Christina Fagundes and Todd Fox will perform as guest artists during the 7 p.m. program on Saturday, May 3, in the Cultural Center’s West Virginia State Theater when the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History presents the 2003 West Virginia Dance Festival. This year marks the 22nd year of the event.
Fagundes was invited by Mikhail Baryshnikov to join the American Ballet Theatre in 1985, and he appointed her soloist in 1989. Since 1999, she has been a principal dancer with Suzanne Farrell Ballet, dancing leads in Balanchine’s Apollo, Divertimento #15, Tzigane, Elegie and Meditation, among others. She also has appeared as a principal guest artist with many European dance companies as well as regional companies throughout the United States.
Fox has been a principal dancer with the Cleveland Ballet, Venezuela’s Ballet Metropolitano de Caracas, Los Angeles Classical Ballet and the New York City-based Dance Galaxy, to name a few. His performance repertoire includes Algrecht in Lavrosky’s Giselle, Pas de Cinq in Rudolph Nureyev’s Sleeping Beauty, the title role in Le Sylphide, Le Corsaire Pas de Deux, the Angel in Rudolph Van Dantzig’s Four Last Songs, and much more.
The festival runs May 2-4. Two nights of performances, beginning on Friday, May 2, at 7 p.m., will showcase the talent of West Virginia dancers who come to perform and take classes from the nationally acclaimed festival faculty. The Friday performance will feature 15 West Virginia dance groups and the modern dance ensemble thompson & trammell featuring Cynthia Thompson and Kate Trammell, both of whom are professors of dance at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va. In addition, the Friday program will begin with a special tribute to Duncan Noble, who served as honorary chairman of the festival until his death last year. On Saturday, in addition to Fagundes and Fox, 14 more West Virginia groups will perform.
Thompson and Trammell founded their modern dance ensemble in 1983. The company maintains a repertoire of commissioned works and dances created by its founders. It has performed to critical acclaim throughout the United States and toured in Denmark, Poland, Portugal, Germany and the former Czechoslovakia.
Both evening performances are free and open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis; seating is limited. A schedule of both concerts and a list of participating groups are attached.
The West Virginia Dance Festival presents dance professionals leading workshops and classes, performance situations and a focus on dance as an art form. Thirty-six dance groups consisting of more than 350 dancers will participate in this year’s festival. Classes begin on Friday, May 2, and continue throughout the three-day festival.
For more information about the 2003 West Virginia Dance Festival or other programs of the Department of Arts, Culture and History, 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.
2003 West Virginia Dance Festival Performers
Friday, May 2, 2003 Performing Groups
(in order of appearance)
Tribute to Duncan Noble
Dancers from various companies
Capital High School Dance Company
A. Michelle Legg, director
Schrader Youth Ballet
Velma Schrader, director
Huntington Dance Theatre
Amy McElroy, director
Wyoming East High School Dance Ensemble
Lisa Griffin Oxley, director
Art Center School of Dance
Ella Hay, director
American Academy Ballet
Kim R. Pauley, director
River City Youth Ballet Ensemble
Michelle Raider, director
Guest Artists
thompson & trammell
Schrader Youth Ballet School
Velma Schrader, director
Greenbrier Dance Academy
Virginia L. Walls, director
The Dance Factory
Nina M. Scattaregia, director
Trillium Performing Youth
Beth White, director
Olgebay Institute, Stifel Fine Arts Center
Cheryl Pompeo, director
West Virginia Wesleyan College Dance Company
Bess Park Reynolds, director
JADCO
January Johnson Wolfe, director
Beckley Dance Theatre School
Jerry Rose, director
Saturday, May 3, 2003 Performing Groups
(in order of appearance)
Kat & Company Dance Studio
Katreena Snyder, director
Pineville Dance Theatre
Toneta Akers-Toler, director
Inwood Dance Company
Denna Smith, director
Trillium Performing Arts Collective
Carli Mareneck, director
and
feMo Dance Theatre
Bess Park Reynolds, director
Augusta Youth Ballet Company
Nina Scattaregia, director
Siren Dance Company
Jennifer Thomas, director
January’s Academy of Dance
January Johnson Wolfe, director
Guest Artists
Christina Fagundes and Todd Fox
Charleston Ballet
Kim R. Pauley, director
West Virginia Dance Company
Toneta Akers-Toler, director
Princeton Dance Studio
Janis Gunnoe, director
Guest Artist
Christina Fagundes
Alderson Dance Ensemble
Adrienne Belafonte Biesemeyer, director
Morgantown Dance Studio
Eunice Kim, director
Liz Finklea, administrative director
Beckley Dance Theatre
Jerry Rose, director
Mid Ohio Valley Ballet Company and School
Suzy Gunter, director
Alderson Dance Ensemble
Adrienne Belafonte Biesemeyer, director
Alderson
Art Center School of Dance
Ella Hay, director
Huntington
Beckley Dance Theatre School
Beckley Dance Theatre
Jerry Rose, director
Beckley
Capital High School Dance Company
A. Michelle Legg, director
Charleston
Charleston Ballet
American Academy Ballet
Kim R. Pauley, director
Charleston
The Dance Factory
Augusta Youth Ballet
Nina M. Scattaregia, director
Buckhannon
Dance Theatre Workshop
Dawn Loreman, director
Beckley
Greenbrier Dance Academy
Virginia L. Walls, director
Lewisburg
Huntington Dance Theater
Amy McElroy, director
Huntington
Inwood Dance Company
Denna Smith, director
Inwood
January’s Academy of Dance
JADCO
January Johnson Wolfe
Charleston
Kat & Company Dance Studio
Dance Studio
Katreena Snyder
Morgantown
Mary’s School of Dance
Mary Wuletich
Charleston
Mid Ohio Valley Ballet School and Company
Suzy Gunter
Parkersburg
Momentum Center For the Arts
Beth Weegar, director
Clarksburg
Morgantown Dance Studio
Liz Finklea/Eunice Kim, directors
Morgantown
Oglebay Institute, Stifel Fine Arts Center
Cheryl Pompeo, director
Wheeling
Pineville Dance Theatre
West Virginia Dance Company
Toneta Akers-Toler, director
Beckley
Princeton Dance Studio
Janis Gunnoe, director
Princeton
River City Youth Ballet Ensemble
Michelle Raider, director
Elkview
Schrader Youth Ballet and Company
Velma Schrader, director
Parkersburg
Summersville Dance Theater School
Paige Haney, director
Summersville
Trillium Performing Youth
Beth White, director
Lewisburg
Trillium Performing Arts Collective
Carli Mareneck, director
Lewisburg
Village Dance Theater
Elizabeth Withers, director
Huntington
West Virginia Wesleyan College Dance Company
Bess Park Reynolds, director
Buckhannon
Wyoming East High School Dance Ensemble
Lisa Griffin Oxley, director
New Richmond
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Ginny Painter
Director of Public Information
West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History
The Cultural Center
1900 Kanawha Boulevard, East
Charleston, WV 25305-0300
Phone (304) 558-0220
Fax (304) 558-2779
ginny.painter@wvculture.org