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 News from Summer Stages Dance
Fall 2010 |
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Our Mission: Working in partnership with leading artists, to offer exceptional training
that fosters skill and creativity, and performances that engage a discerning,
ever widening audience for contemporary American dance.
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SUMMER STAGES 2010 FESTIVAL
Arthur Aviles - Megan Brunsvold - Anne Carson - Daniel Charon - Richard Colton -
Nancy Friedman - Rachel Ganteaume - Miguel Gutierrez - Jenny Holzer - Gweneth Jones - Jeff Kazin - Ana Isabel Keilson - Joanna Kotze - David Parker - Yvette Martinez -
Danny McCusker - Rashaun Mitchell - Michele Mola - Dorian Nuskind-Oder - Nic Petry - Amber Sloan - Amy Spencer - Risa Steinberg - Dan Wagoner - Zack Winokur
On the Stage | Miguel Gutierrez and Jenny Holzer / Photo by Jaye R. Phillips
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In the Studio
With the Community
Alumni News!
@ SHAC Floor 2
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On the heels of our 14th season, we are thrilled to share that Summer Stages 2010
was a resounding success with performances garnering sold out houses and
the Workshop developing into an intensely inspired group and our most diverse ever! As Summer Stages moves into the fall and approaches its
15th season, our partnership with the ICA, throughthe Co Lab:
Process + Performance series, will continue. Visual artist Sarah Sze and choreographer Trajal Harrell
will be in residence at the ICA, and Harrell will perform his heralded work Twenty
Looks or Paris
Burning at the Juson Church. Please visit our website for detailed
information; click here for tickets. We hope to see you
there! Back to Top |
On the Stage
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What the Press say about Summer Stages' Meet the Artist Performance Series...
  
Miguel Gutierrez and Jenny Holzer Rashaun Mitchell and Anne Carson
This past July, Summer Stages presented a daring and
inventive season of collaborations between visual art,
poetry and dance. Our
Meet the Artist Performance Series expanded to include presentations at the
Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston by highly acclaimed artist Jenny Holzer
and dancemaker Miguel Gutierrez, and poet Anne Carson and choreographer Rashaun Mitchell (member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and a Summer Stages Dance alum) in a program of new and exciting
work.
  
David Parker and Jeff Kazin/The Bang Group The Troupe Dan Wagoner and Jennifer Tipton
In Concord, the legendary Dan Wagoner presented a one-of-a-kind
celebration of his life in dance, followed by an evening of work by The Troupe, directed by two
brilliant artists, Zack Winokur (SSD '03-'06) and Michelle Mola, debuting their
nascent company of terrific dancers from Juilliard, North Carolina School
of the Arts and the New School. To round out the 2010 season, David Parker and Jeff Kazin of The Bang Group returned for their 11th year at
Summer Stages, to entertain two sold out cabaret crowds with a performance that
celebrated their decades of
work together and all to their very own singing of the Great American Songbook! Amber Sloan and Nic Petry, veteran Bang Group members rounded out the dream cast.
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| In the Studio | WORKSHOP
"I've actually learned a lot about the creative process through our talks with Dan [Wagoner], The Troupe, and Rashaun [Mitchell]..." --Nicole Kardys, 2010
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by Richard Colton
Summer Stages Dance continues to embody my artistic vision as a dance educator: a place where students find themselves in the midst of artistic dialogue between veteran artists and younger cutting-edge ones; a place where poets, visual artists and dance makers can partake in collaborative work and where each student, besides their classes in technique, is an integral part of a creative process.
This summer it was especially extraordinary to see our revered teacher Risa Steinberg giving feedback to three of her former students here to create three individual, new works this summer for our workshop dancers. To see Ana Isabel Keilson, Joanna Kotze (both Choreographic Fellows) and Daniel Charon (a Fellow last summer and now a Faculty member) absorbing Risa's reflections on their work, one knew that all, including the choreographers' casts, were going to benefit from the passion and clarity that Risa exudes in all aspects of her work.
And nothing thrilled me more than to see our intern Emma McCormick-Goodhart move between supporting the great Dan Wagoner on matters of text for his one-man-show to assisting poet Anne Carson as Anne and former Summer Stages dancer Rashaun Mitchell collaborated on a new work for our "Co Lab: Process & Performance" series. I like Summer Stages Dance to feel like a research laboratory and this summer students and faculty artists were all in an investigatory state of mind. All the work seemed to emerge from the push and pull of ideas deeply explored. Arthur Aviles returned to Summer Stages to explore a new movement vocabulary for him and brought two great dance anthropologists of Afro-Caribbean movement, Yvette Martinez and Nancy Friedman, to filter his own inimitable dancing and this all shared in class with our students! Remarkable! Dorian Nuskind-Oder, who graced our stage when she danced with Misnomer Dance Theater as part of Summer Stages Meet the Artist Series, also returned, this year in a choreographic capacity as a fellow. And after these risk-taking and invigorating explorations, it was comforting to return to the five basic positions and the mellifluous tones of Rachel Ganteaume's voice in morning ballet class! I had not seen Rachel since my Joffrey days with her thirty years ago. I think ballet must be the fountain of youth tonic spoken about. Research should be done!
I must mention the personal thrill to see two of my students, both at CA and Summer Stages, performing this summer in our Meet The Artist Performance Series, Zack Winokur and Rashaun Mitchell. When I see them perform, when I see their choreographic work, I actually have no recollection of teaching them anything, they seem to have simply sprung up from the earth, fully mature and god-like artists! Only the ancient Greeks have a word for this phenomenon of springing up fully formed from the earth: autochthonous! I know that the seeds for many autochthoni have been planted this summer. I look forward!
  
YOUNG DANCERS
I learned better technique and more about my body. I also learned about myself and what I need to work on.
--Sarah Underwood, SS2 2010
The 2010 Young Dancers Program was our most refined and successful yet! For the first time, we offered two levels of programming to better serve the growing population of eager young dancers (ages 12-16) attracted to Summer Stages. Over the recent years, while the number of applicants continually increased, so has the range of levels and dance experience. We maintained the two-week Summer Stages 2 program for advanced beginners and intermediate-level students, but also added the exciting new Contemporary Dance Intensive, a three-week program designed for serious dance students seeking rigorous training. We welcomed exceptional groups of dancers to both programs, and in their program-closing performances, of work supervised by Daniel McCusker for SS2 and choreographed by Daniel Charon for the Apprentice program, we saw the great products of their hard work with our esteemed faculty! We are eager to see what the continuation of this model in the 2011 Summer Stages season
will bring!
photos by Liza Voll Photography
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With the Community
| Summer Stages opens its doors with community classes!
 We have always sought to bring the fun of Summer Stages to the community, and this summer we succeeded! Summer Stages launched open classes in African dance, ballroom and jazz
to Concord and its surroundings, offering a great time dancing and exposure to different styles of dance. Boston's best came
out to teach in our state-of-the art dance studio including
Billy McLaughlin, a prominent Boston choreographer who is on the faculty of Walnut Hill, The Boston Conservatory, Boston Arts Academy, and Simmons College, teachers from the wonderful Studio 665, and teacher/dancer/scholar Wyoma, who connected us to the rich history of Africa through dances, drumming, and songs.
Here's what community members who danced with us have to say:photos by Ann Ringwood
Wicked Local staff photographer
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as I can and for me, personally, 2010 is the year for trying to
expand my horizons."
--Beth Sheldon, Manager at Best Western of Concord
"I love to dance and it's a great experience to challenge the
mind-body,"
--Peter Lovis, Owner of The Cheese Shop of Concord
Read more about Summer Stages Community Dance Classes:
"Workshops get Concord dancing. -- Patrick Ball, The Concord Journal
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Alumni News
| As always,
Summer Stages alums
continue to contribute to the wider dance community!
Danny McCusker,
long-time Summer Stages
Faculty member and Director of the Young Dancers Program
is showing work at ICA/Boston. Friday October 1 and Saturday October 2 .
For tickets and information, click here.Leah Moriarty,
Former Summer Stages
Intern and dancer
is dancing with the Elm City Dance Collective
in New Haven, with whom she'll be performing at the
Mystic Aquarium after
touring with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra
to schools for workshops and
lectures throughout CT, MA and RI. Jillian
Grunnah,
Summer Stages alum, is now working on developing the dance program
at the Noble
and Greenough School in Dedham, MA,
and dancing with the Boston-based
contemporary dance company BoSoma. Ian Spencer
Bell,
a Summer Stages Choreography Project Fellow alum, recently showed his work at NYC's West End Theater alongside his
husband's company, Ben Munisteri Dance Projects.
Ian also returned to Summer
Stages this season to show some of what he's been working on! Marcela Giesche,
Summer Stages alum, taught a workshop this summer at the improvisation-based Ponderosa,
Tanzland
Festival in Stolzenhagen, Germany, where 2010 Summer Stages
artist/choreographer Miguel
Gutierrez was also teaching! Kyle Abraham,
a Summer Stages Choreography Project Fellow alum,
showed a full evening of work at Jacob's Pillow, Summer 2010. Kathy
Westwater,
a Summer Stages Choreography Project Fellow alum,
is currently showing her inventive work "Park," which
focuses on the idea that
for any new creation to occur, destruction is
necessary. FACULTY AND ALUM, PLEASE KEEP IN TOUCH
AND LET US KNOW WHAT YOU'RE UP TO!
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@ SHAC Floor 2 / Summer Stages Office
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66 workshop participants, 12 faculty, 4 interns,
8 shows, and 2 distinct venues
during our three- week festival this past July, Summer Stages' office was
hopping! We are indebted to our incredible interns
who contributed in a major way to the success of our 14th season.
Hastings Hill managed our box office and supported marketing needs with
professionalism and grace, Mary O'Brien deftly met the challenge of the
rehearsal schedule for our choreographic fellows and work study needs, Caroline
Walthall's assistance to our faculty for young dancers was a significant asset to the
program, Kelsey Booth as production intern contributed her expertise to
performances at both venues, and Emma McCormick-Goodhart was liaison for all visiting artists. On the Summer Stages performance series front, we are
thrilled to report that we had a sold-out season, filling nearly 1,300 seats!
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Most
recently, we are grateful to report that
Summer Stages received a two year Peer
grant
from the Cultural Investment Portfolio program of Massachusetts Cultural
Council, for " work that was both innovative and demonstrated public
value." We also received funding
from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, specifically to support the
upcoming collaboration of choregrapher Trajal Harrell and visual artisit Sarah
Sze, as part of the
Co Lab: Process + Performance series Summer
Stages
co-prese nts with the ICA/Boston.
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To continue to succeed as we have,
we need you!
Please look for
Summer Stages annual appeal
in November. We hope you will be integral to helping us serve our mission to nurture the dynamic, rich
tradition of contemporary American dance by providing an environment in which
an ever-widening community of dancers,
artists and audiences can interact, and from
which the form and the field will grow,
helping contemporary dance reflect the
times in increasingly meaningful ways.
You can always support Summer Stages online.
Top: Summer Stages 2010 Workshop Intensive
Middle: Summer Stages 2010 Apprentice Workshop
Bottom: Summer Stages 2010 SS2: Young Dancers Program
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Summer Stages Dance at Concord Academy
166 Main Street, Concord MA 01742 / 978.402.2339 / summerstagesdance@concordacademy.org
www.summerstagesdance.org
enews contributors
Amy Spencer and Richard Colton, Directors
April Stone, Director of Marketing and External Affairs
Dana Fitchett, Admissions Associate
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