As The Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance faculty sits down
with each and every dance student to review their progress at CalArts, two wonderful
opportunities give way. CalArts Dance faculty stay well connected to the field.
Their alliances offer our students a unique opportunity. This week six professional
dance artists were invited from outside the CalArts community come to share their work, life
experience, and artistry with CalArts School of Dance students. Read more about
this week’s guests below.
2009 HERB ALPERT AWARD WINNER: REGGIE WILSON
creates a new work for BFA 4s and The NEXT Dance Company
REGGIE WILSON is
the choreographer and Artistic Director of Reggie
Wilson/Fist & Heel Performance Group based in Brooklyn, NY. Wilson’s
work blends contemporary dance with African traditions that makes brilliant new
performance from the spiritual traditions of the African Diaspora. He draws on
the movement idioms of Blues, Slave, and Worship cultures to create what he
calls "Post-African Neo Hoodoo Modern dance”. Accompanied by driving
rhythms--body percussion, aspirated breath, singing and shouts—Wilson’s
choreography blends deep ritual into potent, beautiful and energizing
contemporary dance.
TERESINA
MOSCO teaches Ballet Technique
TERESINA MOSCO danced professionally with the Stuttgart Ballet and Netherlands
Dance Theater. She is currently the Ballet Mistress for the Ballet de
Teatres in Valencia, Spain.
Although her formal
training was in the Vagonova style (she studied 4 years in the Ecole de Danse
Classique du Monte Carlo), Ms. Mosco focuses on teaching a more
contemporary ballet style in order to prepare dancers for the varied demands
that professional dancers are challenged with today. She considers herself
fortunate to have been an active part of the 'Golden Age' of the
Stuttgart Ballet, when Marcia Haydee was Prima Ballerina Assoluta,
and John Neumeier (Hamburg Ballet), Jiri Kilian (Netherlands), and
William Forsythe (Frankfurt Ballet) were dancers in the company. She
worked under Glen Tetley when he became Artistic Director after John Cranko
died.
After ten years with the
Stuttgart Ballet, Ms. Mosco joined Jiri Kilian at the Nederlands Danse
Theatre. Kilian created original work on Ms. Mosco and she was danced in all of
his major pieces. Working with the Nederlands Danse Theatre and being a part of
the extraordinary creative output found there was, without a doubt, the
highlight of her career.
KRENLY
GUZMAN teaches Modern Technique
KRENLY GUZMAN received his MFA in choreography from UCLA World
Arts and Culture department and his B.A. in dance from Columbia College
Chicago. Mr. Guzman was the Associate Artistic Director of Luckyplush
Productions from 2001- 2006. Mr. Guzman is currently on faculty at Cal State LA
and has taught at Barat College of DePaul University, Lou Conte Dance Studios
and was on faculty at Columbia College Chicago from 1993-2006. As a master
teacher he has taught Company classes for Jan Erkert & Dancers, Melissa
Thodos & Dancers, Springfield Ballet Company and Hubbard Street Dance
Chicago. Mr. Guzman has also taught and served as an adjudicator for the
Festival de Encuentro y Certamen de Danza in Monteviedo, South America, The
Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, Fairbanks, AK and The Festival Nacional de
Ballet, Mexico City, Mexico among
many others. Mr. Guzman’s classes focus on training the body and mind as both
an artist and an athlete by incorporating the fundamentals and principles
gained through his experience in North American Modern/Post-Modern dance,
Salsa, Meringue, Rumba, Afro-Cuban Orisha dance and the methodologies of
somatic practices such as Bartenieff Fundamentals, Body/ Mind Centering and
yoga.
JANIS
BRENNER teaches a Master Class in Improvisation/Choreography, Sound, and Movement
JANIS BRENNER is an award-winning dancer/choreographer/
singer/teacher and is Artistic Director of Janis Brenner & Dancers in N.Y.
She has toured in 31 countries and is recognized as a "singular
performer" (Eye On Dance) with a multifaceted artistic range. Ms.Brenner's
awards include a 1997 NY Dance and Performance Award (a "Bessie") for
Outstanding Creative Achievement in Meredith Monk's work "The Politics of
Quiet", a 1999 "Bessie" nomination for her performance in
"Solo for Janis" choreographed by Richard Siegal, a 1996 Lester
Horton Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography in L.A. for the
collaborative work "Tom's Renaissance", a 1993 Leach Fellowship for
Outstanding Achievement in the Performing Arts from Empire State College and a
NY Dance On Camera Festival award (1986).
Janis Brenner’s Improvisation/Choreography Sound and
Movement workshops explore the process of integrating movement, voice, and
speaking by delving into the mind/ body connection, sensations and experiences
through structured improvisation. The classes are geared toward the specific
participants in each class; from professional dancers to singers and actors to
non-performers who want to increase their range and means of expression, to
take risks and discover their own holistic sense of creating art.
RAFAEL
LOPEZ-BARRANTES teaches Composition 1
CalArts School of Theater Associate Head, MFA Acting/Voice, Rafael
Lopez-Barrantes, performer, voice
teacher and co-founder of Archipelago Theatre France as well as Archipelago
Theatre USA, has been acting, directing and teaching with the Roy Hart Theatre
in France since 1974. His research in Traditional Japanese Performing Arts and
Flamenco singing has extensively shaped his approach to voice, body and
performance training. He was the Voice Chair at the National School of Puppetry
Arts in France (1984-1992).
His teaching includes Japan,
Mexico and Europe, notably the Riksteater of Norway and the French National
Conservatories of Dramatic Art. For fifteen years he held a position at the
Theatre Studies Department of Duke University where he directed a number of
performances for main stages (Kaspar, King Ubu, Blood Weddings, The Tempest,
Don Juan, House of Desires, etc.). Since 1992, he has been a faculty member at the
American Dance Festival.
He established Celebrations Inc. in 1996, a very
successful business venture addressing design, theatrical and production needs
in the special events industry (for such notables as President Bill Clinton,
Yo-Yo Ma, Luciano Pavarotti, Michael Jordan, etc.). He collaborated as
Assistant Director for the Opera Company of North Carolina in 2003 and 2004.
Between 2002-2007 he was officially appointed Honorary Consul of Spain in North
Carolina. Since 2007 he has taught Voice as a full-time faculty member at the
Theater School of the California Institute of the Arts. In May 2008 he directed
Rameau's opera "Platee" for the California Institute of the Arts.
SHEL
WAGNER-RASCH teaches Advanced Improvisation
SHEL WAGNER-RASCH is a Los Angeles-based choreographer and Contact
Improv dancer and teacher. Her Contact Improv scores and choreographic works
have been well received in New York City, San Francisco, New Orleans, San
Diego, Amsterdam and extensively throughout Los Angeles. Her work has been
commissioned by Pacific Dance Ensemble, LACHSA, Jean Jeubert, and Loyola
Marymount University. She is a recipient of the Lester Horton Award for
Excellence in Choreography and a member of the West Coast Contact Improv
Festival Teaching pool. Shel has been on the faculty at ULCA and LACHSA as well
as a guest teacher throughout Southern California. Shel maintains a private
practice as a Somatic Experience Practitioner, a Pilates instructor, and an
Alexander Technique teacher.
For more information about the CalArts Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance, visit www.calarts.edu/dance
Don't forget to mark your calendar for our upcoming dance events.
MFA II Thesis Concert, Verge, by Rebecca Levy, March 11-13, 8 p.m.
MFA II Thesis Concert, by Christie Nelson-Sala, April 8-18, 8 p.m.
Spring Dance Concert, May 5 and 7, 8 p.m.
The NEXT Dance Company, May 6 and 8, 8 p.m.
The NEXT Dance Company at REDCAT, May 14 and 15, 8:30 p.m.
Last Dance Concert,May 19 and 20, 7 p.m.
All performances take place in the Sharon Disney Lund Theater unless otherwise noted.