Hello Dancers!
So much to say, and so little time! In a nutshell, thanks to EVERYONE who contributed their blood, sweat and tears to making Dance 2015 such an incredible success! Looking at the richness and diversity of artistic perspectives on that show was quite literally a treat for my heart and soul every single night. I only wish I could see it all one more time. All of which leads me to my quote of the week:
"THANK YOU!!!"
- John Dixon, dance lover. ; )
And now, on with the rest of the blog!
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dance Search Candidates
We are extremely excited to be welcoming three amazing candidates in the next three weeks for the position being left open by our very own dance matriarch, Patti Weeks. First up, we will have Paige Caldarella visiting us THIS WEEK! Paige hails from Chicago where she currently teaches at Columbia College. She is an extremely successful choreographer and toured internationally with the world renowned Merce Cunningham Dance Company for several years. In other words, she is a rockstar and we are very lucky to be bringing her to campus for an interview. Please take a look at the partial itinerary below to plan for those opportunities you will have to interact with her. I will be seeking out feedback from students regarding each candidate so I hope you will be proactive in your interactions with each of them. I will post information about each upcoming candidate in the weeks to come. For now, here is Paige Caldarella's itinerary:
SoTD SCHOLARSHIPS
Remember, all students who are seeking scholarships must submit applications by FEBRUARY 13th 2015. The application and related instructions can be found at http://www.ecu.edu/cs-cfac/theatredance/Scholarship-Information.cfm Fill the application out carefully and completely, put it in an envelope to the attention of the appropriate program area (Acting, Musical Theatre, Dance, Design-Production, et al.) and turn it in to Connie Ballance in the School office by the deadline.
Please remember that even if you have received a scholarship in the past, you must apply to be eligible for scholarship consideration for the following year.
We are extremely excited to be welcoming three amazing candidates in the next three weeks for the position being left open by our very own dance matriarch, Patti Weeks. First up, we will have Paige Caldarella visiting us THIS WEEK! Paige hails from Chicago where she currently teaches at Columbia College. She is an extremely successful choreographer and toured internationally with the world renowned Merce Cunningham Dance Company for several years. In other words, she is a rockstar and we are very lucky to be bringing her to campus for an interview. Please take a look at the partial itinerary below to plan for those opportunities you will have to interact with her. I will be seeking out feedback from students regarding each candidate so I hope you will be proactive in your interactions with each of them. I will post information about each upcoming candidate in the weeks to come. For now, here is Paige Caldarella's itinerary:
Thursday,
February 12th
9:30 – 10:30 Tour of SoTD and ECU – John
Dixon
10:45 –12:00 Lunch with Search Committee – Teal
Darkenwald, Jeni Parker, Jill
Carlson and any other available faculty
12:00 – 12:30 Free
Time (Prep Class)
12:30 –1:50
Teach Advanced Ballet – Studio 114
2:00 –
2:50 Dance History
Lecture to the Advanced Modern Class – Studio Theatre
3:00 – 4:00 Search Committee – John Dixon,
Jeni Parker, Jill Carlson, Teal Darkenwald
4:00 –
5:00 Meet with Faculty
and Students in Roulston Room
SoTD SCHOLARSHIPS
Remember, all students who are seeking scholarships must submit applications by FEBRUARY 13th 2015. The application and related instructions can be found at http://www.ecu.edu/cs-cfac/theatredance/Scholarship-Information.cfm Fill the application out carefully and completely, put it in an envelope to the attention of the appropriate program area (Acting, Musical Theatre, Dance, Design-Production, et al.) and turn it in to Connie Ballance in the School office by the deadline.
Please remember that even if you have received a scholarship in the past, you must apply to be eligible for scholarship consideration for the following year.
UPCOMING EVENTS
DAY OF DANCE 2015!!!
It's time once again for our annual daylong smorgasbord of dance! The event is organized by our very own Tommi Galaska and, as you can imagine, she has created yet another amazing day for the 60 plus dancers and teachers coming to visit us this coming Saturday, 2/14. One of the things I love about this event is how it highlights the talents and skills of our dance majors by giving them the opportunity to teach most of the classes as well as perform at the 4pm showing. It's a proud pirate kind of day and I can't wait to be a part of the magic once again. Thanks to Tommi and all the student teachers and performers for giving so much to our biggest outreach event of the year!!!
FRESHMEN/SOPHOMORE JURIES
The juries for the freshmen and sophomore classes (including transfers) will take place on 2/23 at 5:30pm. As mentioned in a previous blog post, the jury process will involve a center combination and a combination across the floor in ballet, and then center combinations for both modern and jazz. All of the combinations will be covered in classes prior to the juries to allow dancers to do their best work. The jury will also involve several fitness components:
It's time once again for our annual daylong smorgasbord of dance! The event is organized by our very own Tommi Galaska and, as you can imagine, she has created yet another amazing day for the 60 plus dancers and teachers coming to visit us this coming Saturday, 2/14. One of the things I love about this event is how it highlights the talents and skills of our dance majors by giving them the opportunity to teach most of the classes as well as perform at the 4pm showing. It's a proud pirate kind of day and I can't wait to be a part of the magic once again. Thanks to Tommi and all the student teachers and performers for giving so much to our biggest outreach event of the year!!!
FRESHMEN/SOPHOMORE JURIES
The juries for the freshmen and sophomore classes (including transfers) will take place on 2/23 at 5:30pm. As mentioned in a previous blog post, the jury process will involve a center combination and a combination across the floor in ballet, and then center combinations for both modern and jazz. All of the combinations will be covered in classes prior to the juries to allow dancers to do their best work. The jury will also involve several fitness components:
- Endurance will be assessed by having dancers perform the ballet across, modern and jazz combinations twice in succession.
- Alignment and flexibility will be assessed as related to specific pre-defined actions in the dancing.
- Strength will be assessed via a few specific exercises, including pushups, releves, developpes, etc. These will be covered in your modern and jazz classes prior to the jury but you should be training outside to make sure you can fulfill these basic requirements of dance fitness.
We hope that these juries will serve as a positive force for helping all of you achieve your goals in the art form that you love. We want you to succeed! : )
SENIOR CHOREOGRAPHY Auditions are just around the corner (2/21 at 12pm) and the Senior Solos performance will be announced soon! Keep an eye on callboard for details as you don't want to miss seeing our seniors dancing at their best!
ENTRANCE AUDITIONS
Special thanks to all of you amazing ECDA officers, reps and members who helped out so generously during our entrance auditions last weekend. We had a fabulous group of applicants and I've already received a number of emails from students and parents complimenting us on the quality of our presentations that day. We couldn't have done it without you so THANKS AGAIN!!!
Special thanks to all of you amazing ECDA officers, reps and members who helped out so generously during our entrance auditions last weekend. We had a fabulous group of applicants and I've already received a number of emails from students and parents complimenting us on the quality of our presentations that day. We couldn't have done it without you so THANKS AGAIN!!!
Congratulations to all of you - dance majors and the whole faculty! All of you work so hard every single day in dedication to this art form we all know and love so dearly and I want to congratulate you for everything you do to make this school such a rich and rewarding place to be. Whenever someone asks what I love about working here it always comes back to this - the people. The students who open my eyes and heart to new ideas and information each day hand-in- hand with the colleagues who constantly inspire and challenge me to improve my work while supporting each other wholeheartedly. Not to mention that fabulous accompanists, staff and colleagues throughout the school as a whole! It's a gift to work with all of you and I appreciate each of you for what you bring to the SoTD family.
Thank you and have a great week!!!
: )
John DixonPS - below are the itineraries for our two other upcoming job candidates. Please feel free to email me with questions.
Jamie Johnson
Thursday, February 19th
9:30 – 10:30 Tour of SoTD and ECU – John Dixon
10:45 –12:00 Lunch with Search Committee – Teal Darkenwald, Jeni Parker, Jill Carlson and any other available faculty
12:00 – 12:30 Free Time (Prep Class)
12:30 –1:50 Teach Advanced Ballet – Studio 114
2:00 – 2:50 Dance History Lecture to the Advanced Modern Class – Studio Theatre
3:00 – 4:00 Search Committee – John Dixon, Jeni Parker, Jill Carlson, Teal Darkenwald
4:00 – 5:00 Meet with Faculty and Students in Roulston Room
Jeffery Smith
9:30 – 10:30 Tour of SoTD and ECU – John Dixon
Jeffery Smith
Wednesday,
February 25th
9:30 – 10:30 Tour of SoTD and ECU – John Dixon
10:45 –12:00 Lunch with Search Committee – Teal Darkenwald, Jeni Parker, Jill Carlson and any other available faculty
12:00 – 12:30 Free Time (Prep Class)
12:30 –1:50 Teach Advanced Ballet – Studio 114
2:00 – 2:50 Dance History Lecture to the Advanced Modern Class – Studio Theatre
3:00 – 4:00 Search Committee – John Dixon, Jeni Parker, Jill Carlson, Teal Darkenwald
4:00 – 5:00 Meet with Faculty and Students in Roulston Room
