The Dean of the School of Dance, Stephan Koplowitz, attended the National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD) Twenty-Eighth Annual Meeting in Minneapolis this weekend. The CalArts Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance is proud to be part of the 65 schools of dance that are accredited by this national agency. The main role of this organization is to assure quality programs, evaluate curriculums, and uphold high standards in performing arts education. By attending these conferences, the School of Dance is able to maintain the dialogue with other fine institutions about dance resources, teaching methodologies, and issues of evaluation and perspective faced by performing arts programs, as well as how to maintain the standards of excellence for which this program is known.
September 12, 2008
Winter Dance Auditions
The Winter Dance Concert is the fully produced concert of the Fall Semester. This Winter Dance in particular, marks the return of the School of Dance to the Modular Theater, where this show will be performed. All BFA I, II, and II students have the opportunity to audition for the concert. This year's choreographers are all faculty members, including Andre Tyson, Colin Connor, Rosanna Gamson, Laurence Blake, and Stephanie Nugent. No matter how sore students will be from their first week back into the intensive technique offered here at the Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance, they will certainly be footing their best foot forward. Working with the faculty offers many opportunities for development in technical skill, creative engagement, and personal growth.
First Week of School Welcomes New Students and Faculty Member, Andre Tyson
The beginning of the 2008/2009 academic year presents the entire Institute with the opportunity to put new goals into place, and look forward to an exciting year ahead. The School of Dance will welcome its new students at the first Showings class on Tuesday, where returning students will get the opportunity to introduce themselves to their new colleagues. The School of Dance welcomes ## new BFA I students, and # new MFA I students to its community. Andre Tyson, having arrived from the University of Minnesota, will be teaching Contemporary Technique, Jazz, and Pilates. He also holds the title of Assistant Dean, and the focus of his new responsibilities in this position will be in Admissions.
April 22, 2008
Spring Semester Productions
The Lund Theater has been in heavy use this week. The full programs of the Spring Dance Concert are moving smoothly through Tech and into the first runs of the pieces. Student choreographers have been shopping for costumes and finalizing music and lighting design choices. The faculty will select the program for REDCAT this week as well.
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Three Weeks Left for Critical Studies
Students are working diligently to complete assignments and final projects for their Critical Studies classes. Students are required to take 48 units of Critical Studies credit in the Undergraduate program in addition to their Dance School courses, or métier studies.
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April 14, 2008
Pre-Production for the Spring Dance Concert
With the Spring Dance Concert performances only three weeks away, the School of Dance is humming with the efforts of collaboration. Tuesday's Showings Class will be a forum for the viewing of those pieces selected for the concert, after which the faculty will meet to determine the content and order for program A and program B. A production meeting will be held with the Faculty Production Team, the Production Manager, and the student choreographers to discuss the production schedule and technical needs for each piece. The student choreographers will be in the Lund Theater, working with their designers from the School of Dance and School of Theater establishing lighting cues by Thursday and Friday. Students holding crew positions have their first calls to work to support the production.
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April 09, 2008
MFA II Thesis Concert by Sung-Yun Park opens this week
"Room in Me" choreographed by Sung-Yun Park will be presented at the California Institute of the Arts Sharon Disney Lund theatre April 10, 11, 12, 2008 at 8:30pm. Sung-Yun's quirky sense of individualism is translated through her dancers. "Our inner child remains with us all of our lives. No matter how old we are, we are all children at heart. Among many benefits of freeing our inner child, one can be a letting our creativity shine. My freed inner child is the choreographer of my thesis concert and I hope inner children of my audiences will enjoy it." For show information and ticket reservation, click here.
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MFA II Thesis Concert by Yen-Lin Chou opens this week
A mysterious video projection will catch your attention at the very beginning of this piece called "An Unfinished Story," presented by The Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance and choreographed by Yen-Lin Chou on April 10, 11, 12, 2008 at 7:30pm . The piece unfolds as an ensemble of seven dancers investigate experiences of separations. Yen-Lin uses contact improvisation in order to develop her movement, creating sensitivity and interconnectedness between dancers. The choreography combines with abstract works of video and music create a unique and compelling environment. For show information and ticket reservation, click here.
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March 17, 2008
Spring Into Auditions
The faculty of the School of Dance will be viewing over 35 student choreographed works for the Spring Dance Auditions on Tuesday. Artists from the Schools of Music, Theater, Art, and Film/Video will be present to view the works for potential collaboration opportunities. All the pieces will be considered on design, organization, content, creativity, and composition. Approximately 14 of the pieces will be selected to accompany the two faculty pieces by Stephanie Nugent and Glen Eddy, and the Graduate piece created by guest choreographer Mira Kingsley, to create the two full programs of the Spring Dance Concert. This concert is an opportunity for our students to participate in a fully produced concert either as a performer, choreographer, designer, collaborator, or production crew member. Program selection will be posted by Friday, and the students will have approximately five weeks to prepare for the performances in the last week in April.
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March 11, 2008
MFA II Thesis Concert by EunJu Chung
"For What?" MFA II Thesis Concert by EunJu Chung opens this week. This production explores the conflict between humanity's inside (mind) that represents thoughtful action and humanity's outside (body) that functions on a more primal level. The show runs Thursday, March 13 through Saturday, March 15, 2008 at 7:30pm. General admission: $7. Alumni: $3. Students, faculty, staff and seniors: $2. To reserve tickets, call 661.253.7800 or write to tickets@calarts.edu.
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