Summer 2013 - Part 1

It's September and the reality that Summer 2013 is over! I had an amazing three months filled with new experiences, dancing, learning from educators across the country, dancing alongside talented dancers who share my passion and special time with family and friends.

Not all of my experiences were fun but with each experience, there were lessons to be learned...from how to ride the NYC subway, how to properly flag a NYC taxi and life lessons regarding people. It was a summer full of growth and I am grateful to everyone for the lessons learned.

First up I attended Andrew Winghart's show "Out of Darkness".

Congratulations to Andrew who choreographed, directed and produced his first show! The cast was comprised of ten dancers and four guests who performed solos and group choreography at Six01 warehouse in Los Angeles on August 2nd. I knew several of the cast members and enjoyed watching them perform Andrew's choreography. Special shout out to Sammi Farber, Angela Cifone, Alisha Lucchese, Anthony Westlake, Bianca Melchior my friend and room-mate and to Eryn Waltman, guest choreographer. Can't wait to see many more shows in the future from Andrew!

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Next up was The Pulse on Tour in Las Vegas!

This tour stop marked the beginning of the end as my turn as an Elite Intermediate Protege. It was a busy four days of classes and rehearsals, learning new choreography for Fashion Show and The Elite Piece to be performed in New York City. This Nationals stop took place at Bally's Hotel from July 4-7th. It was a well-attended event and I performed my self-choreographed good-bye solo as an Elite Protege to spoken word. It was by Mia Micheals entitled "You're the Only You."



Here's a picture of Me, Taye, Tori and J performing the new Intermediate Elite part in Fashion Show. It was so fun!

It was also my birthday while in Vegas...not much time for celebration due to rehearsals but thank you to my mom for the cupcakes for everyone and to my BNFF, Jacqueline, the best friend I've ever had! She always thinks about me and sends me the best notes even if we can't be together all the time! Here is the collage she sent me on my birthday:

Thank you JQ...I love you!
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Up next was a week at Complexions Contemporary Ballet at Marymount Manhattan College. Thank you to Desmond Richardson for the Scholarship!

I roomed with my friend Bianca while we both participated in the Division 2 - Pre-Professional Division. There are three levels offered by Complexions over the course of three weeks. I attended the first week from 3-7pm each week day. Division One ran during the day 10am-3pm and Division 3 Professional Division from 7-10pm.

I was so happy to see fellow Alumni ASH assistants and friends Maycee Steele and Montana Dalton at Complexions too. Shout out to Amiee Otte and Mikayla Hicks as well!

When we arrived, organizers divided attendees into two groups for the week. Each day my group had Technique Class with Desmond Richardson and then learned Complexions Repertoire from Christina Dooling and Edgar Anido. The second group had technique with Dwight Rhoden and two different company members for repertoire. The classes were held in a beautiful room in the college off 3rd Street and 71st in the Upper East Side.

Here is a sample of repertoire from my last day at the workshop. Thank you to the Complexions staff, Micheal Leon Thomas, faculty and the amazing Desmond Richardson for this experience! Check out www.complexionsdance.org for information on their upcoming season.



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Up next was The Pulse On Tour New York City Nationals!

The New York City event ran July 24-July 28th. It was five days filled with amazing classes, intensive rehearsals, Performance Showcase and Final Gala where we passed the torch to the new Elite Proteges!

I assisted in the Intermediate room at this event. There were four levels plus Camp Pulse and the Teacher Workshop. The Pulse Staff is so amazing...I don't know how they manage to pull off all they do each time!

Everyone auditioned for the Faculty and were selected to be in an intensive piece by either Ian Eastwood, Dave Scott, Dana Foglia, Dee Caspray, Tessandra Chavez or Gil Duldualo. I was selected for Ian Eastwood's piece and loved every minute of "Versace". Ian was really fun in rehearsals and he was so happy at the end of his piece at the Gala; that he personally congratulated every dancer as they came off the runway!

Each Pulse Protege performed in a piece choreographed by Tricia Miranda. There were over 100 proteges!



In addition to Ian's intensive and The Protege piece, I also danced in the NEW Fashion Show directed and choreographed by Brian Friedman and the Farewell Elite piece called "Producing" by the talented Tessandra Chavez. Catch me at 2:52 and 5:25  in Fashion Show:

It was an emotional end to our journey as Elites. And we proudly stood before the Faculty who selected us one year ago, hearts filled with gratitude for the amazing opportunity.

And then it was time to pass the torch to the new lucky Elite Intermediate Proteges. Congratulations to Trinity, Sean, Larsen and Kherington! I hope you have as wonderful a year as I did being an Elite! And remember as Mia says "You're The Only You!"

I enjoyed dancing alongside and assisting the talented Faculty that comprises the Pulse. Thank you for the opportunities, encouragement and support along the way. I can't wait to work with you in the future! I was proud to be an Elite and consider it an opportunity I will never forget. To the Pulse Staff and Crew, I loved getting to know you and seeing you in each city. I will miss you all but look forward to the next time I can see you for a big hug. And to my fellow elites, thank you for being the (big) sister or big brother to me! I love you all. Thank you to everyone who made this year a dance year I will never forget!

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This summer also marked the launch of a video I danced in choreographed by Toronto's own Leon Blackwood. The song is by Young Avz, a Canadian Artist entitled "That Song On the Radio".



Catch me at 1:25, 1:32, 1:38, 1:58, 2:13, 2:55, 2:59, 3:03!

Thank you to Leon Blackwood, Young Avz and his mom (who is so sweet) for the opportunity!

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SUMMER 2013 - PART 2

The next stop on my summer tour was Generation IV Dance!

This was my third year attending this intensive, hosted by The Hackworth School of Performing Arts in Southampton, MA. It is Teddy Forance's Family workshop and I couldn't have been more excited to reunite with my bestie JQ!



We stayed in the dorms at Smith College...Jacqueline and Payton Johnson were my roomies. We had so much fun hanging out together and even had a sleepover at Jacquelines' after the final show at the end of the week! I had so much fun with the girls and Scott...even mealtimes were hilarious.

The Gen IV Faculty was amazing as were the classes and the two shows held at the Academy of Music. I performed in Noel Bajanda's piece called "Latch" and Randi Kemper's piece called "Ain't Too Proud To Beg". New to Faculty this year was Kaitlyn Kinney, Cindy Salgado and Al Blackstone. Some of the faculty was absent the last day for the photo shoot but suffice it to say there were classes offered in hip hop, contemporary, modern, musical theatre, ballet, tap and jazz!

It was great to see some fellow Canadians at the workshop...shout out to the dancers from Vlad's Dance Studio in Toronto and Emma Portner who is an amazing choreographer for our generation. I hope more Canadian dancers can come to this event in the future!

A huge Thank you to Alison Forance, Lisa Anthony and their army of family and friends who put this event on each year. There were 300 students and 65+ classes in the course of a week. No small feat. And of course thank you to the Faculty, some of whom have become great friends. Thank you for your constant inspiration!
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SOUL ESCAPE

Next was my trip to Frisco, Texas for Soul Escape, The Intensive, hosted by Adrenaline Dance.

This was my second time attending Soul Escape, my last visit was in 2011 in Los Angeles. The concept of this intensive is to take classes taught by Company members and Guest Faculty during the day, then learn choreography from the Company show and perform the same show cast of dancers from the intensive.  We viewed the Company performance the first day of the intensive. This years show was based on the book "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein and interpreted by Justin Giles.

If you don't know Justin Giles, he is one of the most soft-spoken, kindest individuals I have met on my dance journey. He encourages an environment of complete respect for all dancers and the level of support attendees give to each other is genuine and rare. Each member of the company knows you by name, they are positive and inspiring when they teach and have no problem sharing their role in the show with the next generation of dancers. It is a week of genuine sharing in contemporary dance and Justin is a role model educator. He never ceases to make you feel special and encourage everyones' special gifts. I performed in "Old Pine", one of ten performances that made up the show.

Soul Escape cast members are Maddi Burg, Joe Chantry, Emily Crouch, Will Johnston, Haley Kostas, Matt Luck, Deanna Mondello, Jen Pendleton, Maggie Wade and Rose Yager.

Thank you to the Cast and my friends for a great week!

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The last stop on my whirlwind summer tour was MONSTERS OF HIP HOP held August 16-18th in Burbank, California.

"Shadows: A Journey from Darkness into Light" was created and directed by Napoleon and Tabitha Dumo. It featured choreography by Tony Testa, Kevin Maher, Laura Edwards, JaQuel Knight, Nappytabs, Luther Brown, Parris Goebel, Andye J, Luam, Sean Bankhead, Nick DeMoura, Erik Saradpon, Joey Cruz, Hannah Wintrode, Nika Klujn and Tucker Barkley!

The show was held at a warehouse in Los Angeles and we were taken into the building in small groups. We were given LED finger lights to wear as we passed through pathways lined with cast members that were clad in black, motionless. Once inside the "theatre", the cast members were like statues, not moving, smiling or making eye contact until, all of a sudden; they would move in random patterns on the catwalks, or on the floor mingling with the crowd. They would sometimes stare you down, never speaking a word, get right up in your face or ignore you completely. When the dancing began, they used a square shaped runway with a platform in the middle and they constantly moved about the space. It was a really interesting show...it blew my mind.

I loved watching my big brother Jordan Ward as a Monster cast member...and Robert Green and Derek Robinson (Go Canada!) too. Big congratulations go to the whole cast and to Nappytabs for a creative show.

There were two levels at the Intensive, Intermediate and Advanced. The advanced room had class with Kevin Maher, Nick DeMoura, Luther Brown, Laura Edwards, JaQuel Knight, Leslie Scott, an Agency Seminar, Sean Bankhead, Hannah Wintrode, Tony Testa and Nappytabs.

It was a fun weekend of dance and I loved seeing my dance friends. Thank you MOHH for a great weekend. Check out www.monstersofhiphop.com for news on their 2013-2014 tour.
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Last but not least, I want to share exciting news about the future...Rock The House Dance Convention!

On August 23, RTH launched a new trailer called "The Takeover" to announce to the world a new and improved convention. Check out the short film below created and directed by The Metafzikal!



Rock The House will take place December 27-30th, 2013 in Park Ridge, New Jersey. Park Ridge, is located about an hour north of Manhattan. The hotel is in a quiet commercial park and the food is delicious! I attended the workshop last year and had a great time with friends Laura and Lexi. Check out my post from December 2012 about the workshop. The event has a very intimate feel and the Faculty has special events planned for both parents and dancers to enjoy themselves.

Registration is already filling up and is limited to 200 dancers. Please visit www.rockthehousedance.com for more information.

Faculty includes: Jeff Lapes, Chaz Buzan, Comfort Fedoke, Talia Favia, Cheslsie Hightower, Sasha Mallory, Zakk Manzella, the Metafizikal (William B. Wingfield and Monique Borromeo), Taja Riley, Noel Bajandas and Dha'Sean "Skillz" Serrano.

Attending the workshop will be a great way to spend your Christmas holiday. I really hope to see you there! I am honored to be one of the tour assistants along with Hayden Hopkins and BoyBoi Tena! Check out instagram, facebook, twitter and youtube for updates on RTH as the date gets closer!

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It was an amazing summer and the months ahead are sure to be as exciting. I hope you have a great season of dance and that our paths cross in the dance world soon!