DANCE SHOWCASE
Friday, September 7, 2012 7:00 p.m.
Palace Theatre - PlayhouseSquare
This year’s Dance Showcase features Antaeus Dance, Dance/Theatre
Collective, Double-Edge Dance, Inlet Dance Theatre, Neos Dance Theatre,
Shri Kalaa Mandir and Verb Ballets.

Admission is free; no tickets are required. At the close of the show, guests will be treated to a special performance of the Grand Pas De Deux from Act II of The Nutcracker by members of The Joffrey Ballet.

MASTER CLASS: Kapila Palihawadana
Thursday, September 20, 2012 from 10:00 a.m. -11:30 a.m.
The Cleveland State University Department of Theatre and Dance is pleased to offer a free master class with Kapila Palihawadana on Thursday, September 20, 2012 from 10:00 a.m. -11:30 a.m. on the CSU Arts Campus, Dance Studio 523. This unique masterclass, courtesy of The Cleveland Foundation’s Creative Fusion International Artist Residency Program and Inlet Dance Theatre, takes place at the brand new dance studio at Cleveland State University located at 1901 E. 13th St. on the fifth floor of the Middough building and is open to the public. Registration is required and space is limited.  

To register, please contact Lynn Deering at l.deering@csuohio.edu

More information:
Kapila Palihawadana is in residence with Inlet Dance Theatre September-November, 2012, through The Cleveland Foundation’s Creative Fusion International Artist Residency Program. Master Classes with Kapila will include a warm up session including some of the yoga exercises and then explore rhythmic moves and improvisation.

Artistic Director of NATANDA Dance Theatre of Sri Lanka, Kapila studied traditional dancing in his native country Sri Lanka. He was the principal male dancer of the Channa Upuli Performing Art School and toured to India and Germany in 1999 and 2000. He was introduced to Western Classical Ballet by Oosha Sarawanamuttu and was the solo dancer in 'Joie de la dance' in 2003.

Kapila won a scholarship to go to Germany from the Goethe Institute in Colombo. He worked with some of the best dance companies there. He started his modern dance training under well-known teachers in Europe such as Christino Kono, Biasuty and Tomi Passonen. He learned choreography from Sasha Waltz, Irina Pauls & Manuel Quero from Germany and Devid Bolger from Ireland.

Among other choreographers in Sri Lanka, Kapila creates an innovative dance style and blends traditional dance elements with western dance techniques for his choreography. The life style magazine "Mirror Life" discovered Kapila's arresting style and mentioned: "It is the first of its kind of Sri Lanka and draws upon Lanka's cultural diversity to make ground-breaking attempt to revolutionise modern and contemporary dance in Lankan context."

Kapila holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Kelaniya and is also a lecturer at his Alma Mater for Russian and German. He gives dance classes in different international schools in Colombo. He is one of the principle dancers of Oosha Garten Ensemble and has performed as a Kandyan and modern dancer in Germany and India.

GroundWorks DanceTheater to Premiere New Work with Inaugural Series
at the Allen Theatre October 26 & 27
Performance Presented by CSU Department of Theatre and Dance

GroundWorks DanceTheater will kick off its inaugural series at the Allen Theatre in PlayhouseSquare with the world premiere of a new work by guest choreographer Doug Elkins at 7:30 p.m. on October 26 and 27, 2012.  The program will also include works by Artistic Director David Shimotakahara and Artistic Associate Amy Miller.
 
The performances are presented by the Cleveland State University Department of Theatre and Dance, which begins a new partnership with GroundWorks as a Professional Dance Company In Residence.

For reserved seats at $20 and $25, call 866-546-1353 or visit www.playhousesquare.org.  Student tickets are available for $10; free tickets for CSU students with a valid ID.   Tickets on sale September 28, 2012.

For more information on GroundWorks, visit www.groundworksdance.org. 

ABOUT the program:

Elkins, whose new piece for GroundWorks has not yet been titled, is renowned for blending traditional movements of ballet and modern dance with hip-hop and martial arts.  Critics praise his skillful craftsmanship, his humor and timing.  A two-time Bessie Award-winner and a 2012 Guggenheim Fellow, Elkins has created works for Batsheva Dance Company, Flying Karamazov Brothers, Pennsylvania Ballet and CanDoCo of London, among others.  He is a graduate of SUNY/Purchase and received an MFA in Dance from Hollins University.  

Doug Elkins new work was commissioned with generous assistance from Chuck and Charlotte Fowler through their contribution to GroundWorks NewWorks Fund.  The project was also supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Cleveland Foundation and the Kulas Foundation.

In “Lights Up,” which features jazz luminaries Howie Smith, Bill Ransom and Dan Wilson performing live, Shimotakahara collaborated with the entire company on the quirky and often humorous choreography.  With combinations of duets and trios, “Lights Up” centers on the interplay of the dancing and the music.

Miller’s “Allow,” which explores the ideas of chaos and split-second coherence with short, deliberate moves and dancers passing between each other in thrusting patterns, is punctuated by a musical soundscape created by Oberlin alum Alex Christie. 

In Shimotakahara’s “Circadian,” set to original music by Music Director Gustavo Aguilar, two dancers connect to the external and internal rhythms associated with the earth’s rotation, affecting our behavior and biology, and the deepest forces of attraction. 

The Allen Theatre performances feature new GroundWorks dancer Annika Sheaff, who earned a BFA from The Juilliard School.  A four year veteran of Pilobolus Dance Theater, she taught workshops and master classes for the company all over the world.  Sheaff has worked with Inbal Pinto, Avshalom Pollak, Ohad Naharin, Paul Taylor and Aszure Barton, among others.  Commercially she has collaborated with “Sesame Street,” “America's Got Talent,” Dance Magazine, and Extra!

Now in its 14th season, GroundWorks was founded by Shimotakahara in 1998 and is dedicated to the development and presentation of new choreography and collaborations.  The five-member Company performs new works by Shimotakahara and artistic assistant Amy Miller, as well as commissioned work by nationally and internationally acclaimed choreographers including Ronen Koresh, Dianne McIntyre, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Jill Sigman, Gina Gibney, David Parker and others.  

GroundWorks DanceTheater’s annual programming is made possible with funding from The National Endowment for the Arts, The Ohio Arts Council, Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, The Cleveland Foundation, The George Gund Foundation, The Murphy Foundation, The Kulas Foundation, The Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation, Cleveland City Dance, Individual Contributors, and Members of the GroundWorks Board of Trustees.  The Akron/Summit Co. Public Library concerts are generously supported by the GAR Foundation, Akron Community Foundation and the Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation, the Mary S. and David C. Corbin Foundation and the Knight Foundation.

 

---

 

Hip Hop Master Class with dancers of Illstyle & Peace Productions
Saturday, November 17, 2012
11:00am -12:30 pm
Presented by Tri-C Presents and hosted by the CSU Department of Theatre & Dance, this class is free and open to the public. Learn from the dancers of Illstyle & Peace Productions just ahead of their performance that evening at Tri-C Metro and enjoy the possibility of discount tickets for attendees!

WHERE: Middough Building (Cleveland State University Arts Campus) Dance Studio 523
1901 E. 13th St., 5th Floor, Cleveland, OH 44114
Registration is required and space is limited. To register please email Lynn Deering at l.deering@csuohio.edu.

 

DANCECleveland is presenting a FREE Masterclass with Alonzo King LINES Ballet's Rehearsal Director Arturo Fernandez

Pre-Professional/ Professional Level Dancers
Friday, January 25 from 11:00 am – 12:30 pm

The class will be in the:
Red Rehearsal Hall at the State Theatre, PlayhouseSquare
1650 Chester Ave., Cleveland, Ohio
Entrance is at the Stage Door off of Chester. (Next to the Hermit Club) Dancers must sign in with the guard and proceed up the stairs.

Dancers MUST RSVP to Sarah at DANCECleveland at 216.991.9000 by Wednesday, January 23 at 5:00 pm

Arturo Fernandez A native of Oakland, CA, Arturo began dance training at the School of Performing Arts of USIU in San Diego. After only two years of intensive study he joined San Diego Ballet in 1976. Other companies he’s performed with are California Ballet, Arizona Ballet, New Jersey Ballet, Ballets Trocadero de Monte Carlo and Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. After moving back to California, he joined Oakland Ballet and ODC/San Francisco and served as the assistant to the choreographers from 1988 until Spring of 1991. Arturo has choreographed for the James Sewell Ballet, Inland Pacific Ballet, and Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and has also demonstrated his work in self-produced concerts throughout the region. Since 1992, he has been the Ballet Master for Alonzo King LINES Ballet, assisting Alonzo King in the creation of new work. Since 1998, he has coordinated and taught in Alonzo King’s Professional Workshop. In 2001, he directed the first summer Pre-Professional Program at LINES. For almost two decades he has been an integral part of the Alonzo King Dance Center teaching for the Dance Center, the LINES Training Program and the LINES BFA program. He has set Alonzo King’s ballets on companies and universities throughout the US including NYU, Washington University in St. Louis and Western Michigan University. Most notably he set Alonzo King’s HANDEL on the Royal Swedish Ballet in Stockholm.

 

---

 

Join GroundWorks DanceTheater on Saturday, January 26, 2013

Free Community Master Class with Kate Weare and Douglas Gillespie
11:00 am to 12:30 pm

Reserve your space by emailing l.deering@csuohio.edu

Choreographer Kate Weare and Rehearsal Director Douglass Gillespie from the Kate Weare Company teach shared-axis partnering, a technique Weare developed to cultivate strength and sensitivity in individual dancers while exploring the shared and displaced space between two partners.

Kate Weare Work in Progress Showing
4:00 to 5:00 pm

See a preview of Kate Weare's new piece for GroundWorks DanceTheater before its world premiere at the Breen Center for the Performing Arts in Cleveland on February 15 & 16 and the Akron-Summit County Public Library on March 8

Cleveland State University
The Middough Building
1901 East 13th Street, Cleveland, Ohio
 
Presented by GroundWorks DanceTheater in partnership with Cleveland State University Department of Theater and Dance.

GroundWorks Upcoming Performances

February 15 & 16 at 7:30 p.m.
Breen Center for the Performing Arts; Cleveland

March 8, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.
Akron-Summit County Public Library; Akron

April 13, 2013 at 8:00 p.m.
The Rite of Spring Project with the Akron Symphony Orchestra
E.J. Thomas Hall; Akron

For more information visit www.groundworksdance.org.

 

---

 

DANCECleveland, Cleveland State University Department of Theatre and Dance and the Center for Arts and Innovation, and Playhouse Square are pleased to present:

Free Mark Morris Dance Group master class
Friday, March 1st, 5-6:30 pm
Cleveland State University Dance Studio, MB 523
 
Class led by Mark Morris Dance Group's Samuel Black
 
Registrations are now being accepted for the Mark Morris Dance Group masterclass. The class will be held on Friday, March 1st, 5-6:30 pm at Cleveland State University's Arts Campus dance studio, Room 523, located in the Middough Building at 1901 E 13th St, Cleveland, OH 44114.
 
The class will be led by Mark Morris Dance Group dancer Samuel Black. Mr. Black, a native of California, received his B.F.A. in dance from Purchase College and has performed with David Parker, Takehiro Ueyama and Nelly van Bommel and has been a company member of Mark Morris Dance Group since 2007.

Registration is limited and open to professional and pre-professional dancers. To register, please contact Lynn Deering at l.deering@csuohio.edu.

 

---

 

Saturday, March 2
CSU Arts Campus, Palace Theatre
Mark Morris Dance Group*
Presented by DANCECleveland, Center for Arts and Innovation at CSU, CSU Department of Theatre and Dance, and Playhouse Square. Tickets range from $10- $65.
For more ticket information please visit csuohio.edu/theatredance.
Mark Morris Ticket Information
Tickets range from $10- $65

CSU Student Tickets
$10- Section D tickets
* To receive the disount, students need to enter the code CSUS
Single Tickets May be purchased  online- at PlayhouseSquare.org, or by calling 216.241.6000
(Handling fees through PlayhouseSquare are not included in the $10)
Student Groups of 8 or more, can call DANCECleveland  at 216.991.9000, and all handing fees will be waived.

CSU Faculty Tickets
Discount: Buy One Get One Half Off
*Any seating Section, Buy One Get One Half Off
Single Tickets May be purchased  online- at PlayhouseSquare.org, or by calling 216.241.6000
(Handling fees through PlayhouseSquare are not included in the $10)

Project 60 Club  Tickets
$3 off Any seating level
* To receive the discount, enter the code MARK
Single Tickets May be purchased  online- at PlayhouseSquare.org, or by calling 216.241.6000

To purchase tickets please visit http://www.playhousesquare.org/default.asp?playhousesquare=58&objId=3067.

 

---

 

CSU Dance Concert
March 28, 29 & 30, 2013
CSU Arts Campus, Allen Theatre Second Stage

The Cleveland State University Department of Theatre and Dance will present the CSU Spring Dance Concert, March 28, 29, 30, 2013, at 7:30 PM in the Allen Theatre – Second Stage at 1407 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115. Featuring CSU DANCE COMPANY, ALUMNI, FACULTY & GUESTS with choreography by Habib Iddrisu, Amy Miller, Travis Gatling, Lynn Deering and Joe Booth, this repertory concert marks the second dance performance in the Second Stage space. The $5.00 general seating tickets may be purchased by calling 216-241-6000 or 866-546-1353, visiting the State Theatre Box Office in person, or may be ordered online at www.playhousesquare.org.

About the Concert: GroundWorks Dance Theater’s Artistic Associate Amy Miller returns to Cleveland to perform Trust the Future as Little as Possible. This solo, which she premiered Oct. 2012 at Spoke the Hub in Brooklyn with music by composer Peter Swendsen, explores the feeling of venturing into the unknown. A lone character searches for the illusive, yet she finds comfort in the search itself. Memories from the ephemeral past and expectations for an imagined future are bookends for a vibrant now. Abandoned, choreographed by Travis Gatling explores the struggle of both our attachment to and surrender from loss. Nina Simone's seductive, yet haunting rendition of "Ne Me Quitte Pas" supports the physical tension that this experience creates and features performances by CSU dance faculty and alum.

Also on the program is the brief solo Blue Suede Shoes in honor of Eugene Hare, the CSU theatre professor who passed away recently. Originally created for Dance/Theater Collective’s Last Dance at Euclid Beach, this vignette features Gene speaking about his own vivid memory of the park. Choreographed and performed by Dance/Theater Collective long-time dance partners Joe Booth and Lynn Deering, Bare Feet in the Park, is a light-hearted and nostalgic duet about an aging couple’s encounter during a visit to the park.

The CSU Dance Company will perform A Venture in Wanderland. Choreographed by Deering, this contemporary work draws inspiration from Lewis Carroll’s writings about Alice’s adventures revealed through a collage of movement and music. With movable set pieces designed by Russ Borski and costumes by Terry Pieritz, this whimsical and sometimes chaotic dance plays upon the idea that real life sometimes resembles what happens when one falls down a rabbit hole.

Two of the evening dances will include live music. CSU dancers and theatre students will perform with Ghanaian master/ drummer Habib Iddrisu in the contemporary West African piece, Asisawa, featuring dancing, drumming and song. The vocal score was created by Holly Holsinger, in collaboration with composer Patrick Stoops. At the Still Point of The Turning World, choreographed by CSU Dance Company members, will be performed to the music of CSU accompanist Mike McNamara.

 

---

 

MASTER CLASS WITH AMY MILLER
Thursday, March 28, 10-11:30

Cleveland State University Department of Theater and Dance is pleased to present a free master class with Amy Miller, Thursday, March 28, 10-11:30 am at Cleveland State University's dance studio, Room 523, located in the Middough Building at  1901 E. 13th St, Cleveland, OH 44114.   This master class is part of the kick off week of the CSU creative process project Intersections, supported in part by the residents of Cuyahoga County, through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. Though this master class is free, space is limited. To register, please contact Lynn Deering at dance@csuohio.edu.

AMY MILLER is a New York-based dancer and choreographer.   Founding member of Cleveland-based GroundWorks DanceTheater, she continues to serve as artistic associate and guest choreographer. A former member of the Ohio Ballet, her choreographic body of work was awarded an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award. In 2012, her work has been seen in NYC at Judson Church, Mark Morris Dance Center, Triskelion Arts, Spoke the Hub, Scandinavian House, and Gibney Dance Center.   Her ongoing collaboration with Oberlin Conservatory of Music professor/composer Peter Swendsen will continue with an upcoming premiere with the Oberlin Dance Company.   A new member of Gibney Dance, Miller will be involved in a collaboration with the renowned string quartet Ethel and composer Ryan Lott (Son Lux.)   Miller also appeared in this season's Metropolitan Opera productions of Don Giovanni and Doug Varone's Les Troyens. She will return to Cleveland in July to teach technique and creative process during the CSU Summer Dance Workshop, a part of the Intersections project.  

Class description: Utilizing improvisational structures to discover new ways of moving the body through space, Miller's master class will focus on both detailed precision and intentional blurring of movement.  Through conscious attention on softening the joints and use of momentum initiated from the core to energize the limbs, we will explore the body's capacity for greater range and ease of movement. Exploring both partnered and group improvisations will create visceral connections between the dancers encouraging increased awareness of the moment, as well as the immediacy of collaborative decision making.  The class will culminate with phrasework that incorporates the different dynamics of movement explored throughout the class.

 

---

CSU Viking Dance Team Try-outs
Wednesday, April 10, 5:00 pm
Middough Building, Dance Studio 523/530

Contemporary Master Class with Annika Sheaff of GroundWorks Dance Theater 
Thursday, April 25, 10:00 – 11:30 pm
Middough Building, Dance Studio 523/530

CSU Dance Company Audition
Friday, April 26, 4:00 – 5:30 pm
Middough Building, Dance Studio 523/530

 

---

 

Lucky Plush Master Class
Saturday, May 4, 11:00 –12:30 pm
Middough Building, Dance Studio 523

Presented by DANCECleveland and Cleveland Play House, and Cleveland State University Department of Theatre and Dance are pleased to offer a free master class taught by Lucky Plush Artistic Director Julia Rhoads.

Registration is limited - please email Lynn Deering at l.deering@csuohio.edu to reserve a space in this class.

JULIA RHOADS is choreographer and founding Artistic Director of Chicago-based Lucky Plush Productions. Her independent work has been commissioned by River North Chicago Dance Company, Alaska Dance Theater, Mordine and Company Dance Theater, and she has choreographed for theater companies including Lookingglass Theater, Redmoon Theater, and Walkabout Theater, among others.  Julia has received a Cliff Dwellers Foundation Award for Choreography, two Illinois Arts Council Fellowships for Choreography, a Jacob K. Javits Fellowship, a Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist Award, and a fellowship from the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography, and her collaborative work with Lucky Plush has been awarded a National Dance Project Production Award and a National Performance Network Creation Fund Award.  In 2010, she was named one of Dance Magazine’s to Watchand has been included in NewCity’s feature The Players. The 50 people who really perform for Chicago; in 2010 and 2012. Julia is formerly a company member of the San Francisco Ballet and collaborating ensemble member of XSIGHT! Performance Group. She earned a BA in History from Northwestern University and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute Chicago, and is currently the Theater and Performance Studies Dance Advisor at University of Chicago, and part-time faculty in the theater department at Columbia College Chicago.

Julia's classes draw upon extensive training and professional experience in diverse dance forms, improvisation, and choreography. She approaches every class as a laboratory where connections between movement, ideas, and performance skills are fostered, and she facilitates a collaborative environment that is both rigorous and playful to support risk-taking and growth. In technique classes, Julia emphasizes moving with weight, momentum, and dynamics, as opposed to prioritizing codified positions, and she helps students to pinpoint how movements are initiated, sequenced, and can be executed more efficiently. An attention to presence underpins all of Julia's classes. She believes that being available to authentic experiences refines intuition and supports embodied learning.