Archive for competition
February 25, 2008 at 5:53 pm · Filed under ballet, dance, savannah, contemporary, VERONICA, the STUDIO, youth america grand prix, competition, yagp
Well it was quite a weekend at the Youth America Grand Prix regional in Spartanburg, SC! A who’s who of young talent. All of my kids did very well-I am so proud of them. It was very intimidating and a lot of pressure. I am really tired so here is a quick post on our results:
Alston Macgill (pre-competitive) came in Third place and was invited to the finals in NY in April!!
Shakira Bell (pre-competitive) and Angela Novelli (SR Contemporary) both finished in the top 12.
The scoring was very tight due to the unbelievable amount of talent in all categories. I am very pleased with how they all did. Justin in particular brought the audience to tears with his moving performance. He narrowly missed the top 12 by tenths of a point. They certainly learned a lot this weekend and had a great experience.
Here are a few photos:
Recent Posts by veronica moretti niebuhr
February 22, 2008 at 4:04 am · Filed under ballet, dance, rehearsals, studio, dancers, savannah, contemporary, students, VERONICA, the STUDIO, youth america grand prix, competition, variations, pointe
We have been very busy at the STUDIO preparing for the Youth America Grand Prix regional in Spartanburg, SC! We are leaving in the morning and the dancers begin in the early evening. It has been quite a process for them all, the usual blood sweat and tears. I decided to take 8 dancers this year: Justin, Emma, Skye, Angela, Kieran, Linzy, Shakira and Alston. I am so proud of them all and excited to see them reach their personal goals. They are an incredible group of talented young dancers and people. It has been so nice to see them grow together-their support of each other is amazing.
Here are a few shots from our rehearsals. (photographs by the STUDIO’s unofficial, official photographer-Mary-Margaret Macgill)
Recent Posts by veronica moretti niebuhr
February 2, 2008 at 12:13 pm · Filed under ballet, dance, choreographers, video, SUSAN, contemporary, website, students, hamburg ballet, john neumeier, performance, competition, tickets, switzerland, blogging, paris opera ballet, bejart
© Prix de Lausanne
Exciting news: The final competition round of the Prix de Lausanne will be broadcast live on Sunday 3 February, starting at 3.00pm CET (Central European Time). To watch the competition, simply click here.
The Prix de Lausanne is an international ballet competition that takes place every year in Lausanne, Switzerland. Dancers between the ages of 15 and 18 have been competing in this year’s 36th annual Prix all week long. Judging them are some big names: Altynai Asylmuratova (Kirov Ballet), Elisabeth Platel (Paris Opera Ballet) and Anna Maria Prina (La Scala Ballet). Hamburg Ballet’s Director and Chief Choreographer John Neumeier is serving as the 2008 President of the jury.
This year, the finals will not only feature the competitors, but will also showcase two of Neumeier’s works. The first will be his Opus 100, in tribute to the late choreographer Maurice Béjart. The second will be Yondering, which will feature students from the Hamburg Ballet School, the Paris Opera Ballet School and the National Ballet School of Canada.
If you weren’t able to purchase tickets to the sold-out performance or if, like me, you are not able to attend the performance in Lausanne, this is a most excellent and very accessible alternative. Also, for anyone who is interested, the Prix de Lausanne has set up a videoblog to chronicle the competition experiences of six participants. Check it out here.
Recent Posts by susan kim
January 27, 2008 at 8:12 pm · Filed under dance, TONY, competition, michel foucault, dance studies, dance culture, thoinot arbeau, dance tv, breakdancing, romeo+juliet, dance/USA
Two titans, two teams, one battle…this is DANCE WAR!
The trailer to ABC’s new gladiator spectacular tells us that “talk is cheap.” So to settle their rivalry “Dancing with the Stars” judges Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba “put their money where there mouth is” and battle two armies of dancers against each other. The casualties of this conflict are not the titans but the unfortunate dancers America decides to vote off each week.
Dance makes for good wars and wars make for good entertainment. As vulgar as all this sounds it is important that we try to develop the thinking around this little cultural treasure. We love a good battle dance. Is it not the battle between the Montagues and Capulets that becomes the centerpiece of Romeo and Juliet. See Kristin’s video on battle training here. Indeed Dance of the Knights, Prokofiev’s score for the battle scene in Act I, Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet, becomes the sonic theme for the whole ballet.
We have looked at the close relationship between the making a military body and making a dancer before. In our discussions of Foucault’s Discipline and Punish and Arbeau’s dance manual we have seen the science of choreography as a general problem to be employed for developing military maneuvers and dance maneuvers alike.
In politics, business and the culture at large war is arguably the eminent form or discourse. It makes sense then that contemporary dance should investigate this form a bit more deeply. Though the work is valuble I am not talking about making dances about conflict, such as David Dorfman’s Underground or William Forsythe’s Three Atmospheric Studies. Rather I am looking at dances that are themselves conflicts such as the battle format in breakdancing. If we were to look at professional wrestling as a performance practice it too would fall into this category.
Perhaps we should have performances in which two dance companies compete against each other and the audience, voting on their cell phones, determines which gets to keep the box office. I would definitely go see that show. It will be exciting to explore the dance war as a valuble performance outlet to be experimented with.
Recent Posts by tony schultz
July 15, 2007 at 3:06 am · Filed under dance, tv, competition, tony schultz, sara rudner, choreography, ASHLEY, alaska, solipsism
Posted by Ashley Byler
So, I was just reading Tony’s post on Lepecki’s Exhausting Dance and I’m thinking… what am I doing in the studio alone? I’ll tell you what i’m doing. i am trying to round up people to tell me what to do, so i am not just in there alone (or there telling others what to do).
But, no one wants to make me their subject, so far. I have been delighted with the email responses (one was a complete script of spoken word and movement direction, one a call to dialogue on desired dance moments described as “utopias”, one was a plea to reinvent Michael Jackson’s scarecrow in “Ease on Down…” from The Wiz with greater integrity to the concept of boneless walking), but there has been a real reluctance from the various artists I have implored here in Alaska to enter the studio and just make something (too many ghosts?).
They are all artists of differing media and ages and maybe the perceived exclusivity of dance as medium is keeping them from going for it… maybe they’re just busy! but, conversation around the idea has been pretty great.
My friend Ray suggested I go to a specific spot where the “humpies” (aka hump backed salmon) will be “running” (aka swimming upstream) here and film myself imitating the movement, then respond to that projected video in live performance. Another friend, Hilary,has an undulating tidal idea and Craig “King” Koch demonstrated a Norwegian net dipping gesture that could grow into something.
In general, it seems like people want to have complete ideas before they are willing to commit to setting something… SO, I have mostly just been working off of my solipsistic self in the studio. making the things that seem to come naturally, responding to the movement i’ve seen recently, like.. So You Think You Can Dance (the hit Fox network dance competition show that those of us familiar with Miss Dance Masters of America competitions find all too familiar).
Montages of externally rotated arms reaching out, long fan kicks the pause in precarious, hip lifting balances, triple turns. while i am usually less engaged with the content of these dances, i am generally taken with the range of physical approaches among the dancers (hip hop artists, ball room dancers and those studio mutts like myself that are hard to define- “contemporary”?). the spectacle is probably most worth noting. this is what a lot of united statesians are calling “dance” right now. this show is both reflecting and shaping an experience of “dance” that is already more common/ prevalent to contemporary usa culture than any social form. i’d be quite solipsistic to ignore it… i’ve been trying to identify my own style favorites in capsule size portions- a little soft shoe adoration, space hold adoration, green jumpsuit adoration, an homage to the way my elbows lock into my waist. anyway, i think this tv show is another way of scripting/ writing dance and creating subjects of aspiring “dancers”.
p.s.- i’m not totally positive about the definition Tony Schultz is working with on “subjectivity”. here is my personal, subject definition- subjectivity is the effect of some constructed ruling set of forces/ norms/ ideals to which i am a humble servant. a servitude, perhaps? So if choreography IS a subjectivity maker (as Tony quotes Lepecki), the choreograher takes responsibility for identifying and either supporting, adhering to or subverting the components of that entity. for instance, Sara Rudner was working in the studio a bit more than a month ago on a basic phrase of weight shifting and, having identified the Western penchant for legs high in the air and quick gestures of the leg (as in ballet beats), asked the dancers to throw in an improvised fast and high leg gesture on certain beats. That is one way of working this idea of subjectivity… am i mangling this word? help me out.
So i am recording my mini macdances on my maccamera. what about that writing? why don’t i just post the macvideos rather than these macwords? i’ll tell you why, i don’t know why. but i will show and tell you how the long-distance (email) written choreography goes.
Here is a picture of me and my oldest nephew, Sean. once i get everyone i love to record themselves to make things, we will start a solipsistic tribe!
Also. if you are curious about what goes on with de arts in Ketchikan, click this word.
February 19, 2007 at 11:48 pm · Filed under backstage, dancers, costumes, performing, students, VERONICA, the STUDIO, youth america grand prix, florida, competition, teacher
Posted by Veronica Moretti Niebuhr
On Feb. 9, 10, 11th, I took 3 of my students to the Youth America Grand Prix regional in Orlando. For those not familiar with it, it is an international youth ballet and contemporary scholarship competition. It is different from other dance competitions since the dancers are competing for traineeships and scholarships with major dance schools in the US and abroad and the winner of the “Grand Prix” receives a contract with ABT.
I have gotten a lot of flack about dance competitions from many parents. It’s true that not every dancer is cut out for this. But it is my feeling it is another chance to be on stage and develop experience. It is healthy to learn to deal with reward and rejection. And there are only so many hurdles that you can conquer in the studio. They also get feedback from the distinguished judging panel. That correction I’ve been giving them all year just seems to have so much more of an impact coming from Ethan Brown!
I decided to take Angela, Kieran and Alston, since they each have an intense desire and drive to dance. And also because I feel it is so important for them to see other dancers their age who are good, and how hard they work. I wanted them to set a goal and reach for it. I want my dancers to feel that there isn’t anything they can’t do-but they need to see how high to reach. Being from Savannah, I chose Orlando, feeling that there would be a high level of competitors. There were some beautiful and amazing dancers, but my girls far exceeded my expectations. This experience changed and inspired them.
Kieran and Alston getting ready for barre with me in a conference room at the lovely Hilton Garden Inn on the morning before they have to compete. Lunch is next and then we’re ready to go. The girls are really nervous and anxious.
Right before the competition begins they do something called “open stage” for the dancers. All 50 dancers go up on stage at one time and try to run their variations. This is similar to the ice skaters at the Olympics when they are all on the ice whizzing by each other nearly colliding. This is Kieran in red. She was really freaked out, so I had to pull her off and bring her in the hallway.
A more congested picture of “open stage”.
Each girl competed with a Contemporary and 2 classical pieces.
Kieran in the middle of the tour jete section of her Diana variation. She does this variation so well and it is so hard, only a few girls try their hand with this one.
Here is Angela competing with her contemporary piece. She really spilled her guts with this one. She had been waiting to dance for about 4 hours. She was awesome, you could hear a pin drop in the audience. She finished in the top twelve-amazing. The beautiful dress was made by her very talented mother, Karen, who makes so many costumes for me. She gets a feel for the music and choreography from me and just goes to her sewing machines and……. wha-la!
Angela’s mom made this tutu too for Coppelia.
Angela doing her Esmerelda variation. She gets to dance this about an hour and a half after her comtemporary piece. She was tired, hungry and in a heap in the wings. I had to tell her to stand up 2 dances before she went. This variation is difficult when you are energetic. She did a great job. I’m so proud of her, she wanted to “win” and although she did not, she conquered a lot of demons that night, and she won for me.
Alston’s group had 40 dancers aged 9-11 and probably had the deepest talent. She was the only 9 year old and she placed in the top 12 overall! Amazing! The boys competed as part of her group and some of these kids were technical machines.
Angela (14) placed in the top 12 for her Contemporary piece. Kieran (12) did not place. They were in the same age category which had about 50 girls. A very talented group, many from Orlando Ballet School. They both danced beautifully. Kieran’s scores were maybe one or two points off of Angela’s-you can imagine how tight the scoring was. Kieran had the hardest time of the 3 girls-she is a perfectionist and very hard on herself.
The scoring system was based on a perfect score of 100. The girls all had scores from 88-92’s. They also got very positive feed back from the judges. Very good for their first time there. Most of the competitors have been going since they were old enough to!
The workshop portion of the weekend was the most fun. I think it was interesting to watch. It still retained a very competitive feeling.
Angela and Alston were also invited to the NYC workshop and Gala at the finals in April, where I believe the winger’s own David Hallberg will be performing at the Gala!
After the awards finished at midnight on Saturday, the girls had to be at the workshop at 9:30am Sunday. This was a really wonderful opportunity for the girls to be with other talented dancers. Ethan Brown, Raymond Lukens, Carlos Dos Santos and Alexandra Koltun gave the classes.
Surprisingly, I found that Alston’s classes were more challenging. The talent in her group was amazing, Alston is 9 most of them were 10 & 11. This is a picture of Alston with Alexandra Koltun who gave the Variation classes. She taught a variation from Corsaire to them (the one with all those brisees) She shows the beginning and the kids don’t even flinch, so she let them give it a try. No problem. Ms. Koltun turns and says “this is the 21st century” !
We had a great experience here. Exhausted and inspired, we are back to work in the STUDIO. I can’t wait to come to NY in April with the girls. I miss my city!
Recent Posts by veronica moretti niebuhr
