| Kids Exercising Goes Cultural
Students at selected Tulsa elementary schools are getting an introductory education in classical ballet. It's part of a program called "Leaps Ahead" operated by the Tulsa Ballet Center for Dance Education. News on 6 reporter Rick Wells reports the program has an enthusiastic and growing group of students. Third and fourth graders from Wright elementary were ready to learn about ballet on Tuesday. "They come over for an hour once a week and take a ballet class," Stacey Jenkins with the Tulsa Ballet Center for Dance Education said. The girl's class is lead by Pam Cameron, while Stacy Christiansen leads the boy's, and the kids seem to like it. "It's really fun like gym," said one student. The “Leaps Ahead" classes are free, funded by a grant from the Schusterman Family Foundation.
Local ballet is not as grim as Grimm's
CHAPEL HILL -- Leaping flames and trembling bread crumbs, preening blackbirds and waking flowers enchant the stage this weekend when the Chapel Hill Dance Theater brings "Hansel and Gretel" back to match wits with a wickedly hungry witch. Now in its 10th season, the large company of 46 dance students from around the Triangle, ranging in age from 7 to 18 years, is sponsored by the Ballet School of Chapel Hill. Featured dancers in the production are 13-year-old Ellie Davis as Hansel and 12-year-old Alexa Yeames as Gretel; guest artists Joy Javits, David Alan Cook, Elizabeth Conner Jones and Killian Manning perform as the Wicked Witch, Father, Mother and Lady of the Forest, respectively. M'Liss Dorrance's adaptation is far more charming than Grimm's. "Some kids have stepmothers -- I didn't want a wicked stepmother," said Dorrance at a recent rehearsal as she kept her eyes on her dancers, reminding them to slow down, feel the music.
Dance Alive set to perform
Horse reins, panniers, and white powdered wigs might not be conventional costumes for a ballet production, but nobody said Ballet Gala is conventional. On Saturday, dancers from Russia, China and Latin America will hit the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts stage for the annual repertoire production of the Gainesville-based Dance Alive National Ballet. A series of their best pieces will be presented in a show filled with variety and entertainment. Judy Skinner, choreographer-in-residence for Dance Alive, said that spectators can expect a visually and aurally rich show. "It runs from the most classical to avant-garde contemporary, this is true for the costumes, lighting, music and choreography," she said. Ballet Gala will feature five different choreographers with five unique pieces.
Students spring into the spotlight
Churchill Community School, along with junior schools in the west Mendip area, will combine to present their dance extravaganza, Spring in Your Step, at The Playhouse on February 15. Churchill Ballet School and an adult flamenco group will also be appearing in the show, which promises to provide a spectacular evening for those who enjoy bright lights, fantastic costumes and a variety of energetic dance styles. Since gaining specialist status for the performing arts, Churchill has built a reputation for music, drama and dance and the linked junior schools have also had the benefit of a dedicated dance and drama teacher, Carolyn Savidge, who has choreographed pieces from nine schools for the show.Paul Harrison, head of performing arts at Churchill, said: "This is a tremendously exciting venture with over 350 students performing.
TU Dance blends live music, powerful human movement
TU Dance's concert of live music and dance sings the body electric, to paraphrase poet Walt Whitman, who would have been yodeling blankverse in the aisles after this ravishing performance. Structured as a continuous movement "set" with one intermission, the program features choreography by Uri Sands; live music by pianist Christian Matjias, cellist Christian Campbell and the drumming trio Tres Ritmos; and luminous dancing by Sands' 12-member company. It has the intimate quality of a chamber concert, a vivid and spontaneous dialogue between music and dance. Tension between formal restraint and physical abandon defines Sands' choreography and clearly energizes the dancers. The versatile performers shift between dance dialects ballet, modern, African, everyday, even animal movement with fluent élan.
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