Two blogs that talk about what our students are doing over the break!

http://lkolar615.posterous.com/

http://berlinexcursion12.wordpress.com/day-by-day/

Best, Luc.

Catey Ott's Xander and dancers at Starbucks in Milwaukee...3 1/2 months old

Good morning everyone!

Its been a while since some of us have talked so I think its about time I check up with you all. I'm sending a huge mass e-mail this time around so that everyone can get a general update and after this we can start to make the e-mails a little more personal ;)

So what's been going on here in NYC? Well....the first month was fairly un-eventful....sort of. When I first got here I tried to cram a bunch of things in to the first week. I went to Ikea and bought what I needed for my room, the next day it arrived and it took me about 5 hours to put my bed together. It was not very fun by myself, but it was great to have a bed of my own within the first week.

I also went to a few open interviews in the first week. Nothing really came out of them except the initial interview. I did take a day where I just walked from 14th street up to 70th and then took a train up to 86th and walked up to 110th just dropping off my resume at any restaurants I thought looked like a fun place to work. Nothing came from that day either.

Finally, after about three weeks, I went to an open call for California Pizza Kitchen. They seemed to really like me, but after going through the entire interview process (3 different interviews) I waited about a week and then called to check if the position was still available. They were still doing interviews but told me that I scored "very low" on my personal appearance. Screw that. I'm cute and they missed out :)

But thank god that didn't come through because now I have a job that I think I will really like. My friend Mari (from college) moved out here in June and got a job working at Planet Hollywood in Times Square. I ran in to her at an audition last week and she told me to come apply. I dropped my application off on Friday morning and went back Friday afternoon for an interview and was hired on the spot. I start my training on Tuesday and I can't wait. I think I'll start to feel more like a real person who is actually living in the city now.

The down side, I was only offered a job if I would work all of the upcoming holiday's. So I won't be home for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Years. I will however, be taking a trip home at the end of January and in to February. Probably about a two/three week stay, but I'll keep you updated with more details.

So that's the work end of things, lets get to the dance end of things. I bought a 10-class card at a studio here called Peridance. Peridance has a very wide range of classes and has the only Gaga classes in the entire city. Not Gaga like the Lady, but Gaga like the dance technique created years ago in Israel. I have't taken a Gaga class yet, but I still have 7 of my 10 class cards left.

I've been taking class from this guy named Price Mousset. He's a frenchman who teaches a contemporary class (very So You Think You Can Dance). I went because I heard that he was choreographing an off-broadway show and needed men. He wasn't going to hold an audition, he was just going to "watch" the guys in class and see if he would want to work with any of them. At the first class he complimented me during the run of the phrase at the end of class, and then asked for my headshot and resume. I was very excited about the opportunity, but unfortunately nothing came from it. But, I keep going to his class so maybe something will come to me in the future.

I am however, dancing with The Bang Group. The Bang Group is the company that created Nut/Cracked (if any of you saw me do Nut/Cracked in Milwaukee). Before I even left, I e-mailed David (the choreographer) and told him I'd be in the city and free to rehearse if he needed any more dancers. He said yes and I've been having a blast. They are a very funny, witty, quick, smart group of people who are very welcoming. I even did a little gig for them the first week I was here. They needed someone to work the box office for a show so I signed up and got a quick $100. Rehearsals are twice a week (and paid), so it isn't that big of a commitment.

So I mentioned that I ran in to Mari at an audition so lemme tell ya about that. The audition was for Ella Rosewood Dance Company. Some of you may know her. She went to school in Madison and has recently danced a show of 6 solo's. One choreographed by Li Chao-Ping, Janet Lilly, Luc Vanier, Heidi Latsky, and a few other names. It was nice to be auditioning for someone who seemed so connected to Milwaukee.

Anyway, I got the job! I'm now a member of the Ella Rosewood Dance Company for the 2011-2012 season. These rehearsals are not paid, but I will be performing around NYC for the next year. Hopefully some people will see the shows and maybe I'll get some more work out of it. Rehearsals for this project haven't started yet. The first rehearsal is this coming Friday and I'm looking forward to seeing which other dancers she chose and what the work is going to be like.

I think that is about all the updating I can do right now. I think you all should update me on your life and lets get a conversation going! I hope you are doing great and I can't wait to hear from you all!

Love from NYC,

Andrew

NDM 2010 from Sandy!

http://pilgrimagedance.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-dancemakers-in-flesh.html

Hi, from NOLA!!

Hi Everyone!

I'm down in New Orleans, LA currently beginning my second week. I have come down here for a cultural experience involving the people of Katrina. Katrina happened about 5 years ago, but from the looks of the 9th Ward, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. It is an area of our country that is being neglected and needs to be fixed. When I first thought about coming down here, I knew it was going to be a difficult experience but I never imagined it to be this difficult. From the first day we were here it's been an emotional roller coaster going from seeing the houses still there from the aftermath to talking with the people who stayed here through the storm and the ones who came back. I've found that home and community are an important aspect of their everyday lives here. People normally sit on their porches and talk with neighbors or anyone passing by. Since Katrina, this is not as prevalent because of the lack of people returning and because of those who unfortunately did not survive the storm. From those that I have talked to already, they all seem to have a very positive outlook on life and they know things will continue to get better even though it's a constant struggle.

That's all for now! I will be posting more later this week hopefully!!
-Danielle

1st Annual Dance Award is a success!

On December 12th - right after the 12th performance of New Dancemakers / In the Flesh - Some 70 students, Alumns and faculty spent two hours together at the UWM Fireside Lounge to host a send-off party for the current crop of UWM Dance Graduates.

Katie and Karen were funny and personable in their roles as MCs and were instrumental in putting the successful event together. Kayla Premeau was also recognize as a force behind the event and all that goes on in the dance department! Bravo to all who came and made the event a success!

We started the evening with some alumni updates from all around the country... a lot of insights there!

The seniors put on a very funny skit using faculty idiosyncrasies as a backdrop for a dysfunctional faculty meeting... (see video below :)

Some pictures and videos were presented to great hooplah...

Some mock awards were handed out. (see list below)

And Finally Ed Burgess, Chair of the Dance Department announced the pieces from New Dancemakers who would be representing the Dance Department at the Regional ACDF at Saint-Olaf later in the Spring semester: Mary-Elizabeth Fenn's "It's not about Her" with dancers: Molly Mingey, Bonnie Watson, Megan Burki, Kimberly Rhyme, and Brenna Marlin. And Molly Mingey's "Excuse Me?" with dancers: Hilary Anderson, Annette Grefig, Jose Luis, and Nadia Marie Whitley. An alternate piece was also chosen in case with "A Round About Way, to Show You Today, This Little Dance" by Lindsey Krygowski with dancers: Olivia Gonzales and Tasha Holifield.

AWARDS!

Anton,Michelle	The I'm tiny but unexpectedly fierce award
Bates,Nastassja	The You better watch out world
Beneke,Sandy	The I'm as smart as I am nice award
Cambra,Alberto	The My life is really just that funny Award
Carlsen,Frieda	The I'm prettier than you and I don't like it award
Follensbee,Benjamin	The Follensbee Award
Gray,Chloe	The I'm tall and I'm proud award
Krygowski,Lindsey	The I have a gesture for that award
Lauerman,Nicholas	The I'm a rock, I'm an island award
Leow,Amy	The Everything is falling out of my purse and I'm still happy and smart award
Mathers,Mari	The "oh my gosh really!" award
Mingey, Molly	The Beautifully weird award
Mudroch,Elizabeth	The Quietly passionate award
Mueller,Beth	The Smiling in all circumstances award
Pamenter,Nikka	The Slowed down to a run award
Rabbitt,Emilie	The two most different majors possible award
Robinson,Joshua	The I just woke up so get out of my way award
Silva,Monique	The I'm a strong latina woman so step aside award
Spadafora,Emily	The I'm not stuck in ballet award
Stern,Melissa	The the serious money award
Taylor,Sarah	The I know what I want award
Tegen,Bridgett	The Forever Gretchen Award
Teschendorf,Sarah	The quirk award
Vang-Strath,Yeng	The doing it all award
Walker,Chelsey	The watch out, I'm a poster girl award
Warsh,Stephanie	The You really did it award
Zanoni,Andrew	The slow and steady wins the race award
Zarzecki,Steven	The my feet ate my moustache award
Fenn, Mary-Elizabeth	The if I slowed down you might catch me award
Ferrante, Alisa	The If I were here you'd know about it award
Pankratz-Solis, Nicole	The "boy this girl can dance award
Bannon, Beatrice	The flower power award
Adjudication	Mary-Elizabeth Fenn
Informal	Molly Mingey
Alternate	Lindsey Krygowski
Merit awardee	Lindsey Krygowski

Iain Court goes to Toronto to work with Igneous

I had the chance to attend one of Igneous' James Cunningham and Suzon Fuks C0-Artistic Directors' lectures last night at the Fireside Lounge. They are giving a series of lectures and workshops throughout the week in many of our classes this week.

Our own Dance Department Production and Lighting Director Iain Court is just back from working with them this weekend at the "Nuit Blanches" (White Nights) Festival in Toronto. He forwarded some reviews and links to the festival's site that I'm posting here for everyone to see - enjoy!

NOW Magazine
"...the Theatre Direct/Abilities Arts Festival show at the Barns, called Mirage, was sensational. Australian dancer James Cunningham, whose left arm is withered, put on a spectacular movement performance, accompanied by compelling electronic music. Standing inside a mesh tent, the ground covered in about an inch of water, Cunningham manipulated a smaller, tent-like structure, while interacting with images reflected onto the mesh and the water. Forty-five minutes of jaw-dropping beauty. For free. A perfect example of why Nuit Blanche rocks."
http://www.nowtoronto.com/daily/story.cfm?content=177042

BlogTO
"My favorite for the night. While we were watching the performance, I said to my friend, "This feels like the first art I've seen tonight." The performance involved two stages. In the first, you were encouraged to engage with three mirror-based perceptual illusions that centred on ideas of symmetry and identity. All of them were genuinely startling and surprising."
http://www.blogto.com/arts/2010/10/nuit_blanche_2010_the_best_and_worst_of_zone_a/

On Nuit Blanche site, they added new pics of white space...
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/iProjects.aspx?zone=A&rowID=1#0

Behind the Scenes with the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange!

Hi All--hope you're doing well! I've been at the Dance Exchange since August 20th, preparing to dance in the Act II "Tea" from Liz Lerman's world premiere "The Matter of Origins." I'm also a rehearsal assistant, and I'm sharing my experiences on the Dance Exchange blog. Finally, I'd like to announce my new website: www.lizzastrowdance.weebly.com. Check it out!

:) Liz

Pilgrimage Dance: Step Up Style - Hip Hop Workshop

Pilgrimage Dance: Step Up Style - Hip Hop Workshop: "Over the past weekend, I hosted a dance workshop at the Waterford Public Library. I used a dance sequence from the movie 'Step Up', and it w..."

Dancing on Impulz: Goodbye to Europe!

Dancing on Impulz: Goodbye to Europe!: "The week has been great getting back into dancing mode again. Nikka and I have been taking ballet in the morning then I am off to Improv Com..."

A Monthlong intensive starting today!

I’m hesitating to write here about my trip for fear of being misunderstood but then I’m asking everyone to share and really enjoyed the fact that they did so I thought I might as well join in the fun!

I left on August 4 th from Milwaukee by car to drive to the small town of Crestone, CO situated 8,000 feet above sea level to participate in two retreats offered by my Buddhist teacher Tsoknyi Rimpoche III. I’ve been studying with the man since 2003 when he came to visit Urbana for three years in a row offering retreats on 'The Nature of Mind.'

I should define retreat… it’s a period of time where you decide to put time aside to hear, contemplate and practice various teachings. We usually decide to be silent and not wander off the premises. (I’m presently in the space between retreats where I’ve kept a pretty rigorous training schedule but allowed myself a few phone calls to Elizabeth, but little email and no FB!) It’s a protected time that allows you to fully focus on a certain thing that you wish to learn. I usually take time to do this every day when I can and try to do it more intensively during the year by going on retreat. A retreat schedule usually involves at least 4 one hour meditation sittings and two 2 hour lectures. You get up at 5am and go to bed when you are done sitting. By now I’ve done at least 8 week-long (or more) retreats and this will be my first month-long. It is common in the Buddhist world for serious practitioners to go on 3, 9 or 12-year (Yes, you read right - YEARS not months!) retreats and many finish their lives in closed retreat. While you may think this is a lot… consider what a dance major has to go through with 4 years of intense training and then many intensives followed by on the job training for years – it’s not that different.

While in the dance studio, we are usually interested in the movement observed in the body, in coming to retreat to meditate, I’m interested in the observed movement of the mind. Not that I think both are very different… and this is what is making this a research trip and not a solely personal venture. What I know of the Alexander Technique and my mind training ends up helping me teach ballet.

The more I teach dance, the more I realize that dancers are interested in the beneficial aspects of dancing. They like how it feels to be in class away from their usual worries learning something that requires they coordinate their minds and bodies in space. They also like being able to know enough about themselves to communicate “their truths” to others through their entire bodies - independently of style. And usually if your body can speak this “truth” – you had to train the mind to some degree – even if you don’t know you did.

The Buddhists believe that you can’t just hear about knowledge/wisdom – you have to practice it. This makes dancers close cousins with them, as we cannot envision anyone learning to dance without actually dancing. In fact, many people believe it takes 10 years to make a dancer. The difference here is that dancers often don’t realize that it is their minds that collaborated with their bodies to create the dancer. Dancers can easily dismiss their intelligence (with the help of the rest of the world of course…) and think that they are “just” movers. The opposite never occurs to them… that most university students learn about their fields through a body that they have never trained to learn with. Let me repeat this: they learn subjects like math and psychology with (for the most part) an untrained, mis-calibrated, unruly and unaware body. After all, it is the body that sits in the lecture hall, listening and thinking… not just the “mind” or whatever else they might think.

So this is what I do all day. I research how the mind works by listening to the teacher and practicing. You would think that by now I would know. But while I conceptually know more than I used to – the beauty is to realize this knowledge in your whole self so that you are not dancing putting on a brave face while totally scared, but more dancing from your inner place of truth – confident, expressive, free and happy. Not a small feat but well worth the work.

I will be thinking of you and wishing you well as you start the semester.

Best, Luc.

Dancing on Impulz: Day 1

Dancing on Impulz: Day 1: "Halo! So it is our second day in Vienna and now we have Miss Molly Mingy in the mix. We met her today at our first day of the intensive. ..."

The Unaming

Milwaukee has been bustling with dance this hot summer! I just recently performed in the Dancemakers show on July 30. It was exciting to participate in such a fast pace performance scenario. We only had a month to prepare, and for me that was a new experience. I had the opportunity to work with Angie Yetzke who choreographed the piece “The Unaming” and kept a rigorous rehearsal schedule. With three hour rehearsals twice a week, Angie didn’t mess around, and every rehearsal was mandatory for all the dancers because there was a great deal of weight sharing and it was important for the entire group to be aware of what the other dancers’ parts were.

I found myself very anxious throughout the whole process because there were weekly showings of the works to be performed as well as the rehearsals. With every meeting, there were changes to the dance. It felt very much like an experiment constantly testing many different paths the dance could take. There were even changes being made up until an hour before the dress rehearsal. I would do it all again in a heartbeat, but I would try to be more open to the changing because it would have immersed me more into the dance from the get go. For such a short time to prepare the piece, I think I was a little unnerved, but we all came together in the end.

It was a huge challenge sometimes because every dancer in the group had strong voices and opinions about dance along with different body types. The group dynamic felt rushed, and I wish we could have had another chance to perform together. We spent a lot of time entranced by the dancing that I didn’t feel very connected to the other dancers until the end. I think it worked to our advantage because the piece formed around Yetzke’s choreography and our personalities. It became a piece wrapped in our own personal struggles to find calm with one another. In the end, the final performance felt wonderful, and as we left the stage, I felt invigorated only to realize that it was the last and only time we would get to perform the piece as we did that night.

I would love to work again with any one of the dancers or Angie. It wasn’t always easy, but it was worth it all the more!

Current and former UWM students dance and choreograph in Danceworks' ART TO ART

http://thirdcoastdigest.com/2010/07/review-art-to-art-at-danceworks/

With a picture of our very own Kayla Schroepfer!

The Final Day of The Fagan SMI!

Wazzzup!

So today was our last day here at the Garth Fagan SMI! What a ride! Here is what happened...

This morning we woke up to the sound of a beautiful waterfall. The only problem, the waterfall was coming in through the 8th floor ceiling! A water pipe burst on the 9th floor and completely flooded and 5 bedrooms (Josh's included) were completely ruined on the 8th floor. Lucky for Ben and me, our rooms were saved by the workers who were able to turn off the water and vacuum up what was spreading down the hall.

So after that incredibly stressful morning we went downstairs and took class as our warm up, ran through our class presentation, Norwood Pennewell's piece, and then "Two Pieces of One: Green" and had a 45min break until we performed. With the entire studio floor packed, as well as the balcony, the show went on with no distractions.

After the performance, there was a wonderful reception where there was fruit, drinks, cookies, veggies, and of course tons of very nice people, the entire Garth Fagan Company, Garth himself, and all of our teachers. The press was there with cameras, and I was asked my information (name, age, hometown). I was also interviewed by the intern who has been filming classes and field trips through this entire process.

All in all, the entire process was life changing. I met incredible people through this experience. The other dancers, the teachers, and the company were all very welcoming, inspirational, talented, and intelligent. I said it in my last blog and I'll say it again, DO THIS INTENSIVE IF YOU CAN! You'll come back a completely different person!

See you soon Milwaukee! Miss you!

Andrew

A Day in the Life of the Fagan Institute

Hey Everyone!

I hope all is well in Milwaukee! Here in Rochester, things have jumped to a new level.

On Tuesday morning, as all of the 18+ dancers were warming up in the large studio, a surprise guest walks in...our very own Ferne Bronson! My heart almost jumped out of my chest! I couldn't believe it! Seeing her face and feeling her presence was exactly what the doctor ordered. We were all so close to "E" on our gas tanks but as soon as Ferne's bright face came walking through the door we were instantly filled up. The "Day in the Life" however, came the following day.

Tuesday started out normally. Technique came first, but instead of Yoga for Dancers, Ferne was asked to teach a master class in African Dance. I felt so prepared for this class that I was confident heading in to class. However, what Ferne threw at us a step up from any class I've taken from her in the past. Her classes have always pushed my limits, but this master class was on another level. We were doing combinations across the floor to the tempo's of her Kothi Dance Company. I can't speak for everyone, but when the class was over, I wanted to collapse on the floor from exhaustion.

Another factor of my fatigue came from Garth's invitation to join his company for their evening company class and rehearsal on Tuesday. I was one of nine students invited to company class and was overwhelmed with excitement (okay, and terror). What did this mean? Why me? Am I going to look like a fool? But when 6pm on Tuesday night rolled around, I was ready and willing to throw myself into this opportunity. Their company class was similar to the Technique classes we've been taking every morning, but with variations. I went through that with little confusion. Then, we came across the floor.

Norwood Pennewell had one company member demonstrate the across the floor exercise twice and then off we went. The first combination was "easier" to grasp and I was fairly confident after three or four times of doing it. Unfortunately, as soon as I was getting a hang of things, we moved on. The second across the floor exercise was shown to us twice by a different company member and every single step, with the exception of two, was a jump, a leap, a hop, o or a skip. We never had more then one foot on the floor at a time. The facings changed and the counts were anything but a constant 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. The five or six times we did the right side, I maybe got the first five jumps. Granted, this phrase was three times the length of the first phrase, it was still incredibly challenging. Finally we learned an adagio. This adage was almost entirely on releve or forced arch and moved slower then anything I've done before. Watching Nicolette (another company member) execute this beautiful adage was a sight in its own, and I know I tried my hardest to do it justice. After class we had a 15 minute break and we all came back. We came back to Natalie assigning each of us a company member. I was partnered with Travis. The company showed us the opening to a piece called "Prelude" and then we were told to shadow our company member for the second section. We were shown no steps, no counts, no anything. Just follow and don't stop moving. We ran the piece with the company once, watched the company do it themselves now that we had gotten a look at it, and then ran it with them again. It was an amazing experience that I will not forget for a long time.

Luckily for us, on Wednesday we were invited back to company class and it was almost identical to Tuesday nights class. Not so lucky for us, Ferne (our very own Ferne) murdered us in master class, so our energy level was down the drain. But when push comes to shove, we all shoved. The floor warm-up and the standing warm-up were a "breeze" (compared to the across the floor) and we moved on to the same three center exercises as Tuesday night. This night we started with the second combination and this time, Norwood broke it down for us. After running through the jumping exercise in three parts, I went into it full speed ahead and only goofed here and there. A much better experience for all I think. Then, we went right into the adagio, because Garth showed up and wanted to see. Norwood broke down the counts for us again (by us watching Nicolette do it twice), and off we went. Garth asked us to do it a second time, because our timing was crap, but after the second time, he was satisfied. We then moved on to the first combination, and we got no second demonstration. Like I said earlier, I felt confident right when we moved on the night before, so this time around, I was ready to go. That one went by on the right and left side (twice each) and it was time to run "Prelude" again This time, we ran it once and it went by much smoother then the night before. Immediately after Garth stands up and says "I like dancers who retain my movement. I want to see Ben do his opening solo from "From Before" and Ben and Andrew do PJ's solo". The music came on and off Ben went. The company clapped and hollered for him and it was show time for us both. We got to the back bend when the music started to skip but we kept going until Garth stopped us and the company once again cheered and clapped for us. It was an extremely overwhelming, exciting, and life changing moment.

Ben and I took our seats and then we were treated to what I can only call a gift. Garth then told us that he wanted to show us a few solo's from his Rep. We got to see a solo from Khama Kgari, Steve Humphrey, Nicolette Depass, and Vitolio Jeune, as well as the kick section and hunter section of "From Before" and the first two sections of a piece called Udan. Every single solo brought me to tears (that I hide of course) and the first two sections of Udan were equally amazing. At one point, Ben and I looked at each other and said, "We are sooooooo lucky to be here". Before every solo and every piece Garth spoke about each piece and told a little bit of his inspiration. For Khama's, all we got was Xena's (the warrior princess) warrior cry from most of the company members but for Steve's we were told about slavery, for Nicolette's it was religion (to any higher being), and for Vitolio's it was African drums used for communication. The way Garth spoke about his dancers and his movement was inspirational. You could tell that he stood by his art and would back his dancers up in a heartbeat and after watching them dance, I would back them up.

It is hard for me to write down exactly how amazing Wednesday was. We went from being completely exhausted to having a once in a lifetime experience. Even now as I write this up I get choked up. I saw so many amazing dancers dancing amazing choreography right in front of my face. I danced with those same dancers in their class and in their piece. I followed one of them step by step and held my own (hopefully) through a piece I never even saw. I got to show them what I could do with Garth's movement in my "From Before" duet with Ben and they all seemed so incredibly supportive. I was in the same room with a Tony Award winning choreographer and three Bessie Winners (Steve Humphrey, Natalie Rogers-Cropper, and Norwood Pennewell). I cannot put into words what that night meant to me. I was pushed to my physical limits that night and I have to say, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

The intensive is almost over (two days left) and I feel like I've experienced a year of my life but only three weeks have gone by. I'm not sure what else I'll be able to write about (I'm sure something will come up) but I have to say this now. If any other UWM students are interested in this Institute, I say do it. I say do it as soon as you can. The other students, the faculty, the company, and Garth are such an amazing group of people that it is impossible to come back from this and be the same person. I know that I have grown as a dancer, as a human, and as a student in these three short weeks. I cannot wait to come back to UWM and continue this process!

Blogs of interest to UWM DANCE!

Amii Legendre fascinating blog on her solo project http://evidencesolo.blogspot.com/

Lindsey and Nikka's blog on their trip through Europe http://onimpulz.blogspot.com/

Become a member and share with your Facebook or Twitter community...

We are on the move people :)

Our very own Nastassja Bates won a local Milwaukee Idol Finalist Competition and has been chosen to perform in front of an American Idol producer on Wednesday morning at the Bradley Center. Natassja beat out hundreds of video submissions to the Milwaukee FOX local affiliate to perform with five other contestants on this morning's broadcast. She performed the song "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from the musical, "Dreamgirls". Viewers of this morning's broadcast were asked to call in and cast their votes for their favorite singer. Natassja was chosen! Her prize is the ability to go to the front of the line on Wednesday morning's mass Idol auditions at the Bradley Center and have a guaranteed private audition with an American Idol producer. The private audition could lead to a golden ticket opportunity where she would be chosen to audition for the American Idol judges in Hollywood this fall! Good luck Nastassja!

Best,

Matt Gillespie

You can watch video of her performance and the winning announcement here: http://www.fox6now.com/shows/fox/americanidol/milwaukeeidol/

Congrats to Nastassja! :)

Best,

Matthew Gillespie

A Story from the Garth Fagan Summer Dance Intensive

Hey UWM! It's been a while! Ben and I are sitting at the one place we get an Internet connection, (The Spot Coffee House) and I thought I'd share an amazing experience we had last week. We just finished our first week of the intensive and within the first five days, we took our first field trip. The trip took us to Nazareth College for a tech rehearsal for the Elizabeth Streb dance company. They performed this last weekend and we were privileged to attend her first tech rehearsal. We didn't get to see much of the show, but what we witnessed afterwards is what really blew our minds.

After a delicious pizza party, we were taken into a smaller theatre for a very intimate conversation between Garth Fagan, Elizabeth Streb, and a moderator. It's difficult to put into words what we experienced but what I can say is that the conversation lasted an hour but could have gone all night. Both Garth and Elizabeth are incredibly intelligent, articulate, creative, inspirational, intellectual, insightful, innovative, and welcoming individuals.

The entire audience got a sneak peek into their choreographic minds, their history, their viewpoints, and their intense humanistic natures. When the conversation came to a close, everyone immediately stood up to show their appreciation with a standing ovation. Like I said earlier, I could have listened to the two of them talk forever but what I did hear blew me away. I felt like I was in the presence of two dance genius' who would influence the way I dance, the way I watch dance, and the way I create dance for the rest of my life.

So far, this experience takes the cake for the most influential moment of this intensive. The technique classes, the reps, the company members, the other dancers, and the other classes are all allowing me to grow as well (I'll talk about them at another time) but so far, our "private" conversation with Garth and Elizabeth will stay with me (and hopefully the other dancers here) for a long time

Brazil, NYC, FAGAN INTENSIVE, Grad School, etc...

I wish we could save pictures and videos and statements of what our students and faculty are doing when they are not on campus... or even when they are! Knock yourselves out!

We just had a showing of Dance for the Camera videos at Danceworks on Saturday night... between rain falls!

Check out the reviews and three of the movies here:

http://thirdcoastdigest.com/2010/07/review-screen-dance/

Best, Luc.