Peabody Dance To Present Master Classes and Ballet Teachers’ Seminar, Oct. 28
Annual Event Will Explore “Technique as a Pathway to Artistry and Performance”
Press Contact Only:
Margaret Bell
410-234-4525
m.bell@jhu.edu
Peabody Dance Contact:
Carol Bartlett
410-234-4626
peabodydance@jhu.edu
www.peabody.jhu.edu/dance
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 10, 2012, Baltimore, MD: Four of the country’s most brilliant ballet teachers will come to Baltimore to lead sessions of Peabody Dance’s Day of Master Classes and Ballet Teachers’ Seminar on Sunday, Oct. 28. Teaching eight master classes in two 90-minute periods—10:00 to 11:30 am and 11:30 am to 1:00 pm—will be: Kee-Juan Han, director of the Washington (D.C.) School of Ballet; Rhodie Jorgenson, Maryland Youth Ballet faculty member and nationally known rehearsal coach and ballet mistress; Barbara Sandonato, first principal dancer with Pennsylvania Ballet, now an esteemed master teacher; and Marcia Dale Weary, founding artistic director of Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (CPYB).
A legend in the ballet world, Weary also will co-lead the afternoon Ballet Teachers’ Seminar with Peabody Dance Artistic Director Carol Bartlett and Artistic Advisor Barbara Weisberger, the visionary founder of Pennsylvania Ballet.
“The Day of Master Classes and Ballet Teachers’ Seminar touches the heart of our mission, reaching out to dance colleagues and as many as 80 young dancers, primarily from the local area but also from throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast,” said Bartlett, who has led and choreographed for Peabody Dance since 1988. “This kind of service to the dance community has even greater meaning as we prepare for our centennial in 2014.”
With the exception of two Elementary Ballet master classes taught by Weary—open only to students between the ages of 8 and 12 selected by senior teacher attendees—the morning schedule is open to serious intermediate and advanced students 11 and older. Master classes in the 10:00 am slot are: Intermediate Ballet, Advanced Ballet, and Elementary/Intermediate Boys’; classes in the 11:30 am slot are: Pointe One, for female students in the early stages of pointe training; Pointe Two, a mid-level pointe class; and Variations/Partnering, for invited male students and career-entry-level female students.
All Ballet Teachers’ Seminar attendees are encouraged to observe morning master classes. Teachers not attending the seminar who have students participating in master classes (other than the Elementary Ballet master classes taught by Weary) are invited to observe their students. Open exclusively to—and required for—seminar attendees, the Elementary Ballet master classes will illustrate Weary’s remarkably successful approach to teaching the fundamentals, based on her own perfected analysis of how technique should be broken down and progress in ways that have immediate and lasting impact. Observation of her class is meant as a bridge to the afternoon portion of the Ballet Teachers’ Seminar, from 2:15 to 5:15 pm.
Titled “The Art of Ballet Training: Teaching Fundamental Technique as a Pathway to Artistry and Performance,” the Ballet Teachers’ Seminar is a provocative “crash course” which delves into one of the present dance world’s most fascinating and relevant questions: How can dance training move beyond technique to produce a splendid, physically adept, singularly expressive human instrument and creative collaborator for, and with, the choreographer?
The afternoon session will begin with questions and comments generated by the morning class observation, primarily concerning the links between technique and artistry. A group of exceptional CPYB male and female students working with Weary will help demonstrate the complex—often called mysterious—choreographic journey from classroom to performance. The program is particularly appropriate for senior teachers and college faculty as well as apprentice teachers, college dance majors, and other teachers-to-be.
The oldest continuously active dance training program in the country, Peabody Dance began in 1914 with classes in eurhythmics, a method of musical training through movement developed by Émile Jacques-Dalcroze. Over the decades, Peabody Dance has introduced innovative programs in Native American dance, classical ballet, modern dance, Spanish dance, and many other forms. It is one of the largest departments in the Peabody Preparatory, the noncredit division of the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University.
The Day of Master Classes and Ballet Teachers’ Seminar will take place at the downtown studios of Peabody Dance, located on the Peabody campus at 17 East Mount Vernon Place in Baltimore’s historic Mount Vernon neighborhood. The 2012 brochure, with details concerning schedules, content, tuition, and registration, may be downloaded at www.peabody.jhu.edu/dancemc. The deadline to apply is Oct. 22. More information is available by contacting the Peabody Dance office at 410-234-4626 or peabodydance@jhu.edu.
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About Peabody Dance
Peabody Dance, the time-honored Dance Department of the Peabody Preparatory, offers three main curricula in downtown Baltimore and Towson: the Pre-Professional Program; the Young Children’s Program; and the Open Program. The heart of Peabody Dance’s philosophy is the expectation that all students will have the opportunity to reach their own desired level of achievement. In return, an internationally respected faculty and artistic staff are dedicated to meeting the needs of their students on an individual basis and to providing exemplary training, inspiration, and encouragement. In conjunction with its primary focus on maintaining the highest standard of training in ballet and contemporary dance, Peabody Dance presents imaginatively produced performances and unique instructional programs which reach out to the dance community and enrich the cultural life of the Baltimore region.
About the Peabody Preparatory
Since its founding in 1894 by May Garrettson Evans, the Peabody Preparatory, a division of the Peabody Institute, has devoted itself to a two-fold mission. It offers gifted children and adolescents the opportunity to realize their highest potential as leaders of the next generation of performing artists. In addition, it provides an education in music and dance to all members of the community who desire it, regardless of age, professional intention, or previous training. This dual mission is based upon the notion that every individual has the capacity for artistic expression at some appropriate level of understanding and skill.
About the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University
Located in the heart of Baltimore’s Mount Vernon Cultural District, the Peabody Institute was founded in 1857 as America’s first academy of music by philanthropist George Peabody. Today, Peabody boasts a preeminent faculty, a nurturing, collaborative learning environment, and the academic resources of one of the nation’s leading universities, Johns Hopkins. Through its degree-granting Conservatory and its community-based Preparatory music and dance school, Peabody trains musicians and dancers of every age and at every level, from small children to seasoned professionals, from dedicated amateurs to winners of international competitions. Each year, Peabody stages nearly 100 major concerts and performances, ranging from classical to contemporary to jazz, many of them free — a testament to the vision of George Peabody.
