SANTA CLAUS, a TRDA graduate?

That's right! But his name isn't Kris Kringle, it's Jack Sanderson (BA, Theater 1984 – 1988).

BECOMING SANTA is the story of one man entering the culture and character of Santa Claus for a single season. We follow Jack as he bleaches his hair, goes to Santa School and tries to do everything that Santa is asked to do. He works as a sidewalk Santa, does home visits, a Polar Express Train and a parade. Along the way, Jack collects children's wishes, learns about the benefits of belief, the history and origin of Santa and the ordinary people keeping the Santa spirit alive.

http://becomingsantathemovie.com/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/becoming-santa-theres-life-in-the-old-guy-yet/2011/12/07/gIQAXvoedO_story.html

Alan Wade gives lecture in China

Alan Wade, professor of theatre, gave an invitational lecture on American Theatre and conducted an acting class at The Meishi Film Academy of Chongqing University, Chongqing, China, during the week of November 14th.  Professor Wade also observed classes, was provided an orientation by the theatre and film design faculty, and toured two of the university's campuses.  Chongqing University is a comprehensive institution of some 60,000 students on four campuses.

2011 Faculty Choice Award winner Dana Tai Soon Burgess

Congratulations to our department Chair, Dana Tai Soon Burgess, for receiving the 2011 Service Excellence Celebration's Faculty Choice Award awarded by President Knapp and Provost Lerhman!

Tonight! TRDA presents Circle Mirror Transformation by Annie Baker

Circle Mirror Transformation
by Annie Baker
Directed by Jodi Kanter

Who would think that a drama class in a small- town community center could forever change the lives of its students? Welcome to Shirley, Vermont, and the world playwright Annie Baker created for her five- character play Circle Mirror Transformation.

October 13, 14, 15 at 7:30 pm
October 16 at 2:00 pm

Students/Seniors $10
General Admission $15

Dorthy Betts Marvin Theatre
800 21st St. NW
Washington DC 20052

Purchase tickets online here: http://theatredance.gwu.edu/Season/mainstage.html

By METRO
If you are traveling by Metro to campus, exit at the stop marked Foggy Bottom/GWU. As you exit the station, you will be at 23rd and I Streets.

DANCE:FILMS – AN EXTRAORDINARY EVENING DANCE FILM SHORTS / NEW MEDIA / PERFORMANCE

DANCE:FILMS – AN EXTRAORDINARY EVENING

DANCE FILM SHORTS / NEW MEDIA / PERFORMANCE

                                          TZVETA by Anthony Gongora

Event: Friday October 21, 2011 8pm

ARTISPHERE

Presents

DANCE:FILMS

FILM TRAILERS, FILM DESCRIPTIONS, ARTISTS, PHOTOS:
http://www.maidadance.com/DANCEFILMS.html
Seven Film Shorts – Five Premieres
Filmmakers/Artists: Maida Withers, Anthony Gongora, Steve Hilmy,
Ludovic Jolivet, Ayo Okunseinde, Callister Slater
Dancers: Nathaniel Bond, Tzveta Kassabova, Giselle Ruzany

Friday, October 21, 2011 at 8:00pm
Artisphere – Dome Theatre
1101 Wilson Boulevard – Arlington, VA – Rosslyn Metro (blue & orange) – 2 blocks
$12; $10 Tickets by Phone: 888.841.2787

SEE THE LATEST IN DANCE WITH CAMERA

and DANCE PORTRAITS ON SCREEN

Review: The Asian American experience at the National Portrait Gallery

See if you can spot Dept. Chair, Dana Tai Soon Burgess!
Visit page.

Dance Production: The Visual Element and Collaboration. Led by Chris Ham and joined by Maida Withers

Dance Production: The Visual Element and Collaboration
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Time: 6:00-8:00 PM
Free!!!

Location:
Tenley-Friendship Neighborhood Library
4450 Wisconsin Ave. N.W.,
Washington, DC 20016
*Metro Accessible- Redline to Tenleytown

Join the Eureka Dance Festival for an open lecture/discussion exploring the visual elements of production for Dance and the collaboration efforts of both Choreographers and Designers. Led by Chris Ham and joined by Maida Withers.

What are the Elements of Design? What Elements of Design should you consider when putting together choreography? How do you make those Elements of Design come together successfully? What vocabulary or terminology does a Choreographer need to communicate those Elements of Design with a Designer?


Come join the Discovery!!

Paris: Modernism and the Arts, Then and Now (current blog)

The George Washington University, Department of Theatre and Dance, Summer Study Abroad
Visit the blog:
http://parismodernism2011.wordpress.com/

Today the students arrived!

Dana Tai Soon Burgess & Company: Welcome back event at the Mongolian Embassy

This month, The Ambassador hosted my dance company and those who traveled to Mongolia in March a welcome back event at the Mongolian Embassy here in Washington, DC.

Left to right: GW dance teacher Kelly Southall,  GW dance alumna Sarah Halzack, His Excellency Khasbazary Bekhbat the Ambassador of Mongolia to the US, GW dance teacher Connie Lin Fink and myself.  -Dana Tai Soon Burgess

Former undergraduate dance student at GW celebrates his 60th birthday

Jeffrey Strum, dancer in Washington, DC and former undergraduate dance student at The George Washington University, celebrated his 60^th birthday on Saturday, May 14, 2011.

Michelle Ava, Michael Kasper, Maida Withers, and other GW associates traveled to DC to celebrate this important occasion by attending a party in his honor in Silver Spring, Maryland.

2011 C.A.S.T. AWARD NOMINEES!

THE PAUL PARADY MEMORIAL THEATRE AND DANCE AWARD

Eleanor Aubrey, Daniel Bandong, Amanda Demczuk, Corinne Haynes, Sharon Strich, Adalia Tonneyck

Presented to a student who made an outstanding contribution to the Department of Theatre and Dance and its various production activities. The award includes a permanent plaque to be displayed in the Department, a cash prize, and a plaque presented to the recipient.

KEVIN PETER HALL MEMORIAL THEATRE AND DANCE AWARD

Lorna Mulvaney, Madeline Ruskin

An annual acting award for a current student who plans to enter the acting profession, presented to a graduating senior whose commitment to excellence and whose perseverance as an actor is representative of the legacy of inspiration that Kevin remains to all of us. The award includes a permanent plaque to be displayed in the Department, and a cash prize, an acting book, and a plaque to be presented to the recipient.

THE TODD ANDREW MUSSER THEATRE AND DANCE AWARD

Rachel Johnson, Lizzy Marmon, Elyse Steingold

For excellence in theatre. Presented to the undergraduate student who has done the most in the current season to bring joy to the community through sheer determination and dedication, particularly in his or her contribution as a performer in a musical. The award includes a permanent plaque to be displayed in the Department, and a cash prize, and a plaque to be presented to the recipient.

THE HERBERT M. PRICE MEMORIAL THEATRE AND DANCE AWARD

Daniel Bandong, Lizzy Marmon, Alexandra Pinel

This award is given to the student who shows the same love Herb had for the Performing Arts. It includes a permanent plaque to be displayed in the Department, a cash prize, and a plaque presented to the recipient.

NANCY DIERS JOHNSON THEATRE AND DANCE AWARD

Elizabeth Barnett, Jamie Garcia, Jessica Mann, Annika Moller, Alexandra Pinel

Given to a senior dance major or minor who has demonstrated outstanding capabilities as a choreographer through two or more dance works created for the Mainstage concerts. The recipient must exhibit a complete understanding of the elements of choreography as well as sets, costumes, and lighting, and be particularly active in their senior year. The award includes a permanent plaque to be displayed in the Department, a cash prize, a book about dance, and a plaque to be presented to the recipient.

THE AL KINCAID THEATRE AND DANCE AWARD

Ashley Chen, Mackenzie Garrity, Michael McManus, Aaron Pollon

Presented to the freshman or sophomore who has demonstrated a commitment to excellence in design and/or technical production.

The award includes a permanent plaque to be displayed in the Department, a gift certificate for art supplies, and a plaque to be presented to the recipient.

THE ELIZABETH BURTNER THEATRE AND DANCE AWARD

Justin Balsamo, Carolina Leon, Lydia Mokdessi, Annika Moller

Presented to a student for excellence as a performer in dance as a creative art.

The award includes a permanent plaque to be displayed in the Department, a cash prize, and a plaque to be presented to the recipient.

THE TIM EVANS MEMORIAL THEATRE AND DANCE AWARD

Jenny Bernson (Costume Design – Anyone Can Whistle) Paula Wang (Set Design – Oleanna)

Derek Jones (Lighting Design – The Tempest) Jessika Watson-Tetting (Set Design – The Tempest)

Adalia Tonneyck (Costume Design – The Tempest)

Presented to a student for design excellence on a Subscription Season production.

The award includes a permanent plaque to be displayed in the Department, a cash prize, and a plaque to be presented to the recipient.

THE MAIDA WITHERS DANCE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY INNOVATION AWARD

Alexandra Pinel

Presented to a dance student daring to walk the tightrope between originality and risk in performance art and the formality of the theater stage - initiatives recognized as unique and not easily categorized. Leadership qualities may also be given consideration.

The award includes a permanent plaque to be displayed in the Department, a cash prize, and a plaque to be presented to the recipient.

BRADLEY WILLIAM SABELLI DESIGN AWARD

Jonathan Rushbrook, Adalia Tonneyck, Paula Wang

Presented to a junior, senior, or graduate student who has consistently demonstrated in studio or stage assignments originality, ingenuity, creativity, productivity in achieving the Design Concept. The award includes a plaque to be displayed in the Department, a cash prize, and a plaque to be presented to the recipient.

Visit:
http://theatredance.gwu.edu/Cast/castawards.html

GW DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE AND DANCE PRESENTS FOURTH ANNUAL NEW PLAYS FESTIVAL

NEW PLAYS FESTIVAL

Directed by Jodi Kanter. The department's fourth annual showing of student written one-act plays.

This year’s plays include Voices on the Edge by Nathan Wilson, Spumoni by Conor McCaffrey and Luvolution by Julie Braunschweiger.

March 25, 26 and April 1, 2 at 7:30 pm and March 27 and April 3 at 2:00 pm General admission is $15 for the general public. Admission for students and senior citizens is $10. Tickets are available online at theatredance.gwu.edu, by calling (202) 994-0995 or by visiting the box office on the night of the performance. The box office is located next to the Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre, on the first floor of the Marvin Center.

The Mongolia Dance Diary: Day 1

George Washington University’s Dana Tai Soon Burgess, chair of the department of theater and dance and founder of Washington’s premiere Asian-American contemporary dance company, Dana Tai Soon Burgess and Co., travels this week to the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar, to lead master classes in contemporary American dance. Go to the blog

GW Department of Theatre & Dance presents the fourth annual NEW PLAYS FESTIVAL

The Department’s fourth annual New Plays Festival of student-written one-acts will be directed this year by Jodi Kanter, GW professor of theater. This year’s plays include “Voices on the Edge” by Nathan Wolfson, “Spumoni” by Conor McCaffrey and “Luvolution” by Julie Braunschweiger.

In addition, the festival will feature two evenings of staged readings of student written plays directed by Allyson Currin Stokes: “Holding Penelope’s Hand” by Marielle Mondon; “Postcards from Vienna” by Tay Tufenkjian; “Running from the Border” by Micah Lubens; “Rain” by Elizabeth Lothian. Readings will take place March 28 and 29 at 7:30 p.m. in Betts Theatre (two plays per night, order to be announced).

March 25, 26 and April 1, 2 at 7:30 pm
and March 27 and April 3 at 2:00 pm

General admission is $15 for the general public. Admission for students and senior citizens is $10. Ticket reservations are available online at theatredance.gwu.edu, by calling (202) 994-0995 or by visiting the box office on the night of the performance. The box office is located next to the Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre, on the first floor of the Marvin Center.

The George Washington University

Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre, Marvin Center 1^st floor

800 21^st Street, NW

Washington, D.C. 20052

(Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro Station, Blue and Orange lines)

Buy tickets online: http://theatredance.gwu.edu/Season/mainstage.html

GW DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE AND DANCE PRESENTS STEPHEN SONDHEIM’S MUSICAL ANYONE CAN WHISTLE

GW’S DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE AND DANCE PRESENTS

STEPHEN SONDHEIM’S MUSICAL

‘ANYONE CAN WHISTLE’

EVENT: The George Washington University Department of Theatre and Dance (TRDA) and the Department of Music present ‘Anyone Can Whistle,’ the fourth theatre production of the 2010-2011 TRDA MainStage Season.

WHEN: Feb. 24, 25, 26, 2011 7:30 p.m.;
Feb. 27, 2011; 2:00 p.m.

WHERE: The George Washington University

Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre, Marvin Center 1^st floor

800 21^st Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20052

(Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro Station, Blue and Orange lines)

COST: General admission is $15 for the general public. Admission for students and senior citizens is $10. Ticket reservations are available online here, by calling (202) 994-0995 or by visiting the box office on the night of the performance. The box office is located next to the Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre, on the first floor of the Marvin Center.

BACKGROUND:

Stephen Sondheim’s musical, "Anyone Can Whistle" is directed by Leslie Jacobson, GW’s own director of the academy of classical acting and professor of theatre. Music direction by Patrick O’Donnell (Department of Music). Choreography by Jan Taylor.

"Anyone Can Whistle" is presented through special arrangement with Music

Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also

supplied by MTI, 421 West 54th Street, New york, NY 10019 Tel.: (212)

541-4684 Fax: (212) 397-4684 www.MTIShows.com

BUY TICKETS ONLINE HERE

The South Africa Project: February 4 at 7:30 pm

EVENT: GW’s Department of Theatre and Dance, in collaboration with GW’s Departments of Music, Africana Studies and Women’s Studies, the Multi-Cultural Students Association, as well as St. Andrew’s Episcopal School and The Seekers Church, present The South African Project: Window on Winterveldt. The benefit performance features youth performers from the Bokamoso Youth Center of Winterveldt, South Africa.

WHEN: Friday, Feb. 4, 2011, at 7:30 p.m.

Rehearsal: Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011 at 7:45 p.m.

WHERE: The George Washington University

Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre, Marvin Center 1st Floor

800 21st Street, NW, Washington, D.C.

(Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro Station, Blue and Orange lines)

COST: Admission is $10 for students and senior citizens, and $30 for the general public.

Ticket reservations are available by emailing kirkak@gwu.edu, by calling 202-994-0995 or by visiting the box office on the night of the performance. The box office is located next to the Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre, on the first floor of the Marvin Center.

BACKGROUND:

George Washington University (GW) theater professor Leslie Jacobson and colleague Roy Barber from St. Andrews Episcopal School in Potomac, Md., have worked with the youth from Bokamoso in Winterveldt, South Africa, since 2003. Often accompanied by several GW students on undergraduate fellowships, Ms. Jacobson and Mr. Barber develop plays and songs that address social problems of the Winterveldt community. Since 2004, youth from the Bokamoso Youth Center have traveled to the U.S, stayed with GW students, attended classes and performed at the university to benefit the Bokamoso Youth Center Scholarship Fund.

Eleven South African youth will stay with GW undergraduate students in their residence halls, attend classes and events and meet with GW administrators and alumni. The South African youth will rehearse for the performance on Thursday evening. The plays and poems the youth will be performing will come from works they developed with Ms. Jacobson and Mr. Barber, and GW alumni Elizabeth Acevedo, Scout Seide, Caroline O'Grady, Betsey Perlmutter and Margaret Artz. This year, a play created by the Bokamoso drama director will be added to the program.

About Winterveldt, South Africa and the Bokamoso Youth Center

Created under the Apartheid regime in the early 1950s, the rural township of Winterveldt, South Africa, is plagued with extreme poverty, a 25 percent HIV/AIDS infection rate and a lack of education. The community is actively working to heal and restore its population, with contributions from various civic and religious organizations and private individuals. One of the most effective community organizations, the Bokamoso Youth Center, works with at-risk youth to bring focus and hope to their lives through school and various training programs.

Alan Wade directing G. K. Chesterton's Magic at The Washington Stage Guild

Magic by G.K. Chesterton at The Washington Stage Guild.
Directed by Alan Wade
January 6-30, 2011.
www.alan-wade.com �

DC Theatre Scene review
buy tickets here

TRDA guest artist, Jodi Melnick, gets surprise grant!

LIKE other choreographers awarded grants through the Jerome Robbins Foundation’s New Essential Works Program, Jodi Melnick never applied. And like the others, she received the news out of the blue, delivered in the form of a call — in her case on Skype — by the program’s ebullient director, Damian Woetzel.

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Damian Woetzel with Jodi Melnick.

“I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ ” Ms. Melnick said. “I really didn’t believe it. So I’m getting this grant money — it’s $10,000 — and listen to this: If I want to work with other dancers, I could probably get another five and if I want to work with a bigger group, I could probably get more than that and then get a matching grant.”

She laughed in gleeful disbelief. Even though Ms. Melnick focuses on the solo form and is not planning to create a spectacle “with big overhead,” as she put it, having the option to do so is rare. New Essential Works, which finances the development of new dances, was created by the Jerome Robbins Foundation in the fall of 2009 in response to the financial crisis. Allen Greenberg and Daniel Stern, a trustees at the foundation, and Christopher Pennington, its executive director, were concerned about the prospect of a lost period of choreography.

Many of the grants pair a choreographer with a dance company, but Ms. Melnick’s award was the first to sponsor an individual choreographer without a specific project in mind. So far most awards have benefited struggling ballet companies and choreographers whose work might otherwise have fallen through the cracks.

The program provides about $250,000 a year with grants generally ranging from $10,000 to $35,000. Eleven grants have been awarded, with at least five pending. (In 2010 the Jerome Robbins Foundation gave away about $1.8 million.)

Mr. Woetzel makes decisions about grants with Mr. Greenberg, Mr. Pennington and Mr. Stern. “Some of this is about companies in need,” Mr. Woetzel said. “Some of it is about choreographers who perhaps need more work or it would be nice to see taking a step forward that otherwise they might not be able to take.”

This year New Essential Works will collaborate with Yaddo to recommend candidates for choreographic residencies. One word that Mr. Woetzel continually returns to in describing the program is relevance. “That’s what is so wonderful about the New program,” he said. “It is about filling a need. It is about everything, from economics to art, and it’s about today, so that’s great. It’s not based on the high-mindedness of ‘this is the utopic way things should be.’ ”

Mr. Woetzel, a former principal with New York City Ballet, isn’t the type to wait around for things to happen. As the artistic director of the Vail International Dance Festival and a member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, he has connections and is often able to finagle matching grants. Mr. Woetzel’s networking efforts, frequently in tandem with the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Knight Foundation, generally benefit smaller ballet companies outside New York.

The first sponsored work, Matthew Neenan’s “At the Border,” choreographed for the Pennsylvania Ballet, will also be performed by Nevada Ballet Theater in March. Jessica Lang’s “Solo in Nine Parts,” created for Kansas City Ballet, will be shown at Eugene Ballet and Alaska Dance Theater in April.

In the case of Oregon Ballet Theater, which presented a new work by Emery LeCrone in April, Christopher Stowell, the company’s artistic director, was impressed by the program’s immediacy.

“It’s the kind of thing that can sometimes take three years to develop,” he said. “This happened very fast. We didn’t have a brand new work in the season for the first time in many years, and they wanted to make a difference. One thing that was interesting is that they would only fund something that we would add to that season.”

At Sacramento Ballet the choreographer Brian Reeder presented “Market Crash” in April. The work, set to a score by Eric Moe, explores the notion of panic and anxiety and will be done by the company again in May. “It wasn’t like, ‘We need for you to make an opener or a closer for us,’ ” Mr. Reeder said. “It was more, ‘Make what you want.’ I felt very free and open, and that’s not always the case.”

New Essential Works also has a partnership with the Baryshnikov Arts Center, where, during the fall, three contemporary choreographers — Stefanie Batten Bland, John Heginbotham and Elena Demyanenko, all chosen by Mikhail Baryshnikov — were granted five-week residencies and $10,000 each. The center’s executive director, Stanford Makishi, said the center also provided technical and administrative support.

“The goal was very much in the spirit of what the New Essential Works program was doing with regional ballet companies,” he said. “We wanted to potentially lift the careers of these people.”

The center hosted several showings of the choreographers’ work throughout the fall. On Sunday afternoon they will present dances created during their residencies as part of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters showcase. This year the residency program will focus on Broadway dance.

“The chance to work on Broadway choreography as opposed to having to deliver Broadway choreography can be two distinct things,” Mr. Woetzel said. “I think there’s a role to be played in the idea of: What is a Broadway choreographer today? How do you become a Broadway choreographer? What are the skill sets?”

In many ways Mr. Woetzel, armed with curiosity, is still developing his eye for choreographers.

“In ballet class Stanley Williams used to say, ‘I don’t see it,’ and it was so frustrating because you wanted to say: ‘That’s a brisé. I just did it.’ ”

Mr. Woetzel said he experienced a similar sensation when watching dances. “Is it blurry?” he asked. “Is it in focus? Has this been thought through? Does it make sense, or does it make sense that it doesn’t make sense? I just want to have experiences that matter in the theater.

“There’s a part of me that just loves dancing,” he continued. “I could sit and watch the Nicholas Brothers all night, happily, on one level, but then I’m also dying to see Jodi just stand there and move her arm over the course of 20 minutes. There are no rules.”

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction

Correction: January 10, 2011

An earlier version of this article misstated the name of a dance company in the Northwest. It is Oregon Ballet Theater, not Oregon Dance Theater.