News & Press Releases

 News about some of our students and Alumni - see below!

 

MDT Graduate, Marianne Bassing, is offered a Company contract
with the Dresden SemperOper Ballet Company in Germany.

Marianne Bassing, a former student of MDT, currently with the Joffrey Ballet's Trainee Program in Chicago, was one of two trainees to have been invited to perform in La Bayadere with the Dresden SemperOper Ballet. Marianne spent seven weeks there performing with the company.

After returning to America, she has just received some very exciting news. She has been offered a Company contract with the Dresden SemperOper Ballet Company and will be returning to Germany to join them the first of August. We are so proud and happy for her! Marianne will spend July doing classes at Marin Dance Theatre's SUMMERDANCE before leaving for Dresden, Germany.

This You Tube video clip is an interview with Amy E. Hall, the choreographer of Breakthrough. The video shows MDT's Career Bound Dancer, Marianne Bassing, rehearsing the piece with other Joffrey Trainees.

The following is an in depth statement about the event:
 
The Joffrey Ballet announces Creative Force Spring Showcase, Mar. 6
The Academy Trainees of The Joffrey Ballet perform a riveting, contemporary dance program featuring a collection of inspirational World Premiere works by Francisco Avina and Amy E. Hall in Creative Force Spring Showcase. Avina and Hall are winners of Creative Force: The Joffrey's Choreographers of Color Award, the goal of which was to identify two choreographers of color and offer them the unique opportunity to create a work with the most advanced dancers at the Academy of Dance, Official School of The Joffrey Ballet. Three additional stunning works will be performed, each choreographed by Academy Artistic Director, Alexei Kremnev. The Sara Lee Foundation is the sponsor of Creative Force: The Joffrey's Choreographers of Color Award. Two performances take place at the Harris Theater at Millennium Park, 205 E. Randolph Drive, Chicago, on Sunday, March 6 at 4:00 pm and 6:30 pm.

The program for Creative Force Spring Showcase will include the World Premiere of Broken Strings by Avina, the World Premiere of Breakthrough by Hall, the World Premiere of Signature. Solo in Black by Kremnev, as well as Kremnev's Modern Times and Blue Velvet.

Amy E. Hall is one of America's most unique and diverse emerging talents. A graduate of the Juilliard School, she has had the privilege of working with several iconic figures of stage and screen, including Ann Reinking, Susan Stroman, Chita Rivera and Savion Glover. For many years, Hall worked as a choreographic assistant with choreographer Darrell Grand Moultrie nationally and abroad at major artistic institutions. Hall has taught on faculty at American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive, Broadway Dance Center, LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts, and in 2009 joined the faculty at Rosie O' Donnell's Marvel Arts Center. Hall has choreographed, coached and worked as a creative consultant on such projects including Law & Order: Trial by Jury, The Dave Chappelle Show, DRA: Solstice in the Square, and Kidz Bop Live! (national tour and QVC telecast). In 2007, she co-choreographed and staged the two-man musical revue Mr. Bojangles: The Ultimate Entertainer, honoring the late Sammy Davis Jr. Hall was selected as one of six emerging Broadway choreographers for DanceBreak 2008, a premier showcase attended by industry professionals held in New York City. Currently Hall's work can been seen in the theatrical production of The Ohmies at the Daryl Roth Theatre in New York City.

Francisco Avina has worked as a dancer in such projects as Celine Dion's A New Day, Newsies, Batman and Robin, Michael Jackson's Sisterella, Fame L.A the TV series, and The World Billboard Music Awards. Moving to Chicago he began his company career with Hubbard Street 2 for one year, moving on to River North Dance Chicago and subsequently into Hubbard Street Dance Chicago for three years. His choreography credits include a Giannai Versace fashion show in Singapore, the 10th Annual American Choreography Awards

 

Let’s All Dance!
The Parkinson’s Dance Project

Marin Dance Theatre and Let’s All Dance! is proud to introduce a new movement class in Marin County for persons with Parkinson’s Disease, their partners, caregivers, and friends.  Our class is modeled after the Dance for PD® program developed by the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Brooklyn Parkinson Group.  The Dance for PD® program has been featured on PBS Frontline, CBS, and NPR’s All Things Considered.  Articles about the class have appeared in USA Today, Neurology Now, The New York Times and Topics in Geriatric Rehabilitation among many other publications.  
 
WHY DANCE? 
 
*  Dance develops flexibility and instills confidence.
*  Dance is a stimulating mental activity that connects mind to body.
*  Dance breaks isolation.
*  Dance sparks creativity.
*  The basis of dance is rhythm.
*  The essence of dance is joy.
 
Our dance classes, accompanied by live music, integrate movement from multiple dance forms to stimulate the participants’ minds and bodies.  We begin the class in chairs, warm up each muscle group, and eventually move to the barre and the center floor to focus on balance and spatial awareness.  We aim to create an enjoyable social environment that emphasizes dancing for dancing’s sake while having fun!  The dance class focuses on developing artistry and grace while addressing such PD-specific concerns as balance, flexibility, coordination, gait, social isolation, and depression.  The class is open to all, from the newly-diagnosed to the wheelchair-bound.  *No dance experience required.*
 
The Parkinson’s Dance Project is presented in collaboration with Marin Dance Theatre, an internationally-recognized school for classical ballet and contemporary dance education.  The school is located in a beautiful setting with wheelchair accessibility.  The classes will be taught by Erica Rose Jeffrey, LAD! Outreach Director and MDT faculty, and Torri Campbell, Ph.D., clinical psychologist and former professional dancer and teacher.  Dr. Campbell trained with the program’s founding teachers at the Mark Morris Dance Center in Brooklyn, New York.
 
Please pass this information to those in your community you think would be interested.    Classes begin on February 1, 2011 and will meet every 1st and 3rd Tuesdays from 1:00-2:30 p.m.  For more information, call Torri Campbell at (415) 819-2066 or email torriacampbell@yahoo.com.