2007 Caryn Halpern Sechrest and 2008 Natalie Skelton Tutu Marvelous scholarship recipient Amber Miller joins Eifmann Ballet September 2011.
ABT II director Wes Chapman gives class onstage at The Ailey Citigroup Theater. Photo by Rachel Papo
Kathryn Boren and Colby Parsons of ABT II in Antony Tudor’s Continuo.
Photo by Rachel Papo
2007 Nadyne Legere scholarship recipient Kathyn Boren pictures are featured in Pointe Magazine Aug/Sep story on the Royal Ballet School and ABT II preparing for a joint performance.
Kathryn joins Staatsballett Berlin mid-August 2011.
Pacific Northwest Ballet Artistic Director Peter Boal is pleased to
announce two new apprentices will join the
company in mid-September: Steven Loch and Sarah Pasch, both of whom were
most recently two-year members of the PNB School Professional Division.
(Mr. Loch and Ms. Pasch’s official start-date is September 19.)
Steven Loch is from Dallas, Texas. He studied at Ballet
Conservatory in Lewisville, Texas, and on scholarship at Harid
Conservatory and Pacific Northwest
Ballet School. While a student at PNB School, Mr. Loch performed corps
de ballet roles with Pacific Northwest Ballet in George Balanchine’s Coppélia, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Square Dance; Peter Boal’s Giselle; Ronald Hynd’s The Sleeping Beauty; Alexei Ratmansky’s Concerto DSCH; Jerome Robbins’ West Side Story Suite; Kent Stowell’s Cinderella and Nutcracker; and Twyla Tharp’s Waterbaby Bagatelles. He performed leading roles in Balanchine’s Chaconne and Western Symphony for PNB School’s annual School Performances and also performed leading roles in Bruce Wells’ Hansel and Gretel and Pinocchio.
He originated roles in ballets by Andrew Bartee, Kiyon Gaines, Paul
Gibson, Barry Kerollis, Margaret Mullin, and Seth Orza for PNB School’s
annual School Performance and PNB’s Choreographers’ Showcase and Next
Step
performances. Mr. Loch has performed as a guest artist at the
International Ballet Festival of Miami and the Youth America Grand Prix
Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow Gala. He has performed the
role of Albrecht in Giselle, opposite ABT soloist Sarah Lane, Prince Désiré in The Sleeping Beauty, and the lead in Balanchine’s Valse Fantaisie with LakeCities Ballet Theatre.
Steven is DCNT's 2009 recipient of the George Skibine Memorial scholarship. Congrats Steven!
Dylis performs in Dancing in the Dark.
Dylis Croman Minter
has been starring on Broadway in"Chicago" for the past three years, playing the role of
Mona and also understudying the lead role of Roxie Hart. She has had an extensive career on Broadway. Click here to find out more: broadwayworld.com/people/Dylis_Croman/
In the cast of CATS produced by Garland Summer Musicals, July 22 - 31: Calvin Rollins II (pictured above), 2004 George Skibine Scholarship, is cast as Quaxo. Victoria Dolph, 2001 Natalie Skelton Scholarship to Glenda Brown Choreography Project, is cast as Cassandra.
Jamie
Singbusch Hollenbeck, 1999 DCNT Scholarship Recipient, performed as
one of Gene Classic Tappers at Tap-a-Lot at the Music Hall. The number
was choreographed by Gene Pflug, 2011 Texas Tap Legend.
Photo credit: Christian Waits
Olivia Rehrman, 2008 recipient of the Charles Andrew Kulp scholarship,was featured on the back cover of the March issue of Dance Spirit Magazine.
2010 Curtain Call Rising Star Scholarship recipient Kwaku Manu Barca of Ghana, Africa, is currently in the US
performing at the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival June 11 and 12 on the UC Berkeley Campus.
Laine Habony, 2010 Sally Williams Memorial Scholarship recipient, is a merit
scholarship student at School of American Ballet's full year program in
New York City. Laine was a member of LakeCities Ballet Theatre and a
student at Ballet Conservatory.
Steven Loch, 2009 George Skibine Memorial Scholarship recipient, will join Pacific Northwest Ballet as an apprentice in the 2011-12 season. Steven was a member of LakeCities Ballet Theatre and a student at Ballet Conservatory.
Amber Miller, 2007 Caren Sechrest and 2008 Natalie Skelton Tutu
Scholarship recipient is currently being featured on Dance Media's Dance
212, episodes about five New York City college age dancers moving into
the professional world of performance. Click here: www.clicker.com/web/dance-212
David Storey's Gravity (2009)
When I first met Natalie Portman, she was a shy little girl in my class at the American Theater Dance in Long Island, New York. Always stage right in dance class, and always petrified of me because I stood right over her. My goal as a teacher with Natalie was to have her overcome her shyness. There where other dancers that were more extroverted, but I could see Natalie was more cerebral. I could tell that she was always trying to figure things out. She mostly took Theater Dance, but once a week took my contemporary dance class. Back then they didn't even have a name for it.
Natalie was a very hard worker. The entire school was very proud of her when she
made the audition for her first film, "The Professional". She hasn't
stopped since. I think she was around 12 years old. She didn't have
time to take class, but she and her mom would stop by the school to say "
hi".
First off, I very proud she is finally
dancing in a movie. People never believed me when I proclaimed she
could dance. Doubly proud that the choreography has a contemporary
theme to it.
You just never know who is going to "make it, or not". She was loved
by the class, but not the person everyone thought would be a star. You
never know. In your class, that little shy girl, stage right in your
classroom could be the next Natalie Portman.
David Storey
David Storey is the recipient of the 2006 Dance Council of North Texas' Natalie Skelton Award for Artistic Merit and is currently on Faculty at Point Park University and Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon University - Pittsburgh. An original cast member of "42nd Street" on Broadway, David also performed Broadway's "Peter Pan" with Sandy Duncan and the American Dance Machine.
Off-Broadway, David has choreographed 4 musicals
including "Just So" with Andre de Shields. Also Off-Broadway, Mr.
Storey developed and Assisted with the direction in "Groucho', which has been performed across the country, in London and turned into an HBO Special. David has also choreographed 5 musical for the ToHo production company in Tokyo including "My Fair Lady".
"David Storey DanceWorks" was a New York based contemporary company that performed actively in the New York area for 8 years. In addition, David has choreographed two complete Nutcrackers and over 50 works collectively across America, Singapore, Holland and Tokyo. David has also taught master classes in France,
Italy, Finland, Canada and Denmark. Mr. Storey also taught for 8 years
at the American Theater Dance Workshop, training such future stars as Natalie Portman. David also choreographed and appeared in the movie "He Said, She Said" with Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth Perkins, and performed on the Bob Hope Special, Miss Universe Pageant, Macy's Thanksgiving's Day Parade and various MTV videos.
Mr. Storey will be returning for his 16th year
at International Summer Dance at Point Park University.
2007 Nadyne Legere scholarship recipient and American Ballet Theater II company member Katie Boren joins ABT Company as an apprentice November 2010. Katie is a former member of
Ballet Academy of Texas company Ballet Ensemble of Texas in Coppell.
Congratulations to 2001 DCNT Fred Kelly scholarship recipient Diana Herrera– one of the newest members of 2010 Dallas Black Dance Theatre! Diana is a recent graduate of Oklahoma University's Dance program.
Tune in to the Tony Awards on Sunday, June 13th at 7pm to see LaQuet Thompson Sharnell, 2002 dance grad, performing in "Memphis: A New Musical." The show is nominated for 8 Tony Awards. Check out what LaQuet is up to these days by here.
Lacy de la Garza, 2007 recipient of Gene, Louise and Fred Kelly Scholarship, is creating choreography for "Oklahoma," University of Dallas' spring musical.
Photos by (l) Andrea Mohin~NYTimes, (m) Nigel Barker, (r) Rosalie O'Connor
2007 Nadyne Legere scholarship recipient and American Ballet Theater II company member Katie Boren travels to Spain with the company May 2010. Katie is a former member of Ballet Academy of Texas company Ballet Ensemble of Texas in Coppell.
Recently in The New Yorker: "The dancers looked marvelous.... Domingo Estrada, Jr., the company's
newest member, quick and happy, like an animal.... In New York today,
there are several companies so good that you gasp when you look at
them: the Morris, Alvin Ailey, and Paul Taylor companies, plus American
Ballet Theatre. I do not expect ever to see a dance troupe more
accomplished than these. But none is more of a piece -- one instrument
-- than the Morris company."
-- Joan Acocella, The New Yorker, March 15, 2010
Domingo Estrada, Jr. is the 2002 recipient of DCNT’s Jerry Bywaters Cochran Scholarship.
Mark your calendars…Olivia Rehrman should be featured on May 9th with Tony Award winning Choreographer, Bill T. Jones of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. Olivia was the 2008 recipient of the Charles Andrew Kulp scholarship, Finalist in Jazz dance 2009 youngARTS, Academy of Dance Arts Alum, Allen, Texas, and is currently a Freshman Dance major at The University of Arizona.
Funding for the arts in America may be dismal, but the talent in our high schools isn’t. “MASTERCLASS,” the new HBO series set to premiere Sunday, April 18, presents nine world-class creative artists sharing their arts and their life experience with young people representing the best of a new generation of talent in America . Each edition of MASTERCLASS highlights the importance of mentorship, allowing emerging young artists to meet and work with legends in the fields where they aspire to become legends themselves.
The nine-part series will feature half-hour episodes with:
Placido Domingo (premiering April 18th at 5:30pm)
Liv Ullmann (April 25th at 5pm)
Frank Gehry (May 2nd)
Bill T. Jones (May 9th)
Michael Tilson Thomas (May 16th)
Olafur Eliasson (May 23rd)
Edward Albee (May 30th)
Jacques d’Amboise (June 6th)
Julian Schnabel (June 13th)
The students in the series are part of YoungArts, the core program of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. Founded in 1981, this non-profit organization is dedicated to identifying, nurturing and supporting emerging young artists as they pursue their dreams and to raising appreciation for and support of the arts in American society.
MASTERCLASS is produced and directed by Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon, an award-winning documentary filmmaking team whose work has garnered four Oscar nominations, many Emmys and the duPont-Columbia Award for Independent Programming.
Photographer: Jenny Anderson
LaQuet Sharnell (formerly Thompson), a 2003 DC South Dallas Dance Festival Scholarship recipient and grad of BTWHSPVA, is currently in a new original musical on Broadway called Memphis. It began previews on September 23, 2009. She also taught at Camp Broadway this past summer.
Sarah Pope performing "Grasp" choreographed by Sarah Council. Photo by Hope Davis.
1999 Jerry Bywaters Cochran Scholarship recipient Sarah Pope
is currently dancing and teaching in NYC and Brooklyn. She teaches dance
to children and adults at Spoke the Hub Dancing (where she has been an
administrator for the past 3 years), as well as the Prospect Park YMCA,
where she is also a group fitness instructor. She dances with two
emerging companies, Mark Lamb Dance www.marklambdance.org and Sarah
Council Dance Projects www.sarahcouncildance.com. She is a graduate of
TCU.
Another Jerry Bywaters Cochran recipient, Domingo Estrada Jr., currently dances with the Mark Morris Company. Domingo is a graduate of TCU.
Jenny Mendez (in yellow), 1999 recipient of a Summer Study Scholarship and student at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts joined the world-renownedtroupe, Pilobolus Dance Theater in August 2004. During her tenure withthe company, she has performed and taught extensively throughout theUnited States and 12 countries. She has also helped collaborate in 11company pieces. Jenny holds a BFA in Modern Dance and BS in Radio-Television-Film Production from Texas Christian University. She has worked with Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth, Andrew Jannetti, Jody Oberfelder, Susan Dodge, Lisa Giobbi, and the Tiger Lillies. She has also presented her own work at the Fringe Festival of Independent Dance Artists (Toronto) and Joyce SoHo (New York). Her film credits include working on the Dance in America production of "ABT's Leading Men" and "Fosse". She would like to thank all her professors at the School for Classical and Contemporary Dance and the Dallas Dance Council for helping her achieve her artistic goals!
2008 George Skibine Memorial Scholarship recipient Eric Vaughn performed for Texas Dance Theatre in
Ft Worth. Eric most recently completed a full season with the Oklahoma City Ballet.
Julie DuBois, Dance Council's 2003 recipient of the Texie Waterman Scholarship and 2005 recipient of the Caryn Halperin Sechrest Ballet Scholarship, is a student at Texas Christian University. After graduating from Harid Conservatory in 2004, where she trained on full tuition scholarship, Julie danced with Tulsa Ballet II and Orlando Ballet (under the direction of Fernando Bujones) before attending TCU. Prior to attending Harid, Julie trained with the Academy of Dance arts in Allen, TX and was a member of the Dallas Repertoire Ballet. Julie received the NFAA Arts Merit award for ballet in 2004 and 2005. She currently dances with Texas Dance Theatre in Fort Worth and
continues to perform as guest artist throughout the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex.
2007 Nadyne Legere scholarship recipient Katie Boren (17) joins American Ballet Theater II August 2009. Katie is a former member of Ballet Academy of Texas company Ballet Ensemble of Texas in Coppell.
Emily Dixon, 2003 Caryn Halpern Sechrest and 2007 Fred Kelly Memorial Scholarship recipient, is currently performing with the Sarasota Ballet. Two years at Tulsa Ballet brought her performances in Carnival of the Animals, the Nutcracker, Cinderella, Don Quixote, and the Great Gatsby. Emily is a former member of Ballet Academy of Texas company Ballet Ensemble of Texas in Coppell. Photos by Cathy Vanover
2003 Margaret Rylatt
Scholarship recipient Christopher Vo graduated from The Juilliard School in 2008. He was a Princess Grace Awardee for 2007. He is currently dancing with the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company. Christopher is a graduate of Booker T Washington High School for the Performing And Visual Arts. Photo by Sharen Bradford
2003 Thom Clower Summer Study recipient Jonathan Campbell, is currently a junior at The Juilliard School in New York. Jonathan, above, and others take flight in four pieces at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater in December 2008. Jonathan is a graduate of Booker T Washington High School for the Performing And Visual Arts. Photo By Roslyn Sulcas
Rachael Klopfenstein 1999 Caryn H. Sechrest Ballet Scholarship ~ Rachel danced her senior year in high school and freshman year in college with Ballet Austin as a trainee. She taught on staff with Ballet Austin for four years until her graduation from University of Texas. She went to Florence, Italy to receive a masters degree in Fashion Marketing and Management and was an assistant buyer for Neiman-Marcus. Presently she lives in Dallas and is a field marketing representative for Taryn Rose Shoes as well as teaches at the Dallas Ballet Center when her schedule allows. She helps to rehearse Dallas Ballet Company with Nutcracker and other repertoire.