Arts
EWDance Company
(edited by Miro Cassetta '07)
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Emma Willard Dance Company is an eclectic group of talented and
dedicated dancers, ages 15–18, interested in exploring many styles
of dance, including ballet, jazz, tap, ethnic, theatrical, and contemporary
(modern).
Throughout the academic year the dancers learn and rehearse works choreographed by faculty and guest artists (which have included Doug Elkins, Kathleen Hermesdorf, Gabriel Masson, Terry Creach, Ming-Shen Ku, Dan Froot, Paula Hunter, Sharon Garber, Raymond Harris, Sara Pearson and Patrik Widrig, Kerry Kreiman, Derrick Davis, Cathy Young, and this year Suzanne Oliver), all active, cutting-edge artists working nationally and internationally. The choreography is designed to challenge the students’ versatility, technical virtuosity, and expressive nuance. Students may audition their own choreography, and dances that excel in quality become part of the repertoire.
Each spring, the Emma Willard Dance Company travels to another city to “tour” their repertoire. They have performed in all kinds of venues: colleges, public and private schools, retirement villages, theatres, festivals, and outdoors. Their tour cities have included Chicago, Boston, New York City, Montreal, Philadelphia, Baltimore/DC, San Antonio, and this year Puebla, Mexico. When these young dancers enter diverse communities to perform and interact in traditional and non-traditional settings, they begin to develop a tangible understanding of artistic expression. Each audience provides an opportunity for connection as these dancers strive to communicate the energetic, joyous, at times tender, and often thought-provoking choreography.
For those interested in a performance, we look forward to the possibility of visiting your school or organization and performing for your clientele at no charge. We do, however, accept donations to help with expenses. We can gear our repertoire toward your interest for a variable 45-minute presentation with a question and answer period to follow.
Tour is an intense and valuable experience for all members of this dance company. It is an opportunity for dancers to have a pre-professional experience while networking and seeing a little bit of a new city and the dance it has to offer. The touring experience deepens each performers’ ability to be resilient, organized, gracious, and professional. They must meet the demands of strange spaces: hard or splintered floors, cramped performing areas, low ceilings, cafeterias with poles in the middle, or voluminous gymnasiums. The opportunity for creative problem solving occurs each day. The dancers must respond to and generously perform to the best of their ability for variety of audiences—children, hospital or nursing home patients, and high-school boys—that range from polite to very enthusiastic to confused to those shouting out their responses. When the Emma Willard Dance Company performs their spring dance concert in May, they will be well-seasoned performers!
Co-Artistic Director Sue Lauther
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Lauther currently teaches ballet, improvisation, repertory, and contemporary dance at Emma Willard School with special interests in dance history and composition. She has taught dance around the nation in such places as Saint Mary’s College in Indiana, Northwestern State University in Louisiana, Lane Community College in Oregon, Weber State University in Utah, Utah State University, and the University of Illinois, where she received her M.F.A. She has served as a guest teacher and choreographer for projects around the world, including Argentina, Taiwan, New Zealand, Ecuador, and Costa Rica. Ms. Lauther believes that technique is being able to demonstrate physical intention clearly, so she approaches teaching as a vehicle to help her students explore, expand, and clarify their options. She encourages her dancers be part of the artistic process. Ms. Lauther’s choreography encompasses a broad range of styles and perspectives—from playful to pensive, zany to formal.
E-mail: slauther@emmawillard.org.
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Peck Magee received an M.F.A. in dance from the University of Illinois in 1987 and has since established her reputation professionally as a performer, choreographer, and instructor. She has received numerous awards for her inventive choreography and has performed throughout the United States, as well as Germany and Japan. Ms. Magee has instructed ballet, contemporary dance, jazz, creative dance for children, composition, improvisation, and performance art workshops at colleges and private and public institutions. She is a certified Pilates instructor through Power Pilates of NYC. Ms. Magee moved to Troy, New York, from San Antonio, Texas, where she co-directed False Alarm Theatre and B’Alamo Dance Theatre. She worked with communities, arts organizations, and educational institutions to promote dance as an educational force in the private and public school environments. She has a strong commitment to the arts as an invaluable resource for creating a personally rich and healthy community.
E-mail: bmagee@emmawillard.org.
For further information about the Emma Willard Dance Company, call the dance program office at Emma Willard School, (518) 833-1341.
