Studio Notes
Creative Contests
In our increasingly digital world, dances for the screen—be they live-streamed for the silver screen or tailored to the iPhone screen—are becoming more and more popular. But choreographing for the camera is not the same as choreographing for the stage (see “When the Camera Is Your Partner,” April). Recently, the Dance Films Association gave young artists the chance to try merging filmmaking and movement-making, with its inaugural student film competition, Capturing Motion NYC. The four finalists of the contest, which was open to New York City high school students, shared their one- to five-minute shorts at the Dance on Camera Festival in January. The winning selection, Anna Vomacka’s We Three, splices together scenes of a single dance phrase performed in various locations, like a city rooftop and a deserted road. It received the honor of opening for a much-anticipated screening of Sally Sommers’ Check Your Body at the Door, the festival’s final and perhaps most joyous program.
Every other spring, the finalists from the American College Dance Festival Association’s regional conferences go on to participate in the National College Dance Festival at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. This year’s three-day event (co-sponsored by Dance Magazine) kicks off May 25. It’s open to the public and provides a chance to see some of the most exciting dance coming out of U.S. colleges today. See www.kennedy-center.org.
Turning Points
In August, Lola de Avila will step down from her position as associate director of the San Francisco Ballet School, after a total of 13 years in that role. Taking over for her will be Patrick Armand, the principal of SFB School’s Trainee Program. De Avila will return to her native Spain to direct the Maria de Avila Ballet School in Zaragoza. During her time at SFB, she helped to groom many young dancers for entry into the main company: More than half of SFB’s current company members trained at the school.
Alumni of the School of American Ballet gathered in February to toast longtime faculty member Suki Schorer, in celebration of her 40th anniversary as a teacher at SAB. A recipient of the Dance Magazine Award in 1998, Schorer is the author of Suki Schorer on Balanchine Technique.
Lola de Avila teaches at SFB School. Photo © Erik Tomasson, Courtesy SFB.
