy East. He has taught company class for Kansas City Ballet and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre while on tour. Additionally, Matthew served as the company ballet teacher for the West Side Story International Tour.

Matthew’s choreography received a fellowship from the New York Choreographic Institute in 2006. He has choreographed for Kansas City Ballet and worked as Assistant Director to Dorothy Danner for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s production of Pirates of Penzance. Most recently, Matthew has been working with Morphoses as Ballet Master, teaching at Broadway Dance Center, and freelancing as a teacher and choreographer. http://www.matthewpowell.net/Site/Home.html

10 Questions With…Avichai Scher

August 5, 2010 by 4dancers

Today’s “10 Questions With…” features Avichai Scher…dancer and choreographer…

1. Can you tell me about how you came to be a choreographer?

I was always choreographing and making little dances in my living room. At age 16 I got my first chance to make a short piece for the SAB choreography workshop, and I was hooked, I knew I had to continue.

Avichai Scher, Photo by by Matthew Murphy

2. Would you comment on the process? How do you come up with the movements you create?

I am inspired by music and dancers. So, I’ll be grabbed by a piece of music and then a specific dancer will appear in my head and I’ll imagine how that dancer would move to the music. When I get in to the studio, I have an outline of the piece, but the movements tend to come to me on the spot and I develop it with who’s in front of me, hopefully that same dancer I originally imagined.

3. What are some of your “career highlights” thus far?

A big highlight was working with ABT Studio Company when I was 18. That was a major learning experience and a big honor for me at a young age. Recently, working with Marcelo Gomes for the debut season of my company was a dream come true.

4. You still dance as well as choreograph. How is the feeling different when you perform someone else’s work?

Dancing in works by other choreographers is a great learning experience for my own choreography. I get to physicalize and internalize different points of view and (good or bad) they filter into my own work.

5. When you were chosen by DANCE Magazine as on of the “Top 25 To Watch” in choreography—what was your reaction?

I was shocked and ecstatic, to put it mildly. I had felt like I would be a good candidate for that, choreographing at such a young age, but didn’t actually think it would actually happen anytime soon.

6. What are some of the things that inform and inspire your work?

I go to see A LOT of dance. I take full advantage of what there is to see in NYC. It always surprises me what sticks in my head, sometimes I hated a whole show but there was one gesture that stayed with me forever.

7. What other choreographers do you especially admire and why?

Of course Balanchine and Robbins are my biggest influences as I grew up at SAB, I’ve seen basically all of their works several times. For new works, I’ve been inspired lately by Alexei Ratmansky’s large scale classicism and Anabelle Lopez Ochoa’s dance-theater style.

8. Is there a piece of music that you just find completely compelling?

I like many different types of music so it’s hard to choose just one piece. Right now I’m hooked on the music of Elena Kats-Chernin, a contemporary composer who’s music I hope to use soon.

Avichai Scher, Photo by Matthew Murphy

9. Do you have any advice for up-and-coming choreographers?

My advice to an up and coming choreographer is to be pro-active about your career. You have to find and create opportunities all the time and you have to be your own biggest fan to keep the motivation.

10. What is next for you?

My company is performing at Jacob’s Pillow July 23, I’m creating a new work for Ballet West and Ballet West II, and another Avi Scher & Dancers NYC season is in the works.

Bio: Avichai Scher, 26, was born in NYC and raised in Israel. He returned to New York to study on scholarship at the School of American Ballet for eight years. There he had the opportunity to perform Fritz and the Nutcracker Prince with New York City Ballet in The Nutcracker for four seasons. A desire to work with many different companies and choreographers took him on a journey, dancing with ten different companies in six years: Sacramento Ballet, Washington Ballet, Ballet San Jose, Joffrey Ballet, Los Angeles Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, European Ballet, Ballet British Columbia, Carolina Ballet and Ballet X. Some standout roles have included: Puck in Ashton’s The Dream, working with Sir Anthony Dowell, “Red-Man” in Elemental Brubeck, choreographed and staged by Lar Lubovitch, Mark Morris’s A Garden, Michael Smuin’s Shinju, Matthew Neenan’s Steelworks, and Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs. Scher always had the desire to be a choreographer and his first professional commissions came at age 18, creating Jouons for American Ballet Theater Studio Company and The Perilous Night for Miami City Ballet. Since then his work has works at: Miami City Ballet School and San Francisco Ballet School’s annual showcases, Usdan Center for the Arts, Washington Ballet Studio Company, Harvard University, Festival Ballet Providence, Manhattan Youth Ballet, West Wave Dance Festival, Ballet Builders, Sacramento Ballet, and Shut Up & Dance: Dancers of Pennsylvania Ballet. Dance Magazine recognized his choreography by naming him one of the “Top 25 To Watch,” and he is the recipient of the Strassler excellence Award from Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. In 2009 his company Avi Scher & Dancers debuted at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, and danced its first NYC season at the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater in April 2010. He has created 6 works for the company and the performances have included several guest principal dancers from New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater and Boston Ballet.

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