Sunday, October 28, 2007
PDC Wraps Up
Sunday, October 21, 2007
October Announcements
PDC France Photo
This fall we were pleased to welcome guest artist, Susan McLain, who visited the department to restage a work on PDC. Susan “…holds a B.A. in Dance Education and a M.F.A. from the Modern Dance Department at the University of Utah where she also served as a faculty member for eight years. Ms. McLain has taught at the Alvin Ailey School, the Martha Graham School, and various other professional studios and universities. Her choreography has been seen in the repertoire of the Martha Graham Dance Company, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, Repertory Dance Theater and other professional companies in the United States.” During her two-week residency Susan taught Technique, Workshop, and participated in our Brown Bag lecture series. Her piece "In the Company of Men" is being performed in the fall PDC performance.
In September we had Consultant Kim Konikow come talk our students about career development. The week of classes she taught covered some of the practical aspects of the dance profession including growing audiences for dance, the myths and realities of touring, grant writing, financial administration, raising funds creatively, and career options. While all the students benefited from her presence in the department, she specifically worked with the Freshman, Seniors and Graduate students. However, a Brown Bag lecture was held and ALL the students were able to ask questions and gain a better insight into the career. Kim came to us from a varied background in the arts as a presenter and administrator. She has worked as a consultant for Artservices and Company for over 25 years, and has worked administratively in New York, Arizona, Utah, and Minnesota. Thank you, Kim, for sharing your knowledge with us!
Other guest artists this fall semester are Gladys Bailin, Professor Emeritus from Ohio State and original member of the Murray Louis Dance Company and Millicent Johnne resident choreographer for Urban Bush Women. Youssouf Kombassa also made a master class appearance.
Auditions:
The audition for Spring PDC will take place shortly after this semester's PDC performance. Stay tuned for the date and time...
Storytime:
Here's some quotes from the PDC tour to France this past summer:
Satu was the first to hit the waves--her body surfing is like her dancing--free and weightless. (Laura Blakely)
Even though many of them did not speak English and most of us did not speak French, we shared one language; that of the body. (Rosa Vissers)
