Historical Dance at Play: Crossing Borders, August 6-9, 2020
Baroque – Vintage – Romantic Ballet
Location: ODC in San Francisco
The New York Baroque Dance Company in partnership with ODC presents the 25th Summer Historical Dance Weekend, the only workshop of its kind devoted to a span from Baroque to modern times. In this four-day dance intensive, attendees will learn historic dances taught by a specialist in each era. After a short historical introduction, the students are coached to embody the aesthetic of the period while learning technique and choreography. Imagine 18th century French dances from a notation system created at the court of Louis XIV, 19th century ballet class in tutus, Peruvian dances that echo figures in the minuet, and dancing with Jane Austen’s Mr. Darcy. We embrace an inclusive and nonjudgmental community where dancers, teachers, musicians, actors, historians, and dance enthusiasts can all learn at their own pace.
Some of the classes offered:
- Haptic responses in partner dances, then and now
- Mr. Prince’s Minuet for 12, ballroom or stage?
- 19th century Romantic ballet and social dancing, sharings and pairings
- Performance practice: musicians and dancers hash it out!
- Historical dance reconstructions …how to play the stage
- The Art of the Mixer: The evolution of progressive dance forms from 1820 to today.
- Coffee Talk – time for questions and discussion
Participating in the full four-day experience is recommended, because connections will be made across many of the classes and some classes will be progressive. Options for drop-ins will be limited and announced at a later date.
Instructor Bios
Catherine Turocy (Artistic Director of NYBDC): 17th – 18th century theatrical ballet and social dance
Catherine is recognized as one of today’s leading choreographer/reconstructors and stage directors in 17th and 18th century period performance, with over 70 Baroque opera-ballets to her credit. Catherine received an Isadora Duncan Dance award (Izzie) for her reconstruction of “Le Temple de La Gloire” with Bay Area’s Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale and has been decorated by the French Republic as a Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters. This year her NYBDC celebrates their 44th anniversary performing at the Royal Opera House in Versailles, France.
Richard Powers: 19th – 20th century historic social dance and partnering. Richard has been teaching historic dance for 42 years, researching social dances from the past five centuries, with an emphasis on 19th and early 20th century social dance. He is currently a full-time dance instructor at Stanford University, and has also taught period movement for theater for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the American Conservatory Theater San Francisco. Richard was selected by the Centennial Issue of Stanford Magazine as one of Stanford University’s most notable graduates of its first century. He was awarded the Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award for exceptional contributions to education at Stanford. Richard also teaches workshops across the country and Canada, and has taught in Paris, London, Rome, Venice, Prague, Vienna, Geneva, Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Kirov, Tokyo and Kyoto, including 22 workshops in Russia, 25 in France, and 29 in Japan.
Joan Walton: Vintage dance teacher and choreographer
Joan Walton was introduced to the world of Vintage Dance by Richard Powers in 1983, and has not stopped her involvement since. As Assistant Director and dancer with Cincinnati’s Flying Cloud Vintage Dance Troupe for ten years, she performed at the Smithsonian and on the ABC-TV mini-series North and South. Her high-energy, focused teaching, theatrical choreographic style and morning warmups have become well known to vintage dancers over the years. Since 1991 she has taught classes in 19th Century, Ragtime, and Jazz Age dance styles at Vintage Dance workshops across America, and internationally. The past three years found her teaching in Saint Petersburg and Moscow, Russia. She received a Master’s Degree in Dance Education from Stanford University and is currently teaching dance at the College of San Mateo and San Jose State University, choreographing and residing in the San Francisco Bay Area.
With Guest Artists: Jennifer Meller and Gabriela Shiroma
Full Workshop: $425
For more information call Jennifer Meller at 323-791-6769 or email: jenbeast@gmail.com
