The work of a dancer never ends. It is a continuous journey with goals that lead to further goals, life lessons, and achievements. And for Northwest Dance Theatre dancers, self-direction and motivation does not take a summer break.
Since our final performance of the 2014-2015 season, our dancers have been hard at work training, competing, and sharing their art form with others. Here is what our dancers have been up to the past few months!
Cherie competing at the 2015 OSAA State Choir Competition
In early May, Cherie, who trains at June Taylor’s School of Dance and is also member of the concert choir at Veritas High School, competed in the 2A/1A 2015 OSAA State Choir Competition at George Fox University. She performed choreography from the Nutcracker Tea Arabian solo by Northwest Dance Theatre Artistic Director’s June Taylor-Dixon and Gretta Marchek to a Syrian love song called “Yal Asmar Ellon”. The choir won first place with 21 points in the lead due to the choir’s innovative performance combining dance and song. One of the competition’s regulations restricted Cherie from practicing onstage with the choir beforehand; however, she adapted to the space and performed with ease and the judges expressed how impressed they were with her timing, technique, and ability to quick change.
Sarah and Lauren traveled to B.C. to compete in North America’s first RAD Dance Challenge competition
Also in the month of May, Sarah, who trains at June Taylor’s School of Dance, and Lauren, who trains at both June Taylor’s School of Dance in Tualatin and Academie de Ballet Classique in Bend, OR, traveled to Vancouver, B.C. to compete in the very first Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) Dance Challenge competition to be held in North America. The girls represented their country brilliantly, and they enjoyed the wonderful experience of meeting their international peers and participating in coaching sessions with RAD Examiner Lynnette Kelley.
Representing NWDT at Texas Ballet Theatre School’s Intensive
In June and July, NWDT dancers attended summer school at some of the country’s most prestigious schools. Lauren traveled to attend the Texas Ballet Theatre School’s Summer Intensive and study with Texas Ballet Theatre Artistic Director Ben Stevenson and many more incredible world renown teachers. Helia, who also studies at June Taylor’s School of Dance, traveled to attend the San Francisco Ballet School’s Summer Session. She was also accepted into SF Ballet School’s highly-competitive yearlong training program, a program where American Ballet Theatre Principal Misty Copeland and many other phenomenal dancers have studied.
Helia attended SF Ballet School’s 2015 Summer Session
In August, many of our dancers also attended June Taylor’s School of Dance’s Senior Intensive where they had the wonderful opportunity to study with The Washington School of Ballet Director Kee Juan Han, Royal Academy of Dance Examiner Michele Pearson, as well as Sally Smith, Laura Haney, Zachary Carroll, June Taylor-Dixon, Gretta Murray-Marchek, and many more incredible teachers. At the end of the program, the dancers participated in a beautiful showcase performance demonstrating the great many things they had learned and accomplished over the course of the Senior Intensive program.
Each of the dancers takes the opportunity to perform as a gift. While they inspire many as company dancers, they also serve as role models for the younger dancers in the studios where they study. Back in June of 2015 many of our dancers performed in June Taylor’s School of Dance’s spring productions of “Alice in Wonderland” and “Fancy Feet” as well as Academie de Ballet Classique’s production of “Alice in Wonderland”. Through these performance experiences the dancers were able to continue to develop their performance skills while also inspiring their younger classmates to work hard and pursue their passion.
The dancers traveled to B.C. to study with Ms. Kelley in August
Towards the end of August, some of our dancers traveled to Vancouver, B.C. to receive coaching lessons from Royal Academy of Dance Examiner Lynnette Kelley. Every opportunity to take class with Ms. Kelley is a gift as she pushes dancers to look past what they think they are capable of in order to work and achieve a level of quality that goes beyond what they thought of as possible. Our founder and artistic director, JuneTaylor-Dixon, also traveled to attend a teacher training course with Ms. Kelley. And in addition to teaching and attending teacher courses, our artistic directors, Miss June and Miss Gretta, have been hard at work planning and getting everything in place and ready to go for the start of NWDT’s 27th season. Their dedication to dance education and the performing arts community inspires us, and we are grateful to have their knowledge and expertise at Northwest Dance Theatre.
So as you can see, our dancers and artistic directors have been quite busy the past few months since company auditions and our spring production of Peter and the Wolf and Other Works. We are thrilled, excited, and ready to begin our 27th performance year with our wonderful community because you are the reason we dance, perform, and share.