Dance Newsletter, Winter 2010

dance GOUCHER COLLEGE

a student publication of the goucher college dance department

vol. 26, no. 1 | Fall 2010

The Impact of Archibald Shawnia T. White ‘11 doorway to observe our improvisation class without the slightest emotion on her face.

Everyone in improvisation began to whisper about her presence until, finally, Juliet Forrest, the faculty director of the residency, introduced her to the class. Immediately, she proved to be a woman of confidence and great insight. She lit up every room into which she walked and commanded attention with the smallest movements.

Archibald is a woman of very few words, but she is a poet through dance. She pushed everyone to new heights, and not just the dancers in her cast, but also those in the classes she taught throughout her week at Goucher. She emphasized that we cannot separate our emotional life and our dance life because they are interconnected through the mind, which ultimately controls the body.

One thing she strongly believes is that, as dancers, we need to be able to place our emotions inside our bodies where we can be driven by them, but not disturbed or distracted from doing other activities.

Kate Clarke, John Hoobyar, and Tara Kearney perform Chasing Shadows Photo courtesy of Mariah Halkett

Before Jennifer Archibald arrived at Goucher in September, she was a primary topic of discussion in the Dance Department. Many hopeful dancers attempted to research her company by looking her up on YouTube and Google, trying to decipher and prepare for

her style; however, no video or website could prepare us for the experience we were going to have.

I remember the moment Archibald came into the Eisner Dance Studio. She stood in the

Over 40 hopeful students auditioned to be part of her piece. Although only 13 people were selected for the cast, Archibald never denied anyone the right to watch her and her dancers at work. Archibald’s unique dance style and her ability to choreograph on the spot left the inspiration behind the piece open for interpretation. It wasn’t until almost the end of the residency that she revealed the meaning of the piece to the dancers.

Archibald shared that following the death of her father, she could have sworn she saw him numerous times walking down the streets of New York. Any person who dressed “The Impact of Archibald,” continued on page 2

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To Dance in Brazil

The Impact of Archibald

Kitty Dean ‘11

continued from page 1

similarly or had a slight resemblance to him caught her off-guard and made her think of him. Thus, the piece was titled Chasing Shadows.

Each dancer was encouraged to focus on a story or moment in their own lives in which they were fighting for or against a specific force, wishing for something unattainable, or running from or toward someone or something. The intimate moments in rehearsal, in addition to Archibald’s ability to relate her motivations for the piece into the dancers’ personal lives, allowed the dancers to take the piece to a new commitment level within them.

Goucher dancers with Capoeira instructors Photo courtesy of Rachel Noonan

In May, 13 Goucher dancers, under the direction of Glenna Blessing and Sara Thomson, arrived in Brazil. For three weeks, the students studied traditional Brazilian dance and Capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial art. They were able to sightsee, but mostly gleaned cultural knowledge and the experience of dancing in a different setting.

Shawnia White ’11 recalls, “The classes were different [from Goucher] because they didn’t focus as much on technique. It was really nice to just get out and dance. We warmed up and went into a combination. We were given feedback on how we moved through the space, our dynamics, and our connection with the music. One thing I loved is that the majority of the time, we started and ended class in a circle. Beginning in a circle allowed everyone to pass their energy around the room.”

Lydia Muhrer ‘11 enjoyed the tradition incorporated in the dance styles. She also

spoke of the warm and inviting manner of the Brazilian people and the integration of art into society. “There was singing and an abundance of symbolism for each of the movements. There was also a lot of mixture because of the variety of cultural influences; there was Afro-Brazilian, Capoeira, and Indian native dance influences. There is also a huge connection between Brazilian music and dance; the two are almost interchangeable.”

“One of the nights I will always remember is when we attended a classical music concert on the Copacabana beach,” Megan Lynn ’11 says. “I loved sitting on the beach, watching the waves crash almost in perfect time with the live music. I will never forget thinking that music, dance, and art are universal. No matter where you are, what language you speak, music, dance, and art connect us all as people and make us feel at home.”

Merril Doty ’12, England, dance Allie Rodis ’11, Costa Rica, education

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At “Meet the Artist” at the end of the week, Archibald only disclosed the meaning of her work to the audience after they had seen the entirety of the piece, allowing time for them to contemplate what they had witnessed. Not only did she reveal that her work was about something personal, emotional, and very dear to her heart, but she also emphasized the fact that her movement all came from classical training that she morphed into a style undeniably her own.

Chasing Shadows, one of Archibald’s many masterpieces, is an example of how she uses a very stressful and emotional moment in her life as motivation for creativity and art.

Her movement has a clear fusion of hip-hop and ballet foundations; a perfect example of why it is important for dancers to study various, even opposing, styles.

Not only did Archibald push our technical boundaries, but she also gave us wisdom on performance, motivation, and creativity.

Dance Outside of Goucher Kitty Dean ‘11

(From left) John Hoobyar (fourth from left) with fellow Bates interns; Emily Riddle and Natalia Maldari in Paris; Emeri Fetzer (second from right) with Jacob’s Pillow interns Photos courtesy of each intern

Many Goucher dancers find themselves worrying about what they will do and persue after graduation. A great way to make connections, to test the waters of an area in which you’re interested, and to get your name out into the dance world is to apply for a dance-related internship. Six Goucher dancers were awarded dance-related internships in the past year.

Emily Riddle ’11 and Natalia Maldari ’11 studied in Paris, France, during the last academic year. As part of their study-abroad program, they were required to have an internship for part of the year; both requested a dance company or studio. Riddle worked with a jazz dance studio, Le Centre International de Danse Jazz, as an office worker and aid. In the fall semester, she worked for a few hours each day and was allowed to take a jazz class.

In the spring, she took ballet, modern, and jazz and worked in the office after classes.

Maldari was placed with a contemporary company, Atelier de Paris Carolyn Carlson.

She worked in the public relations office and, in addition to her usual office aid tasks, she printed the calendar of events for the company and distributed them to all the theatres in the city. She was unable to take company classes, but found seeing the process of publicizing a company very beneficial.

Erin Quarles ’12 worked with the New York International Ballet Competition as a summer intern. Because 2010 is an off-year for the competition, much of Quarles’ work involved making press material for the 2011 competition. She served as a marketing intern and designed an e-newsletter for which she had to decide on the appropriate content and format.

John Hoobyar ’11 served as the “festival guy” for the Bates Dance Festival. He was a

proverbial “gopher” and was expected to pick up people from the airport, move large fans across campus, tech a few informal concerts, usher for performances, and perform other such tasks for the administrators of the festival. He was able to take three classes a day, enjoyed the many performances, and had the opportunity to meet faculty members of other universities, administrators for dance companies, students, counselors, and participants.

Internships are a great way to network, as well as a way to expand upon knowledge of the dance world. Each student worked in a different dance setting, but all gained beneficial experience for careers they hope to pursue. They witnessed the administrative paths necessary to make a company or a school successful, and enjoyed the perks of being an intern by watching professional performances and taking great classes.

Emily Rorty ’11 worked for two dance organizations in Washington, DC, over the summer: as intern and resident advisor for the Kirov Ballet School and as a marketing and public relations intern for Joy of Motion Dance. There are three Joy of Motion studios in the DC area, and Rorty tried to create cohesion among the three. She designed bulletin boards and themes for each studio. She was not paid, but was able to take classes, and commented that the differences between the two jobs allowed her to test the waters as both an implementer and a creator, and that both organizations have propelled her into the field of dance education and outreach.

Emeri Fetzer ’10 worked at Jacob’s Pillow Dance for the 2010 Festival season as one of three artist-services interns. Fetzer acted as the direct liaison for all visiting choreographers, companies, guests, scholars, students of The School at Jacob’s Pillow, researchers, and groups. She conducted company manager meetings, processed contracts, and booked travel plans for the artists, and also did innumerable miscellaneous tasks associated with the festival—emergency costume runs, rebuilding sets, throwing cast parties, filtering fans of companies, tracking cargo, checking mail, and even running to the grocery store for lozenges when dancers had sore throats.

Chrystelle Trump Bond’s first-year Frontiers class, War and Dancing: Strange Bedfellows, was ranked number three on the “Oddest College Courses in the D.C. Region” list by The Washington Post. The class requires students to learn how music and dance became both cultural metaphors for and critical responses to the effects of war on American soldiers and civilians during wartime.

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Profile: Rick Southerland Muriel Mills ’11 Muriel Mills ’11 had the opportunity to sit down with Rick Southerland, the newest assistant professor in the Dance Department.

Southerland has extensive experience in dance education and teaching dance and serves on the board of directors for the National Dance Education Organization. At Goucher, he teaches intermediate and advanced modern technique, dance education, and dance composition.

piece was conceptually based in the styles of Gerri Houlihan, Betty Jones, and Mark Taylor, all of whom I trained with at the American Dance Festival.

MM: Can you tell us a little bit about your philosophy on dance education?

RS: The classroom is not inside four walls.

The reason I teach is not only for me to give to my students, but also for me to learn from them. My role as an educator is to facilitate the learning experience and the process of thinking. As educators, we have to be okay with tangents and moments of self-discovery.

You have to be in the day, in the moment.

MM: How did you first become involved in dance/dance education?

RS: I went to my cousin’s first dance recital at the end of my second-grade year, and loved it. The next year, my mom and dad signed me up for classes. All through middle and high school I stayed active in the arts, like choir and theater, but originally went to Eastern Carolina University to study clothing design.

When taking an elective tap class, I was persuaded by my instructor to study dance.

After I received my B.F.A. in dance, I fell into teaching.

MM: What has been your most interesting experience at Goucher so far?

RS: All of it! I really appreciate all the support from the faculty, the Dance Department, and the administrators here at Goucher.

MM: What do you expect from your students? Do you have any advice for Goucher dancers?

MM: Do you have a favorite performance or piece of choreography that you have danced?

RS: My favorite is probably the piece of choreography I created for my senior thesis called “Indoctrination: A Design for Living.”

The music was by Dead Can Dance and the

RS: Be in the moment and embody the moment. Whether you get what is going on or not, be present, put forth effort, and challenge yourself!

Photo courtesy of Rick Southerland

The Right Junk Shot Georgia Speier ’11 This semester, faculty member Juliet Forrest is choreographing a modern piece titled Junk Shot on 14 dancers. Inspired by the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the piece is about “the industrial attempt to make good out of a mistake,” Forrest says. The term “junk shot” comes from the theory that by shooting junk (golf balls, shredded tires, etc.) into the hole 5,000 feet deep in the ocean, the oil leak will be plugged. Forrest says she enjoys the irony of using garbage to stop pollution.

“For over 20 years, I have been creating political protests through my choreography, and I wanted to go back to that,” Forrest says, but she does not see her piece as an angry form of protest. In Forrest’s choreography, the audience will see a group of industrialists

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trying different ideas to solve a problem. This is meant to be similar to those hard at work attempting to plug the oil valves and clean up the spill.

Ironically, the process of creating Forrest’s piece is similar to the idea of a “junk shot.”

Her first attempt was not working, so she scrapped what she had and began again, and since starting over, she feels everything is running more smoothly. The oil spill in the Gulf was too deep for a “junk shot” to be effective, so an alternative plan does need to be created. As Thomas Edison once said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” We are representing the ways that don’t work in Junk Shot.

Courtney Colarik in rehearsal Photo courtesy of Fiona Cansino

Ballet on the BQE John Hoobyar ‘11

Walking toward the Todd Dance Studio to observe a ballet residency rehearsal, I was surprised to hear electronic, pop-music sounds coming from the studio. I hesitated, wondering if I were walking into the correct rehearsal; however, as I entered the room, the dancers were quickly cutting through space, moving fluidly on and off pointe in time to the pop aesthetic of composer Sufjan Stevens.

Watching the movement, the musical choice made sense to me. Groups of dancers were performing phrases of small, nuanced, nontraditional movements while in pointe

shoes. I never saw a fifth position, though it was evident that the movement was drawing on a modified classical vocabulary (with the occasional pirouette from fourth), as well as on pedestrian movements of a busy city street.

Sections of walking in parallel as one does outside of the studio were juxtaposed with the tombé pas de bourrée, and the expression seemed to be nothing more than “I need to get somewhere, so I’m going to walk there.”

This is the ballet of guest artist-in-residence Brian Reeder—a postmodern approach in which he plays with ideas of how the life pro-

cess intersects with the art process. This piece in particular deals with the sights, sounds, and movements of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE) in New York City. Stevens’ score is also inspired by the BQE, thus, the movement and the music work well together.

Even in rehearsal, it was evident how Reeder’s background informs his movement choices. A student of the School of American Ballet and a former Forsythe dancer, he has a classical base to his vocabulary, yet he takes an innovative approach to discovering what can be expressed with the medium of ballet.

(Counterclockwise from top) Reeder and his cast answer questions at Meet the Artist; Zoe Thomas, Courtney Colarik, and Sophie Kurek in rehearsal; the cast in rehearsal All photos courtesy of Lily Esposito

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Gargouillades on the Gridiron Megan Lynn ‘11

Every weekend during football season, Americans are glued to the television rooting for their favorite college and professional teams. For some, this activity is a pastime, for others, a religion; somehow, everything comes to a standstill when a football game is on. For Goucher dance alumna and faculty member Karissa Horowicz, watching football serves not only as a pastime, but also as a choreographic inspiration. “My oldest son started playing football this summer,” she says. “Sitting through endless hours of practice, I began to notice many similarities

between ballet and football.” Her audition phrase and original choreographic ideas began very literally—the movements were obviously inspired by football.

As rehearsals continued, her choreography became much more abstracted and balletic.

You don’t see too many football players performing arabesques and gargouillades to Bach’s Concerto #1 in D minor, do you? If you look closely enough, you will still see a coin toss, referee signals, catching, blocking, and even a huddle amongst the high jumps,

multiple turns, and beautiful lines of the 11 dancers in her work.

“Ballet and football both require a great deal of strength, stamina, agility, and grace. Both are carefully choreographed,” Horowicz told her dancers, “I don’t want this piece to be just about football. I want to show off the athleticism and physicality of the ballet dancer.” Her choreography will be presented at the Goucher Repertory Dance Ensemble Concert in November.

(Clockwise from left) Lizzy Purcell in rehearsal; Horowicz demonstrating for her cast; Megan Lynn, Courtney Colarik, and Emily Riddle in rehearsal All photos courtesy of Victoria Simons

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An Unkindness of Ravens Courtney Colarik ‘11

Poe is consumed by alcoholism Photo courtesy of Lily Esposito

On a Saturday evening in early October, an unkindness settled on Goucher’s campus.

No, it was not the arrival of parents and siblings for Family Weekend, but, rather, the performance of a group of ravens (also known as an unkindness) in Faculty Member Christopher Fleming’s ballet, The Myth and the Madness of Edgar Allan Poe. It was an experiment of sorts, with professionals from Fleming’s new company, BalletFleming, dancing the principal roles while the corps de ballet comprises Goucher students.

This mixing of students and professionals is something new for the department, but it afforded some of us a glimpse into what will hopefully be our future. It was beneficial to observe how professional dancers interact with each other and with the choreographer, and, for the Goucher dancers, it was interesting to see Fleming wear the hat of choreographer instead of teacher.

The ballet was originally commissioned for the Dayton Ballet, and Fleming has adapted it for both Goucher and Verb Ballets in Cleveland, Ohio. He began his process by studying Poe and trying to draw out underlying themes in his life in order to create an understandable visual narrative, since “ballet is a non-verbal art form.” Through the course of his research, Fleming found that the raven was an important symbol for Poe. Thus, Fleming decided to create the role of a head raven to command the corps de ballet of ravens. She, with the help of her corps, antagonizes Poe throughout the ballet—“They won’t allow him to have love,” says Fleming.

Next, Fleming drew out four significant figures from Poe’s life who became the principal characters: his mother, his adoptive father John Allan, his wife, and his love of literature.

An interesting feature of Poe’s work is that he used important people in his life as inspiration for his short stories and poems; for example, “The Pit and the Pendulum” (mother) and “The Telltale Heart” (John Allan) are two short stories that have clear links to his personal relationships. Fleming was able to use these stories as inspiration for the pas de deuxs that occur through the first act between each of the characters and Poe; during these, the ravens are the underlying current that drives apart the two characters in each scene.

“An Unkindness of Ravens,” continued on back

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Once It’s Over, You’ll Know It Started

The New Schon Dancer Wellness Center Megan Lynn ‘11

Marah Wilson ‘12 Guest Artist Leslie Seiters joined the Goucher dance community during early arrival week in August, and brought a warm presence, but also a demand for her dancers to explore the release and natural impulse of their bodies in motion and space.

Such exploration was a completely new experience for many Goucher dancers.

Seiters’ choreographic process was rooted in collaboration, as the majority of movement was generated through the dancers’ own engagement. Seiters was present to experience our own approaches. As a communal encounter, all 16 dancers not only came upon their own movement sequencing, but the group also experimented frequently with trying each other’s movements.

We were asked to explore what Seiters called “big deal” and “no big deal” movement. This experiment questioned movement dynamics and the use of weight. This contrast allowed the individual to take a gesture and show it off or choose simply to portray its function.

Amidst dialogue with Rehearsal Director Michael Thomas, we shared our ideas of Seiters’ ability to leave room for the dancers to move genuinely and without judgment.

Each of us was given the opportunity to explore personal impetus in our bodies and in the communal space Seiters provided.

Seiters spoke of our presence on stage, expressing that we were to “invite people to watch us.”

My time with Seiters was more than just a formal encounter as “dancer”—it was a human experience as well. Seiters used her dancers to shape and create, and through collaboration, we all found our own influence within her work.

The work and the movement are now present for the audience members to explore and interpret for themselves.

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Chrystelle Bond watches at Dr. Schon cuts the ribbon with his scalpel.

Photo courtesy of Todd Mion

Do you know any doctors with over 180-degree turnout and a very deep demi plié? Dr. Lew Schon, the chief foot and ankle orthopedic surgeon at Union Memorial Hospital, always impresses the dancers in the anatomy and kinesiology course with his flexibility when he comes to Goucher. He has played an integral role in this course for a number of years, assisting in the anatomy screenings of the students in the class.

Once each semester, Dr. Schon and his colleagues spend all morning at Goucher watching the dancers perform pliés, relevés, soutés, developpés, and arabesques. They assess for misalignments and weaknesses, particularly in the foot and ankle, but also in the hip and torso. At the end of screenings, Dr. Schon has his colleagues attempt to do all the steps the dancers had to perform in order to understand how much training dancing requires.

This semester, the Goucher Dance Department honored Dr. Schon by naming the new dance wellness center after him.

The Schon Dancer Wellness Center officially opened on September 19. Dr. Schon had the privilege of cutting the ribbon with his own scalpel.

Thanks to Shawnia White ’11, Sara Thomson, and Elizabeth Ahearn, the wellness center was moved from the back of the ladies’ locker room to a better suited, and much larger, facility for dancers. The wellness center is now a spot for students to hang out between classes. There is a table for meetings and a couch for relaxing and napping. There are physioballs, Yamuna body rolling balls, foam rollers, resistabands, and many other devices at the dancers’ disposal to aid in fixing misalignments and strengthening weaknesses.

The wellness center hours are posted in the Dance Department, so be sure to stop by to see the new location and use the equipment.

Inspired by Wheels Ashley Evans ‘11 On Sunday, October 24, two dozen students gathered in the Todd Dance Studio to learn how to dance using a wheelchair. The workshop was led by Kitty Lunn, artistic director of Infinity Dance Theater. Lunn, who has studied dance her entire life, became a paraplegic after a terrible fall that resulted in a broken back.

Unwilling to let her wheelchair inhibit her dancing, Lunn founded Infinity Dance Theater in 1995. The company features dancers with and without disabilities.

Kitty Lunn performs In Time Like Air. Photo courtesy of Ashley Evans

During the workshop, Lunn shared with students the wheelchair dance technique that she has developed out of her strong ballet and modern dance background. Students took turns sitting in the wheelchairs as they participated in a traditional ballet barre, a ballet center combination, a modern exercise based in Horton technique, and a partnering exercise. Lunn demonstrated how to transpose each movement from standing to a wheelchair. Where a standing phrase may consist of focusing on the movement of the feet, a

wheelchair phrase emphasizes the use of the torso, arms, and breath in order to match the quality of the movement. In partner work, Lunn demonstrated how a couple consisting of a standing dancer and a wheelchair dancer can use pulling and turning to create floor patterns and gestures just as beautiful to watch as if all of the dancers had been standing and leaping across the floor.

Lunn also gave observers a little taste of what performing in a wheelchair is like by showing her piece, In Time Like Air, in which she intelligently manipulated the chair. By hanging from it, lying across it, and sliding underneath it, the chair became more than a simple tool for transportation. Lunn beautifully portrayed how smoothly and gracefully dancing can be transposed to a wheelchair. The amount of joy on Lunn’s face showed how grateful she was to share her dance with others. Her workshop reminded dancers that it isn’t always about your feet, but what’s in your heart; anyone with the passion to dance should do so.

Senior Independent Projects: Dancing Away From the Stage Lizbie Harbison ‘11 When audience members come to a dance performance, they arrive with the expectation of sitting in an auditorium with a stage in front of them and witnessing dancers perform movement upon that stage. After they shut off their cell phones and settle comfortably into their seats, the audience usually only has to sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.

This, however, will not be the case for two of the Dance Department’s senior independent projects—Megan Lynn, Georgia Speier, and Shawnia White have discovered innovative ways to portray their individual movement concepts while not using the typical stage space.

Lynn’s piece is inspired by Crockett Johnson’s Harold and the Purple Crayon. Using the impetus of creating your own story on a blank canvas, she has moved from outside of the traditional dance studio and throughout the Sports & Recreation Center (SRC) to develop a movement installation. When asked why she chose to steer away from the common method of showing choreographic work, Lynn shared how she was inspired by the three-week intensive course abroad she spent in Brazil last May. “I have always loved watching dances in unusual performance spaces and Brazil was no exception,” she says. “I realized that the SRC is perfect

for a movement installation. It never really occurred to me how many interesting sites there are to explore that I pass on a daily basis.”

While Lynn is choreographing stories, Georgia Speier and Shawnia White have gone to the zoo! Inspired by zoo animals, Speier and White are collaborating with Goucher dancers and students from the Dallas Nicholas Elementary School in Baltimore City. Read a Story, Dance a Story utilizes abstracted movement from animals. Instead of theatrically acting like a lion on stage, the choreographers have created fierce movement, which reflects a lion’s behavior. When asked what prompted them to work with children, they said, “We think arts integration is important in the education of today’s youth. Dance is not only a great outlet for creativity, but also improves a child’s way of thinking and problem solving in academic classes.”

Megan Lynn’s work will be shown the weekend of December 10 and Georgia Speier and Shawnia White’s project will be showcased at the Dallas Nicholas Elementary school in Baltimore City in the early months of the spring semester and again in the matinee performance in the Spring Dance Concert in April 2011.

Clockwise: Megan Lynn; Shawnia White; Georgia Speier

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Dance Department Calendar of Events December 2010– April 2011 Fall 2010 Friday, December 10 Megan Lynn’s Senior Independent Concert/ Installation Todd Dance Studio, 6 and 8 p.m. Free admission.

Friday–Tuesday, December 10–14 Orchesis-Sponsored Finals Week Master Class Series

Spring 2011 January 2011 Intensive Course Abroad in Ghana, West Africa Friday–Sunday, February 4–13 Zippora Karz, Ballet Guest Artist in Residence Sunday, February 6 Lecture and Book Signing by Zippora Karz Hyman Forum, Athenaeum, 3 p.m.

Friday, February 11 Meet the Artist with Zippora Karz Todd Dance Studio, 6 p.m.

Friday–Sunday, February 18–27 Constance Dinapoli, Modern Guest Artist in Residence Friday, February 25 Meet the Artist with Constance Dinapoli Todd Dance Studio, 6 p.m.

Friday and Saturday, April 1 and 2 Ashley Evans’ Senior Thesis Presentation Todd Dance Studio, 7 p.m.

Friday and Saturday, April 15 and 16 Goucher Repertory Dance Ensemble Concert Kraushaar Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.

Friday, April 29, 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, April 30, 3 and 7:30 p.m.

Todd 361 Series and Chorégraphie Antique Todd Dance Studio

Alumnae/i News 2010 Emily Adams moved to New York City directly after graduation to complete the Pilates certification program at True Pilates New York. The Pilates Center at Goucher offers a scholarship for certification, and, as the recipient, Adams must complete a two-year contract as a Pilates instructor at Goucher following her certification. Adams is also the receptionist at True Pilates East and loves working there. She feels so fortunate to have been given this amazing gift, as she is able to immerse herself in Pilates in one of the best studios in the world.

After graduation, Elyse Morris did a project in Montreal called Springboard Danse Montreal. She worked on two pieces while there: one with choreographer Sylvain Emard, the other, a dance/theater project with Italian director Arianna Bardesono and Canadian choreographer Alanna Kraaijeveld. The project became a three-week residency in New York City and culminated in five performances at the Stella Adler Studio of acting in July. In August, Morris joined the Seán Curran Company and is also working with Kyle Abraham/Abraham.

In.Motion. Her professional debut was on October 2 at Colby College in Maine with Kyle Abraham/A.I.M. in an evening-length work called The Radio Show, and she embarked on her first tour with Seán Curran in late October in Indianapolis at the University of Notre Dame. Morris resides in Brooklyn, NY, and works part time at the Juilliard Store while interning twice a week with the folk arts department, Regrant Program, and development department at the Brooklyn Arts Council where she assists with administration, event planning, and community outreach. She is honored to work with such great people at this point in her life and is excited for the future.

After recovering from back surgery, Sarah Nagle recently relocated to New York City and was offered a place in a scholarship program with Jennifer Muller/The Works with fellow alum Ashley Turenchalk. They take company class every day and work in the office as part of the program. Nagle is also an arts administration intern with KEIGWIN+COMPANY. She plans to audition for more companies and dance projects in the future.

Upon graduation, Kellene Rottenberger moved back home to Long Island, New York. Aside from schooling local housewives at Zumba, she is interning with Parsons Dance in Times Square. As an arts administration intern, Rottenberger han-

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dles the office tasks of the company, but also has the privilege to meet the dancers, watch rehearsals, and schmooze with the big cheese. Apart from the amount of time she spends at Parsons Dance, she is also seeking employment, and is planning to start auditioning as soon as possible.

Adriana Saldana didn’t wander far from Goucher. She is living in downtown Baltimore, and is working for a physical therapy group. Artistically, she is dancing with The Collective in Baltimore and Jane Franklin Dance in Arlington, Virginia. Saldana is also working toward a yoga teacher certification at Lifeline Power Yoga in Towson.

Alyssa Santos has recently begun teaching at the Moving Company Dance Center in Cockeysville, MD. She teaches tap, and is assisting with three different ballet classes with students ranging from ages three to twelve. She will become their fulltime teacher in January. She loves teaching others and sharing with them, especially at such a young age, her passion for dance.

In June 2010, Ashley Turenchalk started rehearsing with Roger C. Jeffrey and seven other dancers. The first week of July, the cast headed to Jacob’s Pillow to perform Jeffrey’s piece, Lealtad nos Libera (Loyalty is Freedom) on the Inside/Out stage. Then, Turenchalk returned to Goucher as a camp counselor for the Summer Arts Institute.

Currently, she is trying to make the big move to New York City and has been offered a place in Jennifer Muller’s Scholarship/Apprentice program with fellow alum Sarah Nagle. The program allows them to take company class 4-5 days a week for two hours. In addition, Turenchalk is assisting and dancing with Roger C. Jeffrey.

2009 Angelica Daniele is working for Morton Street Dance Center in Baltimore, dancing for Full Circle Dance Company and Deep Vision Dance Company, is on the board for the Maryland Council for Dance, is a member of DanceUSA’s Emerging Leaders Task Force, and is in her second year of graduate school at Goucher completing a Master’s of Arts in Arts Administration.

Her thesis, Performance: The Collective and Introspective, is in the process of being published and will be out on the market by the end of the season.

Marilyn Mullen is living in Baltimore and dancing with the Effervescent Collective (which just won City Paper’s Best Dance Company of Baltimore Award), as well as the Collective Dance Company. She is a firstgrade teaching assistant at City Neighbors Hamilton, a new charter school in Baltimore City, and loves working at the school because of the focus on arts integration and projectbased learning. During the summer, Mullen directed a morning program for children in New York. Allie Rodis ’11 and Mullen are also collaborating on a Kids to Kids Choreography project that Mullen created while studying in West Africa and Rodis is now organizing while she is abroad in Costa Rica. Kids to Kids Choreography is a dance cross-cultural exchange project that asks kids “What do you learn when you learn from movement?” Mullen is thrilled that Rodis is continuing the project.

Kymbrely Piper recently moved into an apartment in Pikesville, MD, with two good friends. During the day, she serves as a substitute teacher for Carroll County Public Schools in mostly elementary and high school classrooms. Piper was hired as the choreographer for one of the local high school’s fall musical production of Footloose, performed in mid-November. For the past six years, Piper has been teaching ballet, modern, and jazz dance classes at a studio in Finksburg, MD, to students ranging from ages three to 15.

This studio fostered her love of dance, and teaching in the environment has proved to be a unique and rewarding experience.

After graduating from Goucher College with a B.A. in biology, Becky Seigel was accepted to Ohio State Medical School. She deferred acceptance for a year in order to pursue her interest in Bikram yoga, a means of crosstraining that she began to practice as a sophomore at Goucher. She is currently completing a nine-week teacher training program in San Diego, CA. After becoming a certified instructor, Seigel will live in Baltimore and teach full time at Bikram Yoga Baltimore. She hopes to enroll in medical school within the next few years.

Ariella Singer is currently living in Philadelphia, PA, and has been dancing with Vada Dance Collective. The company performed twice earlier in the year and in the Philly Fringe Festival. In Philadelphia, Singer has been volunteering as a doula, a labor coach, and has decided to become a nurse-midwife.

In January, she will begin nursing school at Duke University.

Last season, Annalise Woller was a principal with Boulder Ballet but had to work several other jobs (teaching, tutoring math, etc.) in order to earn enough to live off. Recently, Woller was offered a contract dancing as a company member with Dayton Ballet. She is very excited to focus primarily on dancing this year.

2005 Now dancing with Robert Moses’ Kin, which is based in San Francisco, Caitlin Kolb was featured in two separate reviews in The San Francisco Bay Guardian during the company’s past season.

2002 2008 Alisa Pravdo is working as a physical therapy technician in Baltimore and began pursuing her doctorate degree in physical therapy in June 2009.

Jenna Simon lives in Brooklyn, NY. She is dancing as a soloist with DeMa Dance Company, and is also dancing for Israeli choreographer Lior Shneior and for Goucher alum Emma Batman ’08. Simon teaches ballet at Logrea Dance Academy in Westchester, NY, and takes classes in the city whenever she can.

For the past two years, Whitney Rickards has been working administratively for Janice Garrett in San Francisco, CA. Rickards and Garrett are currently in the midst of reshaping her former company, Janice Garrett & Dancers, into a new performing arts entity to include her fellow choreographer Charles Moulton: Garrett+Moulton Productions.

Rickards performed in Garrett and Moulton’s evening length work The Illustrated Book of Invisible Stories in April 2009 and January 2010, and is looking forward to their next piece, The Experience of Flight in Dreams, slated to premiere next summer. She also has a job in a coffeehouse, working a lot so she can dance a little.

Asya Zlatina is in her third season with Koresh Dance Company. She lives in Philadelphia and is traveling a lot around the U.S. and internationally with the company. Koresh performs two home shows a season at their theater, The Suzanne Roberts Theatre on Phildelphia’s Avenue of the Arts. Zlatina finds the community wonderful, and loves the work she is doing.

2007 Currently, Kat Ritcher is a graduate student at Roehampton University in London. Richter wrote several reviews covering Resolution!

2009 at the Dance Place as well as several other dance performances in London including Out of Hand, the Melanda Dance Company, Big Beef Dance Theatre, Club Fisk, Elsabetta d’Aloia, and Fish in a Bowl Dance Company.

Becky Radway Dance Projects presented an evening of original work titled And They Built a Crooked House in December 2009 at the Connelly Theatre in New York City. In August 2010, they returned to Goucher College for a special performance.

2001 Hannah Kosstrin recently received the Selma Jeanne Cohen Award for a paper she submitted to the Society of Dance History Scholars conference. She is also completing her Ph.D. in dance at Ohio State University.

1996 Francesca Jandasek has been dancing with various companies such as CityDance Ensemble, BosmaDance, Dakshina Dance Company, and Tango Mercurio. She was commissioned by the Kennedy Center to choreograph work for the Millennium Stage performance in April 2009. Francesca also performed an evening of contemporary work titled BARE at Baltimore’s Theatre Project in August 2008, and performed with Dakshina Dance Company in Baltimore in November 2009.

Caroline Copeland is now a principal dancer for the New York Baroque Dance Company and has performed all over the United States and Europe. She was given a rave review in the December 2006 issue of Dance Magazine for her work with the NYBDC.

1992 Amy Marshall Dance Company (AMDC) performed A Klezmer Nutcracker and Other Stories in December 2008 at Westchester Community College, NY.

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An Unkindness of Ravens continued from page 7

dance GOUCHER COLLEGE

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Ashley Evans

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Georgia Speier

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Marah Wilson Fiona Cansino Lily Esposito Ashley Evans Mariah Halkett Tara Kearney Todd Mion Victoria Simons

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The ballet is abstract enough that an audience member seeing it for the first time will understand the emotion, though possibly not all the literary references. In the end, ballets exist to tell a story and to convey an emotion, and Fleming succeeds in this with his exploration and abstract retelling of Poe’s life.

Photographers:

GOUCHER COLLEGE

rest of his victims. Fleming uses this story to unfold the second act of the ballet.

dance

Photo courtesy of Victoria Simons

When restaging the ballet, Fleming decided to add another principal dancer—the character of Death. His inspiration for this character from another one of Poe’s stories, “The Mask of the Red Death.” In the story, people are frightened by the possibility of dying from consumption (today known as tuberculosis), and so the rich members of society shut themselves away in their houses. When the plague passes, they hold a ball in celebration.

However, in a macabre twist of fate, the last guest to arrive is Death, who then claims the

Kitty Dean