Summer Dance Inside and Out

by Courtland Weaver

2007-08 has been a busy year for ADT company dancers, and for many of them the end of the school year signals the time when they can attend summer dance programs Outside. We encourage our company members to get as broad a scope in their training as possible, because we feel it is important for their development as dancers and artists to experience a variety of styles and teachers in their training. This allows dancers to compare and contrast companies and choreographers, and allows them to make decisions on their personal preferences as far as dance is concerned.

This year we have company members attending a wide variety of programs. Avianna McKee is going to New York City to attend Alvin Ailey School’s summer program. She will study ballet technique and Horton or Graham modern technique, jazz, pas de deux and improvisation. Anna Veelman will attend Western Washington University’s summer school, in Bellingham, Washington. Carrissa Landes goes to Idyllwild Performing Arts High School in the San Juacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles. Victoria Campbell will attend Interlochen Center for the Arts in Interlochen, Michigan under the direction of ex-Ballet West dancer Mark Borchelt for a third summer. Abby Keller was accepted into the prestigious Lines summer program, directed by Lines Artistic Director Alonzo King in San Francisco.

This summer ADT is excited to welcome back KT Nelson, Co-Artistic Director of ODC Dance (our first Intersections partner from 2006) who will choreograph a new work for the company beginning May 23rd and going through May 30th. We have two weeks of Summer Dance Intensive beginning June 2, 2008 and overlapping the beginning of our regular Summer Session on June 9. Karen Burns, a dancer/choreographer from Savannah, Georgia will teach in the school and choreograph a new work for the company beginning June 9, 2008. Our Summer Session ends July 19, and we will have Creative Movement Camps July 21-Aug 1. On August 11, Penelope Freeh of James Sewell Ballet (our Intersections partner for 2009) will begin setting a work from James Sewell’s repertoire to be performed during our 2008-09 season. There is plenty going on to insure that our dancers stay busy and improving all summer.