Studio Notes
Omi, Oh My
What are artists from Italy, India, Iran, Russia, Hungary, Slovenia, Poland, and the U.S. doing on a 300-acre retreat in upstate New York? From Aug. 7–27, 10 dancers and choreographers from these far-flung countries will come together to form the 2012 Dance Omi International Dance Collective at the scenic Omi International Arts Center in Ghent, NY. Directed by choreographer Christopher K. Morgan (see “Taking Off,” April 2011), with the mentorship of NYC-based dancemaker Shandoah Goldman, the collective will be in residence for three weeks, creating new work together and presenting the not-necessarily-finished results at an informal showing on Aug. 25. The residency also opens with a laid-back performance, The Artists Salon, on Aug. 11, an opportunity for the participants to share their work with each other and the public before delving into cross-cultural collaborations.
Honors & Awards
The American College Dance Festival Association announced the recipients of two ACDFA/Dance Magazine Awards, which were presented in May during the National College Dance Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. The Outstanding Student Choreographer Award went to Denise J. Murphy, who earned an MFA in choreography from the University of North Carolina—Greensboro last spring, for her Vanishing Souls/Falling Embers. The Outstanding Student Performer Award was given to Charles Roy and Paul Vickers, 2012 graduates of Loyola Marymount University in California. The three panelists (Dana Tai Soon Burgess, Susan Shields, and Dance Magazine editor at large Jennifer Stahl) praised the dancers for their “raw, open and vulnerable stage presence” in Keith Johnson’s Unscripted/Riptide Into Me. Peter Martins, the artistic director of New York City Ballet, received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from the Juilliard School at the conservatory’s commencement ceremony in May.
