from the editor
“My blue sky wish is that the community finds dance more appealing and attractive…that we become more effective in promoting the thrill of dance” eagerly exclaimed Gayle Halperin at a recent Dance Council of North Texas (DCNT) Board Meeting.
Linda James ALL PUFFED UP
Invigorated by the achievements of North Texas artists and dance organizations, Halperin and fellow DCNT Board Members participating in a strategic planning ses- sion threw out ideas on how to better support and promote dance in our community.
Suggestions made by DCNT Board Members for improving the services provided by the council ranged from the re-establishment of the Dallas Dance Festival to sponsoring a performance featuring former area artists; and live streaming of local dance events to increasing the number of 20-40 year-olds serving on the DCNT Board. Energized by the vitality of dance in our community and its potential for growth, DCNT Board Members ani- matedly brainstormed on how the organization could better serve the field.
Recent events that have boosted public enthusiasm for dance and pride in North Texas Arts include the December 6, 2011 performance of A Gathering: The Dallas Arts Community Reflects on 30 Years of Aids which that left audience members singing the praises of local artists and wondering why it had taken them so long to recognize the top-drawer artistry of home-grown talent.
On January 13-15, 2012, Dallas Black Dance Theatre (DBDT) celebrated its 35th Anniversary with a New York Premiere Season at the Ailey CitiGroup Theater. DBDT’s fourth National Endowment of the Arts grants in two years, enabled the company to restage masterworks by Alvin Ailey, Elisa
Monte, Ulysses Dove and Milton Myers. Showcased during their New York performances were the works of noted choreographers - Hope Boykin, Francesca Harper, Christopher Huggins, Diane McIntyre, and Bruce Wood.
On January 8, 2012 invited guests viewed an enthralling salon perform- ance of the Bruce Wood Dance Project at the studio of Read and Steve Gendler. Celebrating the company’s first anniversary, Wood eloquently spoke about the need to nurture area artists and foster young choreogra- phers. He announced that Josh Peugh, Southern Methodist University graduate had recently returned from Korea where he had directed his own company to join the BWDP as Associate Choreographer.
It’s no secret that for decades Texas has produced some of the most prom- ising young dancers in the country. From January 9-14, 2012 seven Dance Finalists from Texas were among the twenty-two Dance Finalists nation- wide invited to participate in youngArts Week sponsored by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. Ten of the twenty-nine dancers performing on the stage at the New World Center in Miami, Florida are North Texans.
The DCNT takes pride in congratulating not only DCNT scholarship recipi- ents Taylor Rodman (Coppell, TX) and Karissa Royster (San Antonio, TX) for being named 2012 youngArts Finalists but also Skylar Boykin (Plano, TX), Victor Lozano (Houston, TX), Hanss Mujica (Mission, TX), Stephanie Troyak (Plano, TX), and Christian Warner (Houston, TX).
We have so much to boast about! Now it’s up to us. Let’s get out there and tell our family, friends and acquaintances how wonderful our local dancers and dance organizations truly are.
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February 2012
www.thedancecouncil.org
DANCE! NORTH TEXAS
a publication of the dance council of north texas
vol. 15 •
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