4/23/01
The West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History will feature as guest artists several former Dance Festival participants who have gone into careers in dance or related fields. The four West Virginians will perform during the 7 p.m. program on Saturday, April 28, in the Cultural Center’s West Virginia State Theater at the State Capitol Complex, Charleston, when the Division presents the 20th annual West Virginia Dance Festival.
Kim Pauley, director, resident choreographer and principal dancer for the Charleston Ballet, will be partnered with Olivier Wecxsteen of France, who is currently a principal dancer with Les Grand Ballets Canadiens. They will perform the Swan Lake Pas de Deux from Act II. Laura Lea Wilson and Kathryn Anderson, both natives of Parkersburg, are now dancers with the Charleston Ballet Theatre in South Carolina and will present solo performances during the program. Christopher Bandy, also of Parkersburg is a company member of the American Repertory Ballet in Princeton, New Jersey and will dance an excerpt from The Rite of Spring entitled Birth of the Young Warrior.
The festival runs April 27 - 29. Two nights of performances begin on Friday, April 27 at 7 p.m. and will showcase the talent of West Virginia dancers who come to perform and take classes from the nationally acclaimed festival faculty. The Friday concert will feature 14 West Virginia dance groups and a modern dance performance by faculty members Cynthia Thompson and Kate Trammell. On Saturday, 14 more groups will perform in addition to Pauley and Wecxsteen, Wilson, Anderson and Bandy.
Both evening performances are free and open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis and seating is limited. A list of the performing Mountain State dance groups is attached.
Thirty-two dance groups will participate in this year’s festival. Dancers from West Virginia schools and companies were adjudicated in advance and will take part in classes and performances.
For more information about the 20th annual West Virginia Dance Festival or other programs of the Division, call (304) 558-0220.
The West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, brings together the state’s past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. The Cultural Center is West Virginia’s official showcase for the arts. Visit the Division’s website at www.wvculture.org for more information about programs of the Division. The Department of Arts, Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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20th annual West Virginia Dance Festival Performers
Friday, April 27, 2001 Performing Groups
(in order of appearance)
Augusta Youth Ballet
Nina M. Scattaregia, director
West Virginia Wesleyan College
Bess Park Reynolds, director
January’s Academy of Dance
January Johnson Wolfe, director
The Art Center School of Dance
Ella Hay, director
Pineville Dance Theatre
Toneta Akers-Toler, director
American Academy of Ballet
Kim R. Pauley, director
Greenbrier Dance Academy
Virginia L. Walls, director
Morgantown Dance Studio
Jennifer Thomas/Liz Finklea, directors
Guest Artists
Cynthia Thompson and Kate Trammell
Inwood Dance Company
Denna Smith/Shan Dai, directors
River City Youth Ballet Ensemble
Michelle Raider, director
Capital High School
A. Michelle Legg, director
Concord Dance Ensemble
Jessica Morrow, director
Trillium Performing Arts Collective
Carli Mareneck, director
Momentum Dance Center
Michael McGowan, director
Saturday, April 28, 2001 Performing Groups
(in order of appearance)
Trillium Performing Youth
Beth White, director
Beckley Dance Theatre
Jerry Rose, director
Inwood Performing Arts Company
Denna Smith, director
Marshall University Department of Theatre
Bess Park Reynolds, director
Greenbrier Theatre Dance Company
Virginia L. Walls, director
Princeton Dance Studio
Janis Gunnoe, director
Huntington Dance Theatre
Amy McElroy, director
Kat & Company Dance Studio
Katreena Snyder, director
Guest Artists
Kim Pauley and Olivier Wecxsteen
WV Dance Company
Toneta Akers-Toler, director
Guest Artists
Kathryn L. Anderson
Laura Wilson
Christopher Bandy
Schrader Youth Ballet
Velma Schrader, director
feMo Dance Theatre
Bess Park Reynolds, director
Mid Ohio Valley Ballet Company
Suzy Gunter, director
Kitchen Sink Dance Company
Michael McGowan, director
Charleston Ballet
Kim Pauley, director