Places Everyone: Let Dallas DanceFest and Dance Council Honors Begin


by Janice LaPointe-Crump W


hat does a performance icon, a past artistic director, an associate artistic director, a professor, a photographer and a former Rockette have in common?DCNT is


overjoyed to announce themas the 2016 recipients of Dance CouncilHonors. These outstanding professionalswill be feted at the 39th presentation of Dance CouncilHonors on September 2nd and 3rd. Produced byDance CouncilNorth Texas, the gala Dallas DanceFest—featuring sixteen curated dance companies and pres- entation of theHonors—takes place at theDallas City PerformanceHall.


The 2016Honors recipients are EdwardVillella,MelissaM. Young, ElizabethGillaspy,Mary SixRupert, and Christian Waits.Meet themat the VIP reception at 7:00 pmeach evening. Enjoy the DanceFest concert at 8:00 pmcelebrating the diversity of dance in Texas. Their love for dance compelled themto dedicate their lives to dance and theatre and give back to the community.


EdwardVillella


EdwardVillellawill receive theMary BywatersAward for Lifetime Contribution toDance.Hewas one of the foremost dancers in the 20th century and a talented artistic director. Villellawas long associatedwithGeorge Balanchine and laterwith the Miami City Ballet.As a young boy in Bayside,NewYork, Edward fell in lovewith dance.He had a natural bravura talent, but his family insisted that he complete a degree at theMaritime


College.After graduating in 1955, he returned to study at the School ofAmerican Ballet and in 1957 Edward joined theNew York City Ballet. By 1960, Villellawas promoted to principal and a famed careerwith the company followed.He danced inmany of the ballets considered Balanchine’smost brilliantworks.When workingwith Jerome Robbins on Dances at aGathering,Watermill and other ballets, Edward’s dancing developed a newedge.


Who can forget his unforgettable performances in Prodigal Son, Apollo, Rubies section of Jewels, AMidsummerNight’sDreamand Harlequinade.His partnershipwith PatriciaMcBride is legendary. They performed frequently on television and in the off season they touredwithMelissaHayden and a group of corps dancers. Dancing for people viewing their first balletwas exciting but a brutalway to develop newaudiences. Visualize Bangor,Maine in a blizzard and sprinkling Comet cleanser and diluted Coke syrup to cover a slippery floor or dancing Balanchine’s Romeo and Juliet at a slowtempo finishing before the orchestra and improvising until themusic ended. [Excerpts fromVillella’s and LarryKaplan’s


page 14 August-October 2016 www.thedancecouncil.org


Prodigal Son:Dancing for Balanchine in aWorld of Pain andMagic, 1992; re-released in 1997]


In 1997, theNationalMedal of theArtswas awarded to Villella by President Bill Clinton at theKennedy CenterHonors.After retir- ing, Villella directed the Eglevsky Ballet and BalletOklahoma (nowOklahoma City Ballet).Until 2012 Villellawas the founding artistic director of theMiami City Ballet. In 1999, Villellawas named on the 100 ofAmerica’s IrreplaceableDance Treasures by theDanceHeritage Coalition


EdwardVillella


Glamorous yet down to earth, associate artistic direc- tor of theDallas BlackDance Theatre,MelissaM. Young, has achieved a solid perform- ance career in contemporary modern dance and is this year’s recipient of the Natalie SkeltonAward for Artistic Excellence. “Melissa is one of themost talented and inspiring artists that I have known,”writes Dr. Linda James, dance facul- tymember at Booker T. WashingtonHSPVA. The


Honduran-American began dancing in SantaAna, CA.Her love forAlvinAiley’s style led her toNewYorkwhere she graduated fromTheAiley School. Selected to study as an exchange student at theAmsterdamSchool of theArts in theNetherlands, Young expanded her vision learning various dance genres and styles.


Fromthere she joined theDallas BlackDance Theatre, first as a dancer then taking on increased responsibilities teaching, coach- ing and being a rehearsal director forDallas Theater Center’s pro- duction of TheWiz and Porgy and Bess for TheDallasOpera. Today, “she uses the studio,” spokeNycole Ray, “to encourage young artists to continue to believe in themselves and their art.”


Prof. ElizabethGillaspy,Director of the TCUSchool for Contemporary and Classical Ballet,will receive the LarryWhite Excellence inDance EducationAward.Gillaspy “challenges her students as dancers and as people, taking their technical abili- ties to newlevels,”writes Sheyna Ferraro, dance director, Fort WorthAcademy of FineArts.


Elizabeth began studying dance inDortmund andHeidelberg, Germanywhere her father sang in the opera. In a home filled withmusic, her responsewas tomove. Returning to theUnited States, her passion grewas did her abilities.After studying on scholarship at theNorth Carolina School of theArts and the American Ballet Theater School, she touredwith theAtlanta Ballet and theAtlanta Ballet Chamber Ensemble. In FortWorth,


Ccontinued on page 16. DANCE!NORTHTEXAS a publication of the dance council of north texas vol. 19 • no. 3


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36