2011 Cross-Cultural Summer Dance Intensive

Queens College’s Drama, Theatre & Dance Department
Charles Repole, Chair
presents
2011 Cross-Cultural
Summer Dance
Intensive Festival
Directed by Yin Mei Critchell
Monday, June 6–Friday, June 24
Queens College, CUNY | Flushing, New York
The 2011 Queens College Cross-Cultural Summer Dance
Intensive Festival is a 3-week program open to all college students* (including
incoming freshmen) that will offer a unique intercultural contemporary dance experience.
Participants will take classes in contemporary dance technique, movement analysis, Asian
performing arts, repertory, performance, tai chi, hip-hop, yoga, and more! Students will
work directly with a faculty of experienced international and New York City-based dance
professionals, and also have the opportunity to develop firsthand experience working with
and getting to see professional dance companies performing each week at Queens College’s
Kupferberg Center for the Arts!
The 2011 Summer Dance Intensive program, held during Queens College’s Summer Session 1S, has been designed to help each participant, regardless of level of experience, to
achieve his/her artistic potential and uniqueness in various cultural dance genres through
a contemporary dance approach. Classes will explore the intersection of cultures, teaching
dance and movement forms from around the globe, in a variety of movement approaches,
in addition to repertory from the resident artists. Students will experience techniques
designed to cultivate and develop strong and agile bodies, nurture a finely tuned approach
to the body/mind experience, and encourage individuals to perform and create with more
awareness both personally and culturally.
*All non-CUNY students must matriculate through Queens College.
SUMMER SESSION 1S CURRICULUM
Monday, June 6– Friday, June 24, 2011
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DANCE 150. Introduction to Dance (special summer section)*
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DANCE 164. Asian Performing Arts
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DANCE 166. Tai Chi Chuan
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DANCE 259. Dance Analysis (special summer section)**
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DANCE 395. Independent Study in Dance
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DANCE 396. Special Topics in Dance & Movement: Hip-Hop
*Fulfills a QC Perspectives requirement. **Fulfills a requirement for dance majors.
■
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Participants must enroll through CUNYfirst; no audition is required.
For costs and registration information, please visit the Summer Session webpage at
www.qc.cuny.edu/Academics/SpecialPrograms/SummerSession/Pages/default.aspx and the
Bursar’s webpage at www.qc.cuny.edu/admissions/bursar/Pages/QCTuitionCosts.aspx
Instructors
Erick Montes Chavero (Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company), Sara Pearson and Patrik Widrig
(Pearson-Widrig Dance Theater), Lindsey Dietz Marchant (Dietz Marchant Performance Projects),
Rokafella (Full Circle Productions and All the Ladies Say), Kwikstep (Full Circle Productions), Nadine
Thouin (Go-On Productions), Dai Jian (Trisha Brown Dance Company), Yin Mei (Queens College
Professor of Dance, program director), Marshall Davis (Queens College Adjunct Professor), Shi Bo
and Su Xue Bing (Beijing Dance Academy), and members of Dance China NY.
SPECIAL DANCE CONCERT PRESENTATIONS
■
Thursday & Friday, June 9 & 10
Erick Montes Chavero, Lindsey Dietz Marchant, Nadine Thouin, Dai Jian
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Thursday & Friday, June 16 & 17
Sara Pearson, Patrik Widrig, Shi Bo, Su Xue Bing
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Thursday & Friday, June 23 & 24
Rokafella, Kwikstep, Yin Mei, Dance China NY
Registration through Queens College Summer Session One
Artists’ Biographies
ERICK MONTES CHAVERO (Bill T. Jones/
Arnie Zane Dance Company) is originally from
Mexico City and joined the Bill T. Jones/Arnie
Zane Dance Company in 2003. Trained at the
National School of Classical and Contemporary Dance in Mexico City, his professional
career began with the Compañia Barro Rojo
Arte Escenico, A-Quo Danza Contemporanea,
Aksenti, and Thania Perez-Salas. After receiving first prize in the Premio Intercontinental
INBA-UAM in 2001, he collaborated with
choreographer Stephen Petronio in projects
sponsored by Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors
and Queens Theatre in the Park. In 2004 he
was invited to participate in the Festival Mexico Now in New York City. Erick has received
grants through the Fondo Nacional para la
Cultura y Las Artes (2002 and 2005) and from
Aaron Davis Hall for E-Moves (2005).
SARA PEARSON (Co-Artistic Director of Pearson-Widrig Dance Theater) is
an Associate Professor at the School of Theater Performance Studies at the
University of Maryland. She has appeared with the Sara and Jerry Pearson
Dance Company (1980–86), Murray Louis Dance Company (1975–80),
Nikolais Dance Theatre (guest artist, 1974–76), and Nancy Hauser Dance
Company (1967–73). Currently her repertoire includes 15 full-evening
dance theatre works and 30+ solo and duet works. Sara has guest taught
at Hunter College, Juilliard, Laban Centre London, Movement Research,
NYU, Oberlin, and Skidmore and other universities throughout the U.S.
She specializes in contemporary dance, choreography, and movement
technique.
PATRIK WIDRIG (Co-Artistic Director of Pearson-Widrig Dance
Theater), an Associate Professor at the School of Theater Performance
Studies at the University of Maryland, has an international repertoire of 15
full-evening dance theatre works and 20+ solo and duet works. In addition
to photography projects and 20 short video works, stand-alone or inclusive
to PWDT performances, Patrik has guest taught at Hunter College, Juilliard,
Movement Research, NYU, Oberlin, Queens College, and other universities
and institutions throughout the U.S. He specializes in contemporary dance,
movement technique, and choreography.
Teaching—Both Sara and Patrik have trained with the Nikolais/Louis
Dance Lab, New York City, and extensively studied Alexander Technique/
Somatic Training, Regina Wray, and Ann Rodiger. Patrik and Sara have
performed at such venues as Lincoln Center, Joyce Theater, Bates Dance
Festival, Jacob’s Pillow, and the Kennedy Center in the U.S., as well as worldwide. They combine a passion for the joy and power of pure dancing and
movement theatre with the deep inner work of over 20 years of exploration
in release and bodywork techniques. With infectious enthusiasm, they not
only help people connect what they experience inside the studio with their
life in the world, but awaken their curiosity to explore, confront, integrate,
and communicate their experiences. After developing a firm foundation
in sound principles of body use, students are able to move safely with full
abandon, exploring qualities of dynamics, timing, space, momentum, direction, and musicality.
LINDSEY DIETZ MARCHANT (Dietz Marchant Performance Projects) is a
freelance dancer, choreographer, improviser, and teacher living and working
in NYC. With her partner and collaborator, Jason Dietz Marchant, she has
been creating and performing work for the past 11 years. Performances
have taken her throughout the U.S. and around the world. Her work has
been presented internationally at conferences and festivals about dance
and technology, dance and improvisation, and interdisciplinary performance. In NYC she has performed at such venues as City Center Studio
Theater, Dance Theater Workshop, Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church,
and the Duke Theater.
Teaching—Lindsey has taught advanced modern and set repertory in
the U.S. and internationally at universities and art conservatories such as
the Juilliard School, SUNY–Purchase, University of Michigan–Ann Arbor,
University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, and the Art Institute of
Indonesia. She also teaches regularly in the Modern Guest Artist Series at
Dance New Amsterdam in NYC, and is a guest artist setting repertory and
teaching for their New York Summer Dance Intensive program. In addition,
Lindsey is a regular guest teacher at 100 Grand and Bill Young’s in NYC, and
was a guest lecturer at the University of Michigan (Winter 2008). www.
dietzmarchant.com
ANITA “ROKAFELLA” GARCIA (Full Circle
Productions), a hip-hop dancer/choreographer,
was born in Spanish Harlem and by the age
of 16 began back-up dancing for freestyle
singers in the local NYC party scene. Later
Rokafella and her hip-hop dance style became
integral to street performing crews such as
the Transformers, the Breeze Team, the New
York City Float Committee, and, in 1994, with
GhettOriginal, a hip-hop dance company. In
addition to co-hosting the Internet radio show
“88 Hip-Hop,” Rokafella’s video appearances
such as Fabolous’“Holla-back Youngin” are part
of a resurgence of breaking, locking, and popping in the hip-hop mainstream. Also a judge
of break-dance competitions for Red Bull and
the International Battle of the Year in Germany,
she is presently producing a documentary
based on the challenging lifestyles of female
break dancers featuring B girls from all over
the world.
Teaching—Rokafella has taught workshops at Broadway Dance Center,
NYU, Howard University, and Queens College, as well as at neighborhood
high schools and community centers. The nonprofit company she co-founded with her husband, Gabriel “Kwikstep” Dionisio (Full Circle Productions),
serves the community with educational performances and multimedia
urban-themed performances. Her classes focus on the basic techniques of
popping, breaking, locking, and uprocking, in addition to discussing the
roots and the social exchange that embodies the global movement.
GABRIEL “KWIKSTEP” DIONISIO (Artistic Director, Full Circle Productions), a hip-hop dancer/choreographer, is a NYC native who began experimenting with hip-hop at the age of 8. Quickly moving from “The Robot” to
popping, boogaloo, locking, and breaking, by 19 he was touring with the
New York Express around China. By 1991 he had won a Bessie award for
choreography and in 1992 founded the internationally known Full Circle. In
1996 Kwikstep and his wife Anita established the nonprofit, internationally
acclaimed hip-hop collective known as Full Circle Productions. Today he is
an international icon in breaking, and is best known for his smooth style,
versatility, and signature head spins.
Teaching—Kwikstep has taught at the Broadway Dance Center, Beatriders
Camp in Texas for Red Bull, The Point in the Bronx, and The Door in Manhattan. He has judged dance contests such as the Battle of the Year in Germany
and Red Bull’s BC ONE, and mentors through Full Circle Productions. He
aspires to have his own school of urban arts, providing options to the teens
of today who, like him, are presented with the challenges of street life as
the only way to live. www.fullcirclesoul.com
NADINE THOUIN (Founder, Go-On Productions) is renowned for her
boldness and creativity as a multidisciplinary artist, dancer, choreographer,
and director. Her prodigious career spans over 25 years, encompassing 27
productions performed in more than 20 countries and 40 cities around the
globe. Her artistic journey is anything but typical; Nadine took her first
steps on stage in the 1970s at the age of 4. She began teaching dance and
theatre in 1985 and has since shared her wealth of knowledge with over 50
renowned academies and companies worldwide. In 1999, Canadian embassies and consulates recognized her as a cultural ambassador to Asia.
MARSHALL L. DAVIS, JR. (Queens College Adjunct Professor) was born in
Miami Beach, and began dancing at the age of 10 at the African Heritage
Cultural Arts Center. The following year he was a finalist in the Rising Star
Competition, and was the Florida winner for the Tri-Star Pictures Tap Day
contest, a promotion for the movie Tap starring Gregory Hines and Sammy
Davis, Jr. At 13, he won the coveted 1991 Star Search Teen Dance Competition, and since then has performed throughout Europe, Japan, and
the U.S. Marshall’s dancing is influenced by his mentor, the late
Steve Condos of the Condos Brothers. He also has received guidance
from James “Buster” Brown and others. He performed in the Tony
Award-winning Broadway and international touring production of
Bring in Da’ Noise Bring in Da’ Funk, starring and choreographed by Savion
Glover. Prior to Noise/Funk he performed with Harold “Stumpy” Cromer at
the Guthrie Theater as Pocket in the musical Babes in Arms. Named “Most
Unusual Dance Soloist” by the Miami Herald for his rendition of the Morton
Gould Tap Concerto, Marshall also is the recipient of Isaac Hayes’s “Breaking
the Barrier Award” for his achievements at such an early age.
DAI JIAN (Trisha Brown Dance Company) was born in Hunan Province,
China, and has been a student of martial arts since 1985. He began his dance
studies in 1993, and graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy & Guangdong ATV Professional Academy for Performing Arts. His professional career
spans 15 years in various styles and techniques of classical and modern
dance. In 1998 he won the Fourth National Dance Competition, and in 2004
he received a full scholarship to attend the American Dance Festival. Dai
Jian danced and choreographed for Jin Xing Dance Theater and Guangzhou
Song & Dance Ensemble in China before becoming a member of the Shen
Wei Dance Arts in 2005, where he also worked as Shen Wei’s assistant for
the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. He has developed various
collaborative projects with choreographers Yin Mei, Hou Yin, and multimedia
artist Kimberly Mayhorn, and has choreographed for Queens College’s
Drama, Theatre & Dance Department; Carolina Friends School in Durham, NC;
New York Chinese Cultural Center; and the Puffin Room in NYC. In addition to
dancing professionally, he gives lessons in modern and contemplative dance.
YIN MEI (Queens College Professor of Dance) was born in China and started
her professional career in traditional Chinese dance during the Cultural
Revolution. Joining a leading dance company at the age of 14, she was
trained in Chinese traditional dance forms. Before coming to the U.S. to
study modern dance on a grant from the Asian Cultural Council, she was
a principal dancer with the Henan Song and Dance Troupe, and later a
principle of the Hong Kong Dance Company, where she danced leading roles
in the traditional Chinese dance repertoire and won first prize at the International Choreography Competition. Invited to the American Dance Festival
as an international choreographer, she studied at NYU and received her BA
and MFA and completed coursework toward a PhD. She now choreographs
and performs her contemporary works worldwide through her company,
Yin Mei Dance. Her choreography has been presented at numerous New
York venues, including City Center Fall for Dance Festival, Danspace Project
at St. Mark’s Church, Dance Theater Workshop, La Mama E.T.C., the Asia
Society, and the Japan Society, as well as at major festivals, performing arts
venues, and many universities. Internationally her work has been presented
in Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Israel, Germany,
and England.
Teaching—Yin Mei teaches contemporary dance technique, choreography, improvisation/composition, Asian performing arts, yoga, qi gong,
tai chi, and dance studies at Queens College, and has choreographed for
and directed numerous student performances. She has offered workshops
and seminars worldwide, and has been a guest instructor and artist-inresidence at over two dozen universities. www.yinmeidance.org
SHI BO (Beijing Dance Academy) holds an MFA in dance from the Beijing
Dance Academy, and is Director of the Han Tang Classical Dance Teaching
and Research Center at the Academy. A member of the Chinese Dance
Association and the Chinese Nuo Drama Association, his work in Han
Tang classical dance regularly takes him to international competitions. In
addition to being well traveled, he documents his trips through his favorite
hobby, photography. Shi Bo will be at Queens College until August 2011,
and this summer will be teaching Chinese classical dance.
SU XUE BING (Beijing Dance Academy) graduated with a degree in education and an MFA in dance from the Beijing Dance Academy. She specializes in Chinese folk dance and is currently a professor with the Academy.
She will be at Queens College until August 2011, and this summer will be
teaching Chinese folk dance.
DANCE CHINA NY, the resident touring company of the New York Chinese
Cultural Center, is composed of award-winning professional dancers and
musicians. The company brings the richness of traditional dance, Peking Opera, and music to audiences
across the country. Each year, the company presents
over 750 performances,
workshops, master
classes, and lecture/
demonstrations for
180,000 people of all
ages, at theatres, schools,
and cultural centers
throughout the U.S.
www.chinesedance.org
Photo credit: Martine Bisagni