A major in East Asian Studies with a dance concentration while at Middlebury. Her senior thesis was a comparative study of contemporary dance in the People's Republic of China and Taiwan, based largely on her field work and personal interviews there in her junior and senior years. In 1990 she was part of an international butoh performance project in Tokyo.

Spring Events

Screening of “Little House in the Big House”
March 1 Thursday 7:00 p.m.        FREE
Axinn Center Room 232

Join us for a screening of Little House in the Big House, a documentary produced by Artist in Residence Tiffany Rhynard and her sister, Kim Brittenham with thier production company Sisters Unite. Little House in the Big House takes you inside the gates of the Vermont state women’s prison where, over a period of a year, inmates in a trades program build a modular home from start to finish. Under the instruction of Vermont Works for Women, these women find the tools necessary to build a house and construct a sustainable future. Four women tell their stories as they face difficult challenges while incarcerated and as they re-enter society. Vermont songwriters and performers Anaïs Mitchell and Steph Pappas contribute to the soundtrack. Co-sponsored by the Women and Gender Studies program, the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, and the History of Art and Architecture. www.littlehousebighouse.com

Rothrock Residency featuring Cellist David Darling
March 6-10

Described as a “maverick cellist,” David Darling mixes genres including jazz, pop, rock, country, and New Age with intellectual curiosity and playful innovation. A member of the Paul Winter Consort from l970-1987, Darling’s prolific recording career includes playing music with whales, wolves, and in the depths of the Grand Canyon as well as producing River Notes with nature writer Barry Lopez and Refuge with Terry Tempest Williams.  His 2009 CD Prayer for Compassion received a Grammy for best New Age album. David’s numerous collaborations include dance (Pilobolus) and film (Wim Wenders), and reflect his belief in the social and spiritual power of musical expression.This student-initiated residency is sponsored by the Rothrock Family Fund for Experiential Learning in the Performing Arts—established in 2011, to support opportunities that broaden the scope of Middlebury students’ experience in the performing arts—with support from the Performing Arts Series and Dance Program.  Rehearsals and classes will occur throughout the week; check the dance calendar for a full schedule: go/dance.

All events are FREE.

March 6 Tuesday
5:00-6:30 p.m.        Mahaney Center Dance Theatre

Music, Meditation, and Yoga with Russell Comstock and David Darling, co-sponsored with the Yoga Club.

March 7 Wednesday
12:30-1:20 p.m. Mahaney Center Dance Theatre

Music, Meditation, and Yoga with Andrea Olsen and David Darling, co-sponsored with the Yoga Club.

March 7 Wednesday
4:30-6:00 p.m. Mahaney Center Concert Hall

Open music jam with students, faculty, and staff. Bring your instrument.

March 8 Thursday
12:30-1:15 p.m. The Orchard (Room 103),
The Franklin Environmental Center at Hillcrest

“Music and the Environment” presented as part of the Spring 2012 Woodin Environmental Studies Colloquium Series. David will play and share prerecorded examples of music created with the Paul Winter Consort.

March 8 Thursday
7:30-9:00 p.m. Mahaney Center Dance Theatre
David Darling in Concert

Join us for an intimate evening with David. Open seating, and no tickets required, so come early and enjoy!

March 9 Friday
4:30-6:00 p.m. Mahaney Center Dance Theatre

Improvising Together: Music and Dancing

Women Who Write about Dance:
A Panel Discussion with Toni Bentley, Deborah Jowitt, and Kathryn Levy
March 15 Thursday 4:30-6:00 p.m.           FREE
Harmon Periodical Reading Room Davis Family Library

The Abernethy Series presents a panel of writers who have focused their distinguished work on the elusive art of dance. Ranging from poetry to female sensuality to perceptive dance criticism and biography, Kathryn Levy, Toni Bentley, and Deborah Jowitt will share their individual perspectives on dance writing as well as engage their colleagues and audience in compelling discussion. Moderated by Penny Campbell, Dance Program Director and Andrew Wentink, Curator of Special Collections & Archives. Presented by Abernethy Lecture Series and the Dance Program.

Abraham in Motion: The Radio Show
March 16–17 Friday, Saturday 8:00 p.m. each evening.    Tickets: $25/20/6
Mahaney Center Dance Theatre

Bessie Award-winning dancer and choreographer Kyle Abraham delves into identity and personal history in The Radio Show. Creating an abstract narrative around the loss of communication, he investigates a community’s reaction to the abrupt discontinuation of a radio station and how the lingering effects of Alzheimer’s disease and aphasia impact a family. He mixes a score with recordings of classic soul and hip-hop with contemporary classical compositions by Ryoji Ikeda and Alva Noto. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series and the Dance Program.

Residency activities

March 15 Thursday
9:30-10:45 a.m.        FREE            Mahaney Center Dance Theatre

Master class, intermediate technique

March 15 Thursday
12:30-1:20 p.m.        FREE           Mahaney Center Dance Theatre

Lecture demonstration with Kyle Abraham and company members.

Rothrock Residency featuring dancer and filmmaker Erika Randall
April 9, 10

Erika Randall (MFA, The Ohio State University, BA, University of Washington) is an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado.  Erika has worked with Sara Hook, David Parker and the Bang Group, Teena Marie Custer, Michelle Ellsworth, Rebecca Nettl-Fiol, the Mark Morris Dance Group and Buglisi/Foreman Dance. In 2004, Erika formed the Columbus Movement Movement (cm2), which was named one of

Dance Magazine’s “Top 25 to Watch” (2007). Her film, Leading Ladies (2010), has played 60 festivals worldwide, winning Audience Awards for Best Feature Narrative Film at the Palm Beach Women’s Film Festival and the San Francisco United Film Festival. www.leadingladiesmovie.com This residency is sponsored by the Rothrock Family Fund for Experiential Learning in the Performing Arts—established in 2011, to support opportunities that broaden the scope of Middlebury students’ experience in the performing arts—with support from the Dance Program.

Modern Technique Master Class
April 9 Monday 2:45-4:15 p.m.          FREE
Mahaney Center Dance Theatre

Transferring the three-dimensionality of dance to the twodimensional format of cinema starts with a keen understanding of movement. In this master class, students will experience movement from both visual and kinetic perspectives as Randall progresses through a rhythmic romp that emphasizes the planes in space, large, sweeping movements, delicious detail, and turning off balance.

Film Screening of Leading Ladies
April 10 Tuesday 7:00 p.m.             FREE
Mahaney Center Dance Theatre

Join us for a screening of Leading Ladies with Erika Randall who co-wrote, directed, produced and choreographed this feature dance film. The film premiered at the Sonoma International Film Festival in 2010, and has played to sold-out audiences at over 60 festivals world-wide, including: New York’s NewFest, Los Angeles’ Outfest, San Francisco’s Frameline, the Palm Springs International Film Festival, the Starz Denver Film Festival, the Cannes Independent Film Festival, and won “Best Feature” at the Palm Beach Women’s Film Festival. Her interest in dance, its relationship to popular culture, and its ability to impact change, is at the heart of all of her research and teaching. Leading Ladies will be distributed by Wolfe Films and is now available on DVD.

Senior Thesis Concert:
Sarah Chapin, Alicia Evancho, James Moore, Alexandra Vasquez
April 20, 21 Friday, Saturday 8:00 p.m.            Tickets: $12/10/6
Mahaney Center Dance Theatre

Four dance program seniors present a passionate evening of choreography and performance. Drawing on backgrounds as diverse as sociology and poetry, Portuguese and theatre, they investigate questions of grief, surveillance, the persistence of memory, and more. The concert will transport you from abandoned ballrooms to public parks, from explosive athleticism to delicate reflection, as these four choreographers explore their emerging artistic voices.

The 2012 Ron Rucker Lecture: Robert Swinston,
Preserving the Cunningham Legacy
April 26 Thursday   4:30-6:00 p.m.                FREE
Harmon Periodicals Reading Room Davis Family Library

Discussion of digital preservation of treasured cultural resources rarely extends to the most ephemeral of the arts—dance—and the preservation of the choreographic legacy of a 20th century icon.  The 2012 Ron Rucker Lecture confronts this compelling archival issue in Preserving the Cunningham Legacy, presented by Cunningham Director of Choreography, Robert Swinston. Swinston will discuss how he has coped with this monumental and unprecedented challenge. There continues to be much debate, internal and external, as to whether the plan to preserve Cunningham’s body of work, digitally as well as in performance, will actually work. No company with a singular choreographer has fully solved the riddle of how to preserve its dances once their creator has died. “I’m so consumed by it that it never leaves me,” says Swinston, who has been a Cunningham dancer since 1980 and shouldered much of the burden of running the company in its final days. “How can I prolong it, or what can I do? And what do I have to do?” Sponsored by Friends of the Davis Family Library and the Dance Program.

Lunch with Robert Swinston
April 27 Friday   12:30-1:20            FREE
Mahaney Center Dance Theatre

An opportunity to get to know Robert Swinston, the dancer and former Middlebury College student. Hear him talk about his career and the decisions he made as he moved from Middlebury to Juilliard to the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Lunch provided. Co-sponsored by Friends of the Davis Family Library, The Abernethy Lecture Series, and Special Collections.

Shifting the Frame: Dance for the Camera Screening
May 5 Saturday   8:00 p.m.                  Tickets: $12/10/6
Mahaney Center Dance Theatre

Shifting the frame from the stage to the screen, spring choreography students investigate the intersection of movement and video. Facilitated by Artist in Residence Tiffany Rhynard, the students will present their short movies choreographed specifically for the camera. Come dressed for a Hollywood movie premiere and join us on the red carpet (literally!) for the Middlebury Dance Program’s first dance for the camera screening.  Awards will be given for best overall film and audience members will receive prizes for best costume. Dress to the nines!

Taking Flight
May 9 Wednesday   4:30 p.m.               FREE
Mahaney Center Dance Theatre

A “lightly produced” showing of dance experiments by the new batch of choreographers emerging from the Advanced Beginning Dance course.

PUSH: Moving History Forward
The Dance Company of Middlebury 2011-2012 season

January 27-28 Friday, Saturday  8:00 p.m.       Tickets: $12/10/6
Mahaney Center Dance Theatre

The Dance Company of Middlebury explores the roots of American dance forms: Swing, Contact Improvisation, Hip Hop and Modern Dance. Guest artists Teena Marie Custer and Nicholas Leichter and Artist in Residence Tiffany Rhynard contribute pieces to the concert. Davis Anderson ’13, Sarah Chapin ’12, Jeremy Cline ’11.5, Cameron McKinney ’14, James Moore ’12, Jill Moshman ’14, Rachel Nuñez ’14, Hannah Pierce ’13, and Alexandra Vasquez ’12 comprise the company.

Come see how this current generation translates historic forms into a new vision of dance for the 21^st century. Sponsored by the Dance Program and the Committee on the Arts. Post-performance discussion and reception following Friday’s performance

Winter Term Events

January 18              Yoga Philosophy

Wednesday               2:00-4:00 p.m. FREE
Mahaney Center Room 109

Lecture and discussion with Russell Comstock, Metta Earth Yoga. Come dressed to move as well as to listen.

January 25              Food and You: Stories To Live By

Wednesday               7:00 p.m.   FREE
The Orchard (Room 103), The Franklin Environmental Center at Hillcrest

Workshop and discussion with Andrea Olsen and Sabina Holloway.

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All events listed are open to the public and are FREE unless otherwise indicated. For further information, call 802.443.3136. To join the MCA's electronic mailing list, visit http://www.middlebury.edu/arts/news/artsmail_subscribe

Tickets and information available at the Box Offices: Mahaney Center for the Arts and McCullough Student Center (802) 443.MIDD (6433)

Complimentary Tickets Policy

Before each show, Debby Anderson emails everyone in a dance or theatre class so they can order comps.

Majors are entitled to 2 tickets to a departmental dance concert.

Everyone in a dance or theatre class may get a total of 1 comp ticket.

If a student is participating in a dance, they can get a total of 2 tickets.

Tickets are NOT cumulative - each student can receive only up to 2 tickets per show, no matter their involvement.

The only exception is if the student is doing their Senior Work - Debby will work with the student directly for up to 4 tickets per performance.

If the student has any questions about the policy, email Debby Anderson (danderso@middlebury.edu).

The company has created a diverse concert of works for performance at Middlebury and on tour to New Orleans exploring issues of wealth and class as they express in culture. Company members will present new work by Artistic Director Christal Brown, guest choreographers Trebien Pollard and Paloma McGregor, and their own collaborative piece. The company has received additional support from the Committee on the Arts.

The Dance Program at Middlebury College focuses on the creation of original creative work in a context that is interdisciplinary, grounded in both biological and environmental perspectives, and deeply connected to the current dance field.  The program distinguishes itself through a rich curricular tradition of improvisation, somatic learning, and utilization of the arts in the quest for cultural and environmental awareness.  

Our core curriculum consists of a series of courses in contemporary approaches to technique, composition and performance, experiential anatomy and somatics, dance history and cultural study, creative process, and improvisation. Further depth and range, tailored to the strengths and interests of each student, are achieved through study in theatre, art, music, philosophy, and other disciplines represented in the larger Middlebury curriculum.

Joint and full dance majors propose independent projects in their senior years. Projects, which often culminate in performance but which may take many forms, are designed to deepen learning and cultivate special areas of research or creative interest. Many of our students study abroad during their junior year joining programs all over the world that support their investigations of dance in other cultures.

October 9, Saturday

Till Fellner, piano

8:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts,
Concert Hall

With his scrupulous musicianship, purity of style, and sparkling keyboard command, Austrian pianist Till Fellner is in demand at all the major music venues. The Washington Post proclaims that this student of Alfred Brendel "plays Beethoven sonatas like a poet." Fellner's Vermont premiere opens the 91st season of the Performing Arts Series with three masterpieces constituting a perfect distillation of Beethoven's famous "third period": Piano Sonatas no. 30 in E, op. 109; no. 31 in A-flat, op. 110; and no. 32 in C Minor, op. 111. Reserved Seating. Tickets: $24/18/6.

Read more here>>

October 12, Tuesday

Paul Lewis, piano

7:30 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts,
Concert Hall

A volcano grounded pianist Paul Lewis in Europe last spring, preventing him from performing in Middlebury. But he has graciously cleared time in his busy schedule to return and play the repertoire programmed for that recital, including Mozart's Adagio in B Minor, the great Fantasie in C by Schumann, Vallée d'Obermann by Liszt, and Beethoven's Waldstein Sonata. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. See associated events on February 15 and May 1. 

Read more here>>

October 29, Friday

Sophie Shao and Friends

8:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts,
Concert Hall

Cellist Sophie Shao and her friends have become perennial favorites of Middlebury audiences, thanks to Shao's ability to assemble impromptu chamber ensembles of tremendous virtuosic talent. This first of two recitals (the second is March 4) features music by Ravel and piano quintets by Elgar and Schumann. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. 

Read more here>>

October 29-30, Friday-Saturday

Tamar Rogoff Performance Projects:
Diagnosis of a Faun

8:00 P.M. each evening,
Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre

Drawing inspiration from Nijinsky's Afternoon of a Faun and dancer Gregg Mozgala's first-hand experience with cerebral palsy, choreographer Tamar Rogoff creates a creature that simultaneously inhabits two worlds. As Rogoff's faun moves through the seemingly disparate spheres of the operating room and the forest in the company of dancers and doctors, the curse of separation between medicine and art is lifted. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series, the Dance Program, VSA Vermont, the Academic Outreach Endowment, the Program in Neuroscience, the Americans with Disabilities Act Office, and the Department of Biology. Visit our event page for additional residency information. 

Read more here>>

Please note: ASL interpretation will be provided for the Saturday evening performance.

November 11, Thursday

Jupiter String Quartet

12:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts,
Concert Hall

The Avery Fisher Career Grant-winning Jupiter String Quartet was recently named "one of the strongest young string quartets in the country" by the New York Sun. The Boston Globe has noted "their tone quality is pleasing, their style polished, their equilibrium secure, and their intonation superb." The quartet's lunchtime concert includes Beethoven's op. 18, no. 4; and Schumann's op. 41, no. 3. This free Performing Arts Series concert is made possible with generous support from the Institute for Clinical Science and Art, in memory of Carolyn Reynolds Sunderman. See associated event November 12. 

Read more here>>

November 12, Friday

Diana Fanning, piano
Jupiter String Quartet
Dieuwke Davydov, cello

8:00 P.M., Mead Memorial Chapel

Beloved pianist Diana Fanning celebrates 40 years of performing professionally with a special program including Chopin's Nocturne no. 1, Carnaval by Schumann, and the Dvořák Quintet for Piano and Strings, performed with the Jupiter String Quartet. Cellist Dieuwke Davydov makes a special appearance to perform Glazunov's Chant du Menestrel with Fanning. This free Performing Arts Series concert is made possible with generous support from the Institute for Clinical Science and Art, in memory of Carolyn Reynolds Sunderman. See associated event November 11. 

Read more here>>

November 30, Tuesday

Christianne Stotijn, mezzo-soprano
Joseph Breinl, piano

7:30 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts,
Concert Hall

"Among young mezzo-sopranos, Christianne Stotijn is in a class apart; she stamps every note and word with character, and delivers her songs with a lyrical glow that considerably advance Grieg s global warming"-Times, London. Stotijn and Breinl return to Middlebury with a program entitled "Dream Works," featuring songs by Grieg, Brahms, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Rachmaninov. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. 

Read more here>>

January 21, Friday

Nareh Arghamanyan, piano

8:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts,
Concert Hall

According to La Scena Musicale, Armenian pianist Nareh Arghamanyan "meets the daunting demands . . . with a combination of technical bravura, singing tone, and poetic expression." The former Gilmore Rising Star plays a program of Rameau, Brahms, Rachmaninoff, and Liszt. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. 

Read more here>>

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February 15, Tuesday

Paul Lewis, piano

7:30 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts,
Concert Hall

Widely celebrated for his considered and profound interpretations of the classical repertoire, Paul Lewis is recognized internationally as one of today's most distinctive and poetic pianists. This concert commences a two-year cycle of Schubert works and features Schubert's Sonata no.15 in C, Drei Klavierstücke, and Sonata no.17 in D. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. See associated events on October 12 and May 1. 

Read more here>>

February 27, Sunday

Nathan Laube, organ

3:00 P.M., Mead Memorial Chapel

Curtis Institute of Music graduate Nathan Laube is a rising star among young classical musicians and has quickly become a popular artist on the organ recital circuit. His brilliant playing, audience-friendly programs, and gracious demeanor have thrilled audiences and presenters across the United States and in Europe. This recital celebrates the 40th anniversary of the installation of Mead Chapel's Gress-Miles organ. Professor emeritus of music and College organist Emory Fanning leads a behind-the-scenes organ tour preceding the concert, at 2:15 p.m. Presented by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series.

Read more here>>

March 4, Friday

Sophie Shao and Friends

8:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts,
Concert Hall

Cellist Shao and friends return to Middlebury with a vivid piano trio program featuring works by Schubert, Ravel, and Brahms. "The players maintained a seamless cohesion and a warm, lean tone. This was all the more admirable because they're not a regular ensemble, just colleagues and friends"-Times Union. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. See associated event October 29. 

Read more here>>

March 12, Saturday

Abbey Theatre, Ireland: TERMINUS

8:00 P.M., Wright Memorial Theatre

A young woman looking for love, a mother seeking atonement, and a serial killer who has sold his soul to the devil are ripped from their daily lives and thrown into a fantastical world. Playwright and director Mark O'Rowe weaves their interlocking, rhyming monologues into a truly original, gripping drama presented by Ireland's national theatre. Terminus has recently enjoyed hugely successful runs at New York's Public Theater and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. "Hilarious, startling, surprisingly touching and enormously satisfying ... a thrill ride"-Irish Times. For mature audiences. A discussion regarding the work immediately follows the performance. The U.S. tour of TERMINUS is supported by Culture Ireland and the Abbey Theatre is supported by the Arts Council of Ireland/An Chomhairle Éalaoín. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series and the Department of Theatre and Dance.

Read more here>>

March 18-19, Friday-Saturday

Big Action Performance Ensemble

8:00 P.M. each evening,
Town Hall Theater

In reaction to dance competition reality shows that evaluate who is qualified to dance, Big APE presents Everyone Can Dance, a community-based performance project that celebrates the contagious allure of movement and the dynamic capabilities of the human body. The project includes a statewide tour and a four-week residency with Middlebury College students and local community participants. Visit go.middlebury.edu/dance for additional information. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series, Town Hall Theater, the Dance Program, and the Committee on the Arts. 

March 24, Thursday

Belcea Quartet

7:30 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts,
Concert Hall

The Belcea Quartet has gained an enviable reputation as one of the leading quartets of the new generation. It continues to take the British and international chamber-music circuit by storm, consistently receiving critical acclaim for its performances. In this third performance at Middlebury, the quartet will play Beethoven's op. 132, and Schubert's G Major Quartet. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. 

Read more here>>

April 13, Wednesday

Dubravka Tomsic, piano

7:30 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts,
Concert Hall

Celebrated Slovenian pianist Dubravka Tomsic enjoys "something of a cult status among pianophiles" (Gramophone), with performances that convey "heroic power and Olympian vision" (Los Angeles Times), as well as "splendor, drama, passion, poetry, and subtlety" (Boston Globe). The only protégé of legendary pianist Arthur Rubinstein, Tomsic performs a program that includes works by Beethoven and Chopin. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. 

Read more here>>

May 1, Sunday

Paul Lewis, piano

3:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts,
Concert Hall

Pianist Paul Lewis, Gramophone's Instrumentalist of the Year 2008, is a regular guest at Middlebury, as well as at the world's most prestigious venues and festivals. This second installment in Lewis's Schubert project features Schubert's 12 Waltzes, Four Impromptus, Hungarian Melody in B Minor, and Sonata no.18 in G Major. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. See associated events on October 12 and February 15. 

Read more here>>

Pre-semester Workshop with

Shani Nwando Ikerioha Collins & Trebien Pollard

Friday and Saturday:  September 3-4, 2010

9 am – 5 pm each day with a break for lunch

           Sign Up Now!

ANYONE INTERESTED IN AUDITIONING FOR DANCE COMPANY

SHOULD ATTEND THIS PRE-SEMESTER WORKSHOP.

A two-day experience of technique, culture, and choreography presented through the artistic perspectives of Dance Company of Middlebury 2010/2011 guest choreographer Trebien Pollard and Connecticut College faculty member Shani Collins. Students will have the opportunity to study with each artist for an entire day exploring technique, artistic process, cultural perspective, and repertory.  

Designed for students with previous dance experience (DANC 0160/3 or by permission).  Participants should plan to attend the full workshop.  See Penny Campbell for more information. (campbell@middlebury.edu)

Shani Nwando Ikerioha Collins is a New York-based performing artist. Born in Greensboro, NC, she earned her BA in Dance from Hollins University and her MFA  from Hollins University/American Dance Festival (ADF) at Duke University. SNIC has taught and performed nationally/internationally with Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, Urban Bush Women, Bill T. Jones,/Arnie Zane Dance Company, The National Dance Company of Mozambique, and in Trinidad with the “Roots and Wings” Movement. She is a recipient of the “Bessie” New York Dance and Performance Award.

Trebien Pollard is a graduate of Florida A&M University with a BS in Mathematics Education and a MFA in Dance from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. He received training at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, Florida A&M University, Florida State University, Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, and from a number of gifted teachers and choreographers. Trebien has performed with many dance companies, including Tania Isaac Dance, Nia Love, Martha Graham Ensemble, Pascal Rioult Dance Theater, Pearl Lang Dance Theatre, Rebecca Stenn Co., Erick Hawkins Dance Co., the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE and Pilobolus. He has also worked as a guest artist with Urban Bush Women.

 http://www.middlebury.edu/media/view/254878/original/Shani_Trebien_registration_form.pdf

Watch dance majors Simon
Thomas-Train '09 and Yina Ng '09

The activities of students past and present speak most clearly about our program. Our alumni perform in professional dance companies; choreograph independently and found their own companies; teach in colleges, universities, private and public educational institutions; and are enrolled in graduate programs across the country. They also pursue a wide range of careers putting their dance educations to work in a variety of ways.

At Homecoming each Fall, alumni are encouraged to return to Middlebury to show new work, dance together, and share their experiences in the professional world with current students.

Middlebury students receive scholarships and recognition in regional and national dance festivals and are highly regarded as a lively group of committed, productive artists.

Paul Matteson grew up in Cumberland, Maine and began dancing after walking into the community improvisation class, “Dancing from the Inside out.” He then studied with Peter Schmitz, Andrea Olsen and Penny Campbell at Middlebury College. While at Middlebury, he received The National Student Choreographer award by Dance Magazine for his work at the American College Dance Festival.  Paul received his MFA from Bennington College. Professionally he has danced with Creach/Company, Jamie Cunningham, Neta Pulvermacher, Laurie McCloud, Peter Schmitz, Jamie Bishton, Lisa Race Dance, and David Dorfman Dance and has collaborated with Karinne Keithley and Lisa Gonzales. Paul received the New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie) in 2002 while a member of the David Dorfman Dance.  Most recently he has been a member of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company originating the role of Abraham Lincoln in Jones' recent work Fondly Do We Hope...Fervently Do We Pray (2011).  His choreography has been shown at DTW (Fresh Tracks), St. Mark’s Church (Food for Thought), New York University, Middlebury College, The University of Utah, University Settlement, The DanceNow Festival, Context Studios, Symphony Space, and Judson Church.  Nugent+Matteson Dance, founded in 2005 with dancer Jennifer Nugent, supports the two artists' individual choreography, performing, and teaching.

“Their resilience, their ability to duplicate moves when they dance side by side, and the speed with which each can accommodate to the other’s new ideas bespeak understanding and respect, and symbolize love.” Deborah Jowitt – The Village Voice

Pamela Vail received a B.A. in dance and sociology from Middlebury College and an M.F.A. in dance from Smith College. She is a founding member of NYC-based Yanira Castro + Company, and is also a founding member of The Architects, a performance improvisation quartet, with Katherine Ferrier, Lisa Gonzales, and Jennifer Kayle (all Middlebury graduates). In addition to working with such artists as Peter Schmitz, Heidi Henderson, and others, she continues to create and perform her own work. She is currently Artist in Residence and Instructor in Dance at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA.

A dance major from Rifle, Colorado. Making the decision to seriously pursue dance at Middlebury he performed with the Dance Company of Middlebury, for several other student concerts, and performed in work choreographed by Peter Schmitz and Paul Matteson. Mark presented an evening-length work, moment's noticeas a senior; A duet from that work was performed at the ACDFA national gala concert at the Kennedy Center. After graduation Mark explored the dance opportunities in San Francisco and joined Bandaloop, a company known for its acrobatics and creating dances on varying geographic surfaces.

Kate Stamper Sullivan graduated in March 2005 with a double major in neuroscience and dance and continues work in both fields. After performing with the Dance Company of Middlebury in the spring of 2005, Kate moved to New York City as a student at NYU Tisch Summer Intensive working with guest artists David Dorfman and Company, Sean Curran and Company, and Ronald K. Brown and Company.

Later Kate shifted focus to her professional pursuits in neuroscience and worked as an autism research assistant at the Seaver & NY Autism Center of Excellence at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Concurrently participating in part-time dance opportunities, she performed in the following pieces: the “Birdhouse Project” with Middlebury alumni at Solar One Stage Styvesant Cove Park; “48 Person Precision Ball Passing” under the direction of Charles Moulton at New York City Center’s Fall for Dance Festival; and “Play the Dance” under the direction of Erin Malley and performed at Dance Theatre Workshop’s Showing Series and at Chashama Window at 42^nd Street and 35^th Street in the OASIS Festival.

Kate will complete her Ph.D. at the University of Washington in Child Clinical Psychology with a year-long internship at UCLA beginning summer 2012.  Her specialty is in autism research and the effects of experience on early brain development.  She hopes to integrate aspects of mind and body and scientifically quantify the benefits of creative, aesthetic, and psychotherapeutic interventions as they relate to autism.

Contact Information:

E-mail: kate.anne.sullivan@gmail.com

Kate Elias graduated from Middlebury in 2006 as a Dance Major. She was a member of the Dance Company of Middlebury for three years, and completed her senior concert with her dear friend of four years, Hannah Giles (also '06). After graduation, Kate spent time in her hometown of Salt Lake City, working at an at-risk elementary school as a reading specialist, and as a group leader at an after-school program. She also co-directed a summer camp for inner-city and suburban youth near Philadelphia. Surely motivated by these child-oriented occupations, Kate joined old friend Ellen Smith '05 to create a new dance entitled "tiny story," inspired by the children's book Hey Willy, See the Pyramids by Maira Kalman. Conceived and created over thousands of miles and multiple modes of communication, "tiny story" was debuted in April, 2007 at the Field FAR Space in Manhattan.  Kate received her Master's Degree in Social Work from the University of Washington and now works with a non-profit organization in Seattle that facilitates youth and community development in low-income apartment complexes.  While she isn't dancing as much as she'd like to be, she and Ellen Smith are planning to collaborate again on a long-distance project beginning in April 2012.

Photos: Kate Elias and Ellen Smith in "tiny story."

E-mail: Jennifer-Kayle@uiowa.edu

Dena Simmons ’05 currently lives in the Bronx, New York, where she is a middle school teacher through the Teach For America program. Before her teaching career and upon graduating from Middlebury, Dena lived in the Dominican Republic, where she pursued research on teenage pregnancy with a Fulbright Grant. During the summer of 2007, Dena traveled to the Dominican Republic again to do preliminary research on the commercial sex trade and on sex workers before heading to do consultant work on the sex trade for the Directorate of Gender Affairs in the Antiguan government. She is happy and fulfilled by her work but wishes that she had more time to dance and to write. A story she wrote entitled, “135^th Street to Castle Hill and Everything in Between” will be the August 2007 feature story at: www.thesubwaychronicles.com

Annie Kloppenberg graduated with a joint major in Dance and American Civilization and received her MFA in choreography from The Ohio State University. She is currently Associate Professor of Theatre and Dance at Colby College in Waterville, ME, and is on the board of the Green Street Studios in Cambridge, MA where she also teaches. She is a certified yoga instructor trained at OM Yoga in New York City. She has studied improvisation at the Work in Performance of Improvisation, the Movement Intensive in Compositional Improvisation, and has received scholarships to the American Dance Festival and the Bates Dance Festival. In Boston, her work has been presented by Perla Joy Furr and the Choreographers’ Group, and her full concert, Caution: Flammable, was among the first to be presented by Green Street Studios’ Emerging Artist program, where she later presented Between the Lines, a shared concert that was selected by the Boston Globe as the “Dance Pick” for the weekend. In New York, she has shown her work at DanceSpace Center (now DNA) and in the Hatch series. Annie has taught at the American College Dance Festival and throughout the Boston area, most notably, serving as interim dance program director at Dana Hall School in Wellesley, MA and has worked in performing arts administration at the Wexner Center for the Arts, New York City Center, and Dance Theater Workshop.  She has performed in works by Shani Collins, Rebecca Rice, Penny Campbell, Prometheus Dance, Elisha Clark, Annie Bessera, Jill Anderson, Jill Jackson, Cathy Young, Heidi Henderson, and Katherine Ferrier as well as in repertory projects by Bebe Miller, Kathleen Hermsdorf, Gabriel Masson, Tere O'Connor and David Dorfman.

Annie says this about her creative process:
I make non-linear, non-narrative dance works. In a collaborative process, I develop a language of the body by investigating provocative ideas, images, texts and reinterpreting them in and through the body. That language of movement and gesture then becomes the basis for building works that attempt to challenge the viewer’s ability to reconcile both familiar and unfamiliar ideas, images, and circumstances. I believe in the body’s ability to communicate on multiple levels, to articulate human experience with physical poetics, and to elicit powerful visceral responses. I am interested in facilitating those responses by combining virtuosic, dynamic movement and partnering with evocative gestures, and by arranging bodies in space and time, generating a series of relationships that inspire multiple readings and textured meanings.

Email: amkloppe@colby.edu

www.anniekloppenberg.com

Adam Battelstein lives in Kent, CT. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude and with highest departmental honors from Middlebury College. He has traveled all over the world dancing for such companies as Zero Moving Dance Co., Momix, and Pilobolus. He’s been called a “master clown disguised as a dancer” and was noted by the New York times for his “comic genius.” As an actor he has had leading roles in many productions and shared the stage with such luminaries as Paul Newman, Gene Wilder, Joanne Woodward + Christopher Plummer, among others. Adam has danced solo on NBC, ESPN, Bravo and with Brian Boitano on his televised skating spectacular. He recorded a Hyundai commercial with Pilobolus and danced in front of one billion viewers at the 2007 Academy Awards. He’s danced on the Ellen Show, Good Morning America and most recently on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Adam is a master teaching artist for the state of Connecticut and offers two children’s programs that are represented by Young Audiences of CT, St Louis, Atlanta, and Rochester, NY.