Summer dance study
VCU Dance encourages students to continue dancing in the summer. Many current and past students have benefited immensely from summer performance and choreographic opportunities, improved their technique, auditioned for companies, earned VCU Dance course credits and expanded the professional network of contacts by attending international and national dance festivals, schools and programs some of which are listed below:
Photo: VCU Dance Major Niall Jones was among the ten percent of dancers chosen by one of three choreographers in the 2005 ADF International Choreographers Commissioning Program that enables emerging artists to create "highly distinct experimental works". Niall is featured in new dance piece created by Charlotte Griffin, a 1997 graduate of the Juilliard School with a career in performing, choreographing, and teaching who has created work for the Institut del Teatre in Barcelona, The Juilliard Dance Ensemble, and The NY Choreographic Institute with New York City Ballet. (Qinzheng Tian/The Chronicle)
INTERNATIONAL
VCU DANCE and the Center for the Advance Study of Arts: San Jose, Costa Rica
The unique creative program is a four week intensive summer study in automated lighting and choreography encouraging students to develop new work by discovering the myriad of ways automated lighting can enhance individual artistic voices. The international study program is administered by a partnership with the Center for the Advance Study of Arts and was designed by Virginia Commonwealth University Department of Dance and Choreography and the VCU Office of International Education.
New Prague Dance Festival: Prague, Czech Republic
The New Prague Dance Festival is held in multiple venues in the beautiful medieval city of Prague where 290 groups among schools, organizations, artistic associations, and universities from all over the world, 3,800 dancers, 840 choreographies participated in past festivals presenting their choreographic and artistic creativity, sharing new ideas, taking master classes, and networking.
Pro Danza Italia/USA: Castiglioncello, Italy
Pro Danza Italia/USA is a 4-week intensive summer dance Workshop in Italy on the Tuscan coast. This unique multicultural program of study in varied and innovative approaches to contemporary movement and modern dance technique and composition was created by faculty from the dance departments of Bard College and Bennington College - the cradle of American modern dance in academia.
UNITED STATES
American Dance Festival: Durham, North Carolina
Dubbed the "world's greatest dance festival" by the New York Post, The American Dance Festival runs each summer during June and July presenting the finest of major and emerging modern dance companies and hosting a modern dance school attended by some 330 students who converge to share the modern dance tradition of collaboration and creative exploration. The staff, faculty and students who make up the School are a diverse and eclectic group ranging from students seeking an early artistic experience to those with an eye on the professional world.
Bates Dance Festival: Lewiston, Maine
The Bates Dance Festival brings together an international community of choreographers, performers, educators and students in a cooperative community to study, perform and create new work. The Festival offers a supportive atmosphere aimed at fostering a creative exchange of ideas, encouraging exploration of new ground and providing opportunities to experience a wide spectrum of dance/movement disciplines. Artists, students and audiences share their knowledge and inspiration through workshops, jams, discussions, informal showings and performances.
Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival: Beckett, Massachusetts
Hallmarks of the professional School at Jacob's Pillow include physical and intellectual rigor, individualized instruction, cultural exchanges, dance history connections, extraordinary contacts, and an atmosphere of collegiality. The Festival provides opportunities to see a wide range of technical accomplishments, choreographic innovations, world traditions, and classics of the dance canon. This environment of riches is critical to artistic development and pivotal to career decision-making.
Merce Cunningham: New York, New York
The Merce Cunningham Studio continues to be the source of Cunningham dance technique at the professional level, providing dancers with an ongoing experience in learning to see, understand, and explore movement. The faculty has expanded to include past and present members of Merce Cunningham Dance Company and other qualified teachers. The diverse student body includes American and international dancers, drawn together by common interest in Merce Cunningham's groundbreaking ideas about dance.
Richmond Ballet Summer Intensive: Richmond, Virginia
The School of Richmond Ballet offers dance training from beginner to professional levels. The internationally recognized faculty is committed to providing an environment where students can learn and have fun in the process. Class offerings include ballet, jazz, modern, character dance, adult stretch and more. The summer program features a variety of courses taught by the Richmond Ballet school staff and VCU Dance faculty.
VCU Dance Summer Course Offerings: Richmond, Virginia
VCU Dance offers a range of dance classes including numerous introductory classes for non-majors May-August. In recent summers, a sample of classes include:
Art as Performance
Contact Improvisation
Ballet - beginning/intermediate
Ballet - advanced
Flamenco Dance
Latin Dance
Latin Jazz
Line Dance
Modern Dance - beginning/intermediate
Modern Dance - advanced
Tap Technique
Yoga
Consult the Schedule of Classes for the current listing of classes and class descriptions.
Virginia Commonwealth University
School of the Arts
Department of Dance and Choreography
dance@vcu.edu
Date Last Modified: 7/20/2008