American Dance Festival, the Durham, North Carolina–based modern dance hub, celebrates its 90th season this year. Last October, Nile H. Russell became ADF’s first on-site, full-time director of education. Dance Teacher caught up with Russell in May via Zoom. It was apparent just how many balls he was juggling: Russell was fresh off the heels […]
Rosie Herrera’s path from Miami performer to American Dance Festival darling sounds more than a little like a fairy tale. When the Miami Light Project asked her to create a work for a program of emerging South Florida–based artists, Herrera assembled a crew of performers on the fly. “I bartered with all of my friends: […]
Burr Johnson in John Jasperse’s Within between John Jasperse Projects dancer Burr Johnson had only been dancing for two years when he took Brenda Daniels’ Cunningham technique class at the American Dance Festival. Because Daniels taught a different phrase every day, he learned how to pick up movement quickly. “Going from one day to the […]
Next month, the American Dance Festival will honor modern dance choreographer Lar Lubovitch with the 2016 Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for lifetime achievement. The $50,000 prize is awarded annually. Lar Lubovitch with Alexander Sergeyev and Svetlana Ivanova of the Mariinsky Ballet Lubovitch founded the New York City–based Lar Lubovitch Dance Company in 1968. […]
Dowd on Dance Teacher’s March 2008 cover The American Dance Festival recently announced Irene Dowd (DT March 2008) as the 2014 recipient of the Balasaraswati/Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching. A Juilliard faculty member and anatomy expert, Dowd teaches movement-based anatomy/kinesiology classes to help dancers use their bodies safely and efficiently. She […]
Tickets for the American Dance Festival’s 80th season go on sale Monday, May 13, but for those who can’t wait, the organization’s brand new “80 Faces” blog premieres today. Fans can visit americandancefestival.org daily for new stories and memories from notable artists who have been part of the festival’s rich history. The blog’s inaugural post […]
A tour group watches an ADF summer class in action When dance legends Martha Graham, Hanya Holm, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman founded the American Dance Festival in 1934, they could not have anticipated how it would shape modern dance in the 21st century. Today, ADF offers classes and intensives, year-round outreach programs, scholarships for […]