DT Notes: June News
NDEO Takes Manhattan
This month, the National Dance Education Organization will hold its annual conference in New York City, June 23–28. The majority of the event, “Take a Bite of the Apple: Exploring Resources to Promote Best Practices,” will occur at LaGuardia Arts High School at Lincoln Center.
This year’s conference will feature a special evening track for K–12 dance educators who are not yet out of school. On Thursday there will be a master class in modern dance with Bill Evans and a workshop on Tiriba—a West African mask dance—taught by Andrea Markus. Friday features a viewing of Bill T. Jones’ Ghostcatching hosted by the Lincoln Center Institute. Info: ndeo.org
—Tracy Krisanits
Digital artistry by Shelley Eshkar and Paul Kaiser, courtesy of Lincoln Center Institute
Stiefel’s Students
The new dean of dance demonstrates his latest role.
New York City audiences may know Ethan Stiefel best as principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. But last year the Center Stage star took on his most challenging role to date, as dean of the School of Dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
This March, Stiefel (who still dances with ABT full-time) showed off his pupils in NYC during “Works & Process,” a series presented by the Guggenheim Museum. The event featured a panel discussion and a demonstration by UNCSA students, allowing audience members to see firsthand the changes Stiefel has instituted during his first year at the school.
The most publicized of those changes are what he calls the “eight initiatives,” inspired by the principles of martial arts that Stiefel has adapted for the school. (“We will respect our teachers, peers and all people in life; we will develop both our mind and body equally, as they are interconnected,” etc.). He even brought in a fifth-level black belt for two weeks to work with students. It’s “not just about karate,” joked Stiefel. The martial arts’ focus on developing a good person as well as a good technician is an attitude he’d like to bring to the ballet world.
Larry Keigwin joined Stiefel for the Works & Process panel—Keigwin’s contemporary troupe Keigwin + Company was in residency in North Carolina this winter. Known for his quirky, witty dances, Keigwin had worked with students from both the modern and ballet programs when he choreographed for the school’s concert.
After the panel, UNSCA students performed the pas de deux and coda from Le Corsaire, the “Little Swans” variation from Swan Lake and August Bournonville’s rarely seen The Jockey Dance—as well as a contemporary work by UNCSA faculty member Dianne Markham and an excerpt from Keigwin’s Natural Selection. Info: www.ncarts.edu/dance
—Margaret Fuhrer
NDI Celebrates John Lennon
National Dance Institute’s (NDI) advanced team of dancers takes the stage this month for three days at LaGuardia Arts High School to perform a tribute to John Lennon. Choreographed by Artistic Director Ellen Weinstein along with NDI teaching artists, A Celebration of John Lennon is inspired by and danced to Lennon’s “Imagine,” and features movement taken from American Sign Language. Info: www.nationaldance.org
—TK
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A Brush With Celebrity
Your students can learn from dance superstars this summer.
Traveling to competition Nationals during the summer months is great for performance opportunities and time away from the studio. And it’s also great exposure to master teachers. Here are a few national competitions and conventions where your students can take classes with the celebrity teachers they see in the movies and on TV. —Alison Feller
JUMP
June 24–30, NYC
Faculty includes: Mandy Moore, Nick Lazzarini, Dan Karaty, Misha Gabriel
www.breakthefloor.com/jump
L.A. DanceMagic
July 6–10, Anaheim, CA
Faculty includes: Matt Dorame, Thayne Jasperson, Christian Vincent
www.ladancemagic.com
New York City Dance Alliance
July 9–16, NYC
Faculty includes: Chloé Arnold, Andy Blankenbuehler, Jared Grimes, Susan Jaffe, Hok Konishi, Desmond Richardson, Tony Testa
www.nycdance.com
Monsters of Hip Hop
July 17–19, Orlando, FL
Faculty includes: Tabitha and Napoleon D’umo, Marty Kudelka, Dave Scott, Teresa Espinosa
www.monstersofhiphop.com
The PULSE
July 17–19, L.A.; July 27–30, NYC
Faculty includes: Brian Friedman, Mia Michaels, Wade Robson, Cris Judd, Laurieann Gibson, Dave Scott, Shane Sparks, Tyce Diorio
www.thepulseontour.com
