SHOWCASE PERFORMANCE
Ailey II, Susan Marshall & Company, Zoe Scofield
Saturday, March 8, 8pm, CFA Theater SOLD OUT!
Tickets: $21
General; $17 Senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff and non-Wesleyan
students; $8 Wesleyan students
This year's ninth anniversary showcase features dancers and choreography from three outstanding companies and artists. Ailey II is universally renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the country's best young dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today's most outstanding emerging choreographers. Alvin Ailey personally appointed former Ailey member, Sylvia Waters, as Artistic Director in 1974. Under her direction, Ailey II has become one of the most popular dance companies in the country. Susan Marshall & Company has, since 1982, performed the innovative works of Artistic Director/Choreographer Susan Marshall in theaters throughout the U.S., Europe and the Far East. A 2000 recipient of a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship, Marshall has also received a Dance Magazine Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship. For DanceMasters, they perform excerpts from Cloudless, a collection of solos, duets and small group pieces which revisit many of the concerns and structures that frame Marshall's early work. The recipient of this year's Mariam McGlone Emerging Choreographer Award, Zoe Scofield has been widely recognized in the northwest for her choreographic innovation and was recently awarded a grant from the National Dance Project. Scofield studied ballet as a scholarship student at Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts in Boston. She then focused her studies on Ashtanga Yoga, which has contributed to her signature eclectic style of choreography, merging a powerful visual aesthetic with modern wit and balletic precision.
Photography of Dance Exhibition
The Momentum Images of Dance Exhibition features the winning photographs from the 6th
Annual Sanford L. Rosenberg Memorial Dance Photography Competition in the CFA Theater. Sponsored by The Connecticut Valley Regional Ballet Company and The Ethel Walker School,
the exhibition will be open on Saturday, March 8 at 7:30pm and on Sunday, March 9,
from noon to 4pm.
Company and Dancer Profiles
Ailey II
Ailey II is universally renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the country's best young dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today's most outstanding emerging choreographers. Alvin Ailey personally appointed former Ailey member, Sylvia Waters, as Artistic Director in 1974. Under her direction, Ailey II has become one of the most popular dance companies in the country.
Susan Marshall & Company
Susan Marshall & Company has, since 1982, performed the innovative works of Artistic Director/Choreographer Susan Marshall in theaters throughout the U.S., Europe and the Far East. A 2000 recipient of a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship, Marshall has also received a Dance Magazine Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship. For DanceMasters, they perform excerpts from Cloudless, a collection of solos, duets and small group pieces which revisit many of the concerns and structures that frame Marshall's early work.
Zoe Scofield
The recipient of this year's Mariam McGlone Emerging Choreographer Award, Zoe Scofield has been widely recognized in the northwest for her choreographic innovation and was recently awarded a grant from the National Dance Project. Scofield studied ballet as a scholarship student at Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts in Boston. She then focused her studies on Ashtanga Yoga, which has contributed to her signature eclectic style of choreography, merging a powerful visual aesthetic with modern wit and balletic precision.
MASTER CLASS TEACHERS
ROBERT BATTLE
Robert Battle, originally from Miami, Florida, is a graduate of the New
World School of the Arts where he trained with Ms. Gerri Houlihan. He
earned a BFA from The Juilliard School, under the direction of Benjamin
Harkarvy, where he studied choreography with Bessie Schoenberg, Elizabeth
Keen and Doris Rudko. While at Juilliard, he received a Princess Grace Dance
Scholarship and the Martha Hill Prize. After graduation, Mr. Battle joined
the Parsons Dance Company, with whom he danced for seven years. His choreography
has been performed by the Parsons Dance Company in Sydney, Australia; Italy
and across the United States. In addition, his works have been commissioned
by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, Hubbard Street 2, Dallas
Black Dance Theater, The Juilliard School, Introdans, Ruth Rosenberg Dance
Ensemble, Evolving Arts Inc., the Repertory Etudes Project and Point Park
College. In 2002, Mr. Battle established his own company, Battleworks,
which has performed in Germany, South America, New Orleans, St. Louis and
most recently at Jacob's Pillow. Battleworks also performed at Wesleyan University
last year, where Mr. Battle was the first recipient of the Mariam McGlone
Award for Outstanding Choreography.
BRIAN BROOKS
Brian Brooks started his first dance company at age 14 in his hometown of Hingham, MA, with a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Since moving to Brooklyn in 1994, he has worked as a Teaching Artist of Dance at the Lincoln Center Institute (1999 to present), co-founded and managed a 3,500 square-foot arts facility in Brooklyn, WAX, that housed the company's rehearsal studio and black-box theater (1999-2004), and performed internationally with MacArthur Foundation Award-winning choreographer Elizabeth Streb (2000-2002).
He founded the Brian Brooks Moving Company in 1997, when he presented his choreography at the Merce Cunningham Studio. The production featured "MIGHT," a short film of Brooks dancing at eleven different public locations within eight hours, being stopped only once by the police at South Street Seaport. In 2002, following 5 years of self-produced seasons, the group began touring, and has since been presented by over 40 venues throughout the US, Canada, and South Korea. The company's evening-length works "Dance-o-Matic," "ACRE," and "Pinata," have been presented by organizations such as the American Dance Festival (NC), Jacob's Pillow (MA), Vanderbilt University (TN), Clarice Smith PAC (MD), Carver Community Cultural Center (TX), and Wesleyan University (CT)! In NYC, the group has been presented by organizations including Symphony Space, Central Park Summerstage, Dixon Place, and Dance New Amsterdam (DNA). Dance Theater Workshop has commissioned and presented two premieres, "ACRE" (2004) and "again again" (2006). Additional support has come in the form of creative residencies awarded by 3 Legged Race in Minneapolis (2002, 2003), the University of Maryland (2004), SUMMERDANCE Santa Barbara (2004, 2005, 2006), DTW (2006), and DanceNow/NYC's SILO (2007). Recent funding includes a Jerome Foundation grant, 3 consecutive grants for the creation of new work from the Greenwall Foundation (2005, 2006, 2007), and a New York Foundation for the Arts BUILD grant (2005/2006).
LEAH COX
Leah Cox (Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company) grew up studying ballet in Houston, Texas, and graduated high school from North Carolina School of the Arts. She continued her dance training at Texas Christian University where she graduated in 1998 with a BA in philosophy, minor in religion, and an emphasis in dance. Leah was a member of McCaleb Dance in San Diego, CA, and was a guest artist with Lower Left. She has worked with Kim Epifano, Stephanie Gilliland, and Nina Martin. Her own work has been presented in San Diego, California.
ROXANE D'ORLEANS JUSTE
Roxane D'Orleans Juste, a native of Montreal, Canada, has been a member of the Limon Dance Company since 1983. She has also performed with the Eleo Pomare Dance Company and Annabelle Gamson Dance Solos. Ms. D'Orleans Juste's choreography has been presented by Toronto Danceworks, Shoenberg Dancycle, Dia Center for the Arts, L'Agora de la Danse, The Yard, and the Musee du Quebec. She was honored with the Canadian Dance Award, Le Prix Jacqueline Lemieux (1980), and is the recipient of several grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Foundation for Creation in Fine Arts. An active master teacher, she also stages Jose Limon's choreography for companies and ensembles around the world. She was appointed Artistic Associate in 2002.
ELIZABETH JOHNSON
Elizabeth Johnson is a choreographer, dancer, educator, and the director of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange's Teen Exchange program. In her eight years with the Dance Exchange, Elizabeth has collaboratively created dances in communities from Eastport, Maine to Los Angeles, California; from Kyoto, Japan to Vancouver, Canada. She works with youth, seniors, and religious communities of many faiths, high school teachers, lawyers, scientists, and professional dancers, with a particular focus on teens. Her work with young people has been featured across the country as well as at home in the metro DC area. Her choreographic work is driven by athleticism, physicality, and the desire to connect movement with meaning. She is a yoga practitioner, runner and rock climber. Elizabeth graduated from Connecticut College with a B.A. in Dance and a minor in Theatre, and has studied at London Contemporary Dance School. Elizabeth is the Dance Exchange artistic lead on the multi-media exhibit "Cells: The Universe Inside Us" in development at the Maryland Science Center. Elizabeth received the "Center for Creative Youth Arts Leadership Award for 2005" from Wesleyan University, which is given to someone who has demonstrated extraordinary devotion to bringing the arts to the community and spreading arts advocacy
DANA MOORE
Dana Moore most recently appeared on Broadway as one of the leading ladies in Fosse. A veteran "Fosse dancer", she worked with Bob Fosse on Broadway in Dancin' and Sweet Charity. Also, she toured in the current revival of Chicago. Other roles on Broadway: Sheila in A Chorus Line, Madame Delia in Dangerous Games and leading the Tap Challenge in the title number of On Your Toes. She's been featured on Broadway in The Will Rogers Follies, How to Succeed..., Singin' in the Rain, Sugar Babies, and Copperfield. Of her numerous Off-Broadway, regional and touring credits, Dana's favorites include Lola in Damn Yankees and The Kosher Caterer and The Doctor in Falsettos.
MIKI ORIHARA
Miki Orihara began her training in Japan at an early age in traditional Fujima Japanese Dance. After graduating from Bunka Gakuin high school in Tokyo, she came to New York to study at the Joffrey Ballet School. She then received scholarships to study at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. In 1983, she became one of the original members of the Martha Graham Ensemble and shortly thereafter joined the Martha Graham Dance Company. She has performed with various other prominent companies and choreographers as well. These include Elisa Monte and Dancers, Jean Erdman, Marioko Sanjo, Jun Kono Dance Troupe (Japan), Twyla Tharp, and Robert Wilson. In 2001, she was invited to dance at the New National Theater in Japan. In 2006, she was a guest artist with Pascal Riout Dance Theater. As an individual artist, she premiered her solo work/performance Searching Dimensions (1935) in New York. She is currently on the faculty at the Martha Graham School. She also played a role Topsy and Eliza in the Broadway production of The King & I, directed by Christopher Renshaw, choreographed by Jerome Robbins and Lar Lubovitch.
MIREILLE RADWAN-DANA
Mireille Radwan-Dana was born in Beirut and raised in Rome. Attending Tersicore from 1978 - 1986, she then moved to Brussels to attend the Mudra School from 1986 - 1988 and was a member of the Mark Morris Dance Group for 13 years.
EDDIE TAKETA
Eddie Taketa holds a BFA in Dance Theater from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and is the recipient of a 1998 New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie) for Sustained Achievement in Dancing. Dancing professionally since 1982, Taketa has performed with such companies as the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Murray Louis Dance Company, and Nikolais Dance Theater. He has also performed in the Jacob's Pillow's Men Dancers: The Ted Shawn Legacy. As a teacher, he has taught at numerous universities, festivals and studios throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. Notably, he taught and choreographed as Guest Artist in Dance at Connecticut College from 1995-2006. Taketa has been a member of Dog Varone and Dancers since 1994.
KARLA WOLFANGLE
Karla Wolfangle (Paul Taylor Company) is a graduate of The Boston Conservatory of Music and danced with The Paul Taylor Company from 1981 to 1993. She was also a member of the Lar Lubovitch dance Company, The Boston Ballet and was co-director and co-founder of The Cliff Keuter Dance Company. She has been on the faculty of The National Institute of The Arts in Taipei, Taiwan, The Harvard Summer Dance Center, The American Dance Festival, University of Maryland, Adelphi University, and was Guest Artist in Residence from 1995 to 1999 at The North Carolina School of the Arts. Her choreography has been presented in New York City at The City Center, The Cunningham Dance Center, Dance Theater Workshop, and The Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. In the summer of 1999, Ms. Wolfangle choreographed and performed in Woody Allen's feature film Small Time Crooks. In the spring of 2000, she choreographed a revival of Fiddler on the Roof for the Greensboro Theater Company in North Carolina. In the summer of 2000, she was invited to present her choreography as part of Paul Taylor's 70th birthday celebration. Currently she is on the faculty The New School/Joffery School, The Paul Taylor School, Barnard College, and Hofstra University.
