March 2012.
New World School of the Arts (NWSA) has been invited by The Martha Graham Dance Company, along with The Hartt School and just five other collegiate dance programs to perform at the Joyce Theater in New York, as part of the Company’s 86th Anniversary season.
The Company has chosen Inner Landscape as the focus for its 2012 season and will present a diverse range of performances, partnerships, and educational activities that explore the psychological aspects of dance. The special student Inner Landscape program takes place on March 14, at 7:30 PM. The Joyce Theater, one of the premiere theaters for dance in New York City, is located at 175 8th Avenue.
Mary Lisa Burns, dean of the dance division at New World School of the Arts says, “We are delighted to be participating in this program and to continue our deep connection of many years with the Martha Graham Center. For our students to work with artists so close to Martha Graham, and to learn and perform this profoundly powerful work, is an experience that will be transformational for them as dancers and as artists.”
Accompanied by the New World School of the Arts dean of dance, Mary Lisa Burns, and dance faculty member and choreographer Peter London, 13 college dancers will be traveling to New York to perform Graham’s Prelude to Action (1936). Directed by Peter London, the piece was restaged by Denise Vale with music by Wallingford Riegger and costumes executed by Keena Blair Brown. The NWSA troupe includes Andrea Ollarvide, Jessica Birt, Veronica Cato, Amanda Edwards, Stephanie Fuentes, Jasmine Howell, Nicola Johnston, Nadina Liberatore, Melanie Martel, Rachel Martin, Annellyse Munroe, Pei-Rong Wu, Alyssa Thompson, Understudy, Rehearsal Assistant, and Wardrode: La’Dreauna Johnson
Andrea Ollarvide, NWSA soloist remarks, “I am both excited and honored to have been given the opportunity to dance the part originally danced by Martha Graham in Prelude to Action. Although the work dates back to 1936, I am struck by its timelessness and feel that it reflects current events in our society, as I see my fellow students called to action.”
“We are very proud of our student productions of Graham dances and have partnered with schools all over the world since 2003,” says Janet Eilber, artistic director of the Martha Graham Center. “This is the first time we’ve organized a gathering of this year’s top student productions. It’s going to be a logistical challenge to have over 100 students on the stage in the course of the evening, but the energy will be tremendous. And I know it will be very moving to see the next generation of dancers take on these masterpieces of American dance.”
NWSA Dean of Dance, Mary Lisa Burns, was a dancer in the companies of Kenneth King, Brenda Daniels, Gina Gibney and others, was a faculty member for many years at the Merce Cunningham Studio, as well as at Barnard College/Columbia University, and served as the Cunningham Dance Foundation’s Director of Education prior to joining New World School of the Arts as Dean of the Dance Division in 2011. She holds an MFA from the Tisch School of the Arts/NYU and currently serves as Board Member and Secretary for the National Association of Schools of Dance. NWSA and its distinguished Dance faculty celebrate the success of their many alumni during this 25th anniversary year.
NWSA Choreographer Peter London is a distinguished choreographer and a teacher of Graham Technique and African-Caribbean Dance. He performed with the Jose Limón Dance Company as well as being a principal dancer for nine years in the Martha Graham Dance Company, for whom he currently serves as visiting Artistic Director Senior for international touring. A faculty member for the Alvin Ailey summer intensive program, he is the founding president and Artistic Director of Peter London Global Dance Theater. Mr. London is a graduate of the Juilliard School and holds a B.F.A. from NWSA/University of Florida.
More information about the Dance Division at New World School of the Arts at 305.237.3582.
New World School of the Arts
nwsa.mdc.edu
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