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DANCE CAMP
Michael Jackson Tribute Choreographer Honored
US Performing Arts Dance Camps announced today that Milo Levell, hip hop dance artists and choreographer to the stars was officially honored at the April 2nd Michael Jackson Tribute, along with celebrated choreographer Travis Payne.
In making the announcement USPA spokesperson Craig Patterson said, "We have twelve different Dance Camp locations for young artists to choose from, all with outstanding faculty and choreographers, but this week our major dance camp news comes from our UCLA Arts Camps' Hip Hop Dance Camp where Milo Levell is the hip hop dance camp program director."
Summer Camps
High School Drama Festival Winner!
It's spring and emerging artists' thoughts are turn towards summer and that means Summer Camps! Drama Camps! Theater Camps! Acting Camps! and more!
One lucky Massachusetts High School Drama Festival participant whose name was drawn from thousands of students attending last week's festival was given the opportunity to attend any of the US Performing Arts intensive summer camps. Congratulations to Nick Ziogas, from Framingham High School, who has chosen to study Acting for the Camera at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California under award-winning television director, Mary Lou Belli and film and television actor Charlie Dougherty.
In making the announcement USPA founder and CEO says, "It is a pleasure to recognize a student who has already shown a deep dedication to the arts and will benefit from this scholarship. Our summer programs are a great training ground for high school students. Our summer camp programs are a good way for a student to "test drive" a college or university. It is a way for the faculty to work with students and students to find out more about the departments' curriculum. It is the place 'to see and be seen.' "
Summer Camps
Calling All High School Drama Festival students:
Summer Camps! Drama Camps! Theater Camps! Acting Camps! It's the end of March and it's almost time to select a Summer Camp!
One lucky high school drama student attending the Massachusetts High School Drama Festival will win a full scholarship to a one week US Performing Arts Camp of their choice. The 2010 Massachusetts High School Drama Festival sponsored by the Boston Globe starts Thursday night March 26th and runs through Saturday.
This is the 79th annual high school drama festival put on by the Massachusetts Drama Guild. The first festival dates back to 1933. The Massachusetts Drama Guild expects over 7,000 students to attend this year.
US Performing Arts will be at the festival all three days. US Performing Arts representative Lana Hagen will have a booth in the main exhibit hall of the festival and, between performances, high school drama students will be able to come to the booth and enter their name in a drawing. At the end of the festival officials from the drama guild will draw the name of one person who will be able to choose a one week US Performing Arts summer camp to attend. US Performing Arts mission is to promote and develop the growth of artists. The company operates in partnership with colleges and universities across the country to bring high school students top tier intensive workshops and training in the arts. This year US Performing Arts is at 18 different locations offering 105 summer camp opportunities of the best training for high school students in the arts.
Founder and CEO Judith Patterson says "Our summer programs are great training for high school students whether a student attends a one week intensive, a two or three week program or as some students do, attend a week or two at one of our locations and then travel for another week at one of our other locations. We have some students that have been to 3 of our locations in one summer. We have some students who spend a summer at one location and then the next year will go to another location. And yet there are some students who are so passionate about filmmaking that they have attended our film camp at Pepperdine University for 5 years in a row. But whether you just want to test out one week or spend a summer working at your craft. These summer camp programs are a great way for a student to "test drive" a college or university and to see and be seen. For those rising seniors and college transfer students we have a couple of college audition workshops designed to make applicants more knowledgeable and confident with the process. 85% or more of all high school students who have taken the college audition workshop ended up getting into the college of their choice."
US Performing Arts is also offering a special summer camp rate for all high school drama students attending this year's Massachusetts High School Drama Festival. Check out the video showcasing all the action from the 2009 high school drama festival. For details about the festival, the competitions, and the high schools attending this year's festival you can go to www.mhsdg.com. For more information about US Performing Arts you can go to www.usperformingarts.com or call 888.497.3553
The Massachusetts High School Drama Guild, Inc. exists for the charitable and educational purpose of promoting and strengthening excellence, access, and education in the theatrical arts for middle and secondary school students and teachers.
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 TheaterMania.com | NEA Grants To Theaters New York Times The National Endowment for the Arts on Thursday announced grants of $20000 each to five theaters for work on ... NEA Announces $100000 in NEA Distinguished New Play Development Project Grants New Works by Danai Gurira, Tom Jacobson, Emily Mann, et al. Receive NEA ... |
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Six Artists Are Honored at Kennedy Center
By CHERYL MILLER, NY Times
Barbra Streisand, Morgan Freeman, George Jones, Twyla Tharp and Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey of the Who this weekend became the latest recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime achievement in the performing arts.
The ceremony, now in its 31st year, is one of Washington's few red carpet events. Celebrities came from New York, Los Angeles and Nashville to pay tribute to the honorees.
The weekend celebration included a dinner hosted by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Saturday at the State Department. On Sunday, stars including the musician B. B. King and the actor Denzel Washington appeared on stage at the annual gala at the John F. Kennedy Center.
The gala will be broadcast on CBS on Dec. 30.
Read More...
Drama group partners with high school performers
By ANDREW DuPONT of The Oakland Press
Five years ago, Lakeland High School students performed their last school play and the stage went dark.
With no drama program, there were no more acts to follow.
A few miles down the road, the community theater group the Lakeland Players performed in a makeshift theater in the auditorium of Central United Methodist Church in Waterford Township.
The school had the facilities, the Players had the resources. It seemed like a match made in heaven, and now, the two groups have formed a partnership that has brought life back to the high school theater in two ways.
"They needed us and we needed them," said Mike Brody, who works with the Lakeland Players and is directing Lakeland High School"s current production of "Grease." The classic musical is the first production of what Brody hopes will be a lasting collaboration between the two groups.
Read More...
EdTA sponsoring national student essay contest on the importance of Arts Education
The Educational Theatre Association is excited to announce the the creation of an essay contest for its student members in support of the 2009 Arts Advocacy Day training and lobbying activities in Washington D.C., March 30-31. The annual event, organized by Americans for the Arts, draws arts advocates from throughout the country lobbying on behalf of legislative initiatives and financial support for the arts, including education.
The wave of student interest in the recent presidential election, and the educational challenges connected to the current economic crisis prompted EdTA to create the contest.
The topic for the essay is, "Why arts education is important to America's future."
EdTA will choose one winning essay and provide $1,500 toward the travel and attendance costs at Arts Advocacy Day for the winner and their chaperone. Americans for the Arts will waive the event registration fees for the winner and chaperone.
The winning essayist will:
- Have their essay included in the Arts Advocacy Day materials distributed to all registrants and Congress
- Have the opportunity to read their essay at a legislative training session before an audience of national arts education advocates
- Take part in all scheduled events, including legislative training on the current arts issues circulating on Capitol Hill, and the Congressional Arts Breakfast
- Conduct lobbying visits to his or her district Congressional representatives
- Attend the Nancy Hanks Lecture on Public Policy at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
- Have their essay published in Dramatics magazine
UCLA sweeps 2008 Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards
Fri Nov 7, 2008 in Accolade
For the first time in its 53 year history the annual Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards, which recognize excellence in dramatic writing, have been swept by students from a single program.
The Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards were founded by Samuel Goldwyn Sr. in 1955 to encourage young writers. The awards competition is open to all University of California students. This year's winners were selected from a field of more than 120 feature-length script submissions from eight UC campuses. But when the winner and finalists were announced Monday by Samuel Goldwyn Jr., president of the Samuel Goldwyn Foundation, during a ceremony at UCLA, which turned out to be the School all of them attended. Read More...
"In The Heights" Movie in the Works
by Dave Itzkoff, ArtsBeat Blogs
For fans of "In The Heights" who have yearned to see the hit underdog Broadway musical turned into a motion picture, it won't be long now: Universal Pictures has acquired the film rights to the show, the studio announced Friday. The story of a community in Manhattan's Washington Heights neighborhood, "In The Heights" won four Tony Awards this year, including best musical, as well as best score, for Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also stars in the show. Mr. Miranda will be a producer of the film adaptation, and Quiara Alegria Hudes, who wrote the show's book, will write the screenplay. Universal scored a blockbuster hit this summer with its film adaptation of the musical "Mamma Mia!", and is also working on a film of the Broadway show "Wicked."
Read More...
Finding New Ways to Make the Horses Dance
By Julie Bloom, NY Times
THE scene comes at the very end of "Equus," now playing at the Broadhurst Theater on Broadway. After more than two hours of anticipation a young man named Alan, played by Daniel Radcliffe, blinds six horses in a nightmarish dance that leaves the audience disturbed and stunned. It lasts only 20 seconds, but the blinding, which onstage is manifest as a kind of equine ballet, has become one of the most memorable parts of this drama, making the men who portray the horses a vital part of "Equus" since its premiere in 1973.
America's Best Dance Crew Live Tour Review
by Chrissy Le Nguyen, Yahoo Blogs
It's been said before, but when the America's Best Dance Crew Live Tour hit Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre on Thursday night, it couldn't have rung truer: JabbaWockeeZ is the best dance crew ever, period, the end. OK, so maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but judging from the jam-packed theater, with teens decked out in white masks, gloves, and colorful Jabba t-shirts, it was clear that the people came to see JabbaWockeeZ, and luckily for them, that's exactly what they got and then some!
Read More...
David Schwimmer directs Stephen Belber's Fault Lines
NY Times
Dude. It's an important word in the lexicon of the average, beer-swilling American male, employed frequently as a term of endearment, exclamation (Duuuude!) or even informal title (First Dude). So when Bill (Josh Lucas), a graphic designer who has settled down in a life of marriage and nightly episodes of "Charlie Rose," tells his old friend Jim (Dominic Fumusa), still single and sleeping around, to stop calling him "dude," it feels like a harsh break-up. Looking shocked and even a bit hurt, Jim replies exasperatedly, "You don't see yourself as a dude?"
David Schwimmer and Stephen Belber talk about the play.
Navigators for the College Bound
NY Times
What may be largest high school senior class ever in the United States is applying to college this fall. And thousands of students will look beyond their high school guidance counselors to help them get into the schools of their choice.
Private educational consultants take up where overburdened high school guidance counselors leave off. Charging by the hour or offering a package of services, these consultants usually meet multiple times with a student to talk about goals for college and beyond. They synthesize information from parents, transcripts and other sources to help create a list of colleges that might be a good match. Then they guide students through the application process, reviewing essays, preparing them for interviews and keeping them organized to meet deadlines. Read More...
In the Struggle to Balance Dance and School, Don't Give Up On the Arts
Dancer Blog
It's hard to do everything you need to for school, friends, homework, and dance class. We're now a few weeks into a new school year, and your packed schedule is probably starting to wear you out.
If you're thinking of freeing up some time by giving up activities, don't drop dance. Even though it requires time and energy, research shows that your participation in dance can actually help you succeed in school. Read More...
The Teacher Behind the Mask
by Wendy Garofoli (Danceruniverse.com)
Before the Jabbawockeez rocketed to world-wide fame during their "America's Best Dance Crew" stint, Kevin Brewer and a few of his crew members started laying the foundation for expanding their reach to dance students and enthusiasts around the country. Brewer and Larot, his "brother from another mother," began brainstorming and sessioning for hours at a time, hoping to set a new standard for freestyle dance. "There was one point in time where we wanted to train a lot to set our own mark and our own tone," Larot said. "We would just lock ourselves up in the studio filming ourselves freestyling. That's kind of how Beat Kune Do came about."
Brewer began documenting ideas about how to improve musicality and tap into a dancer's inner ear and natural movement. He took his fledgling philosophy into the classroom, teaching at Culture Shock Dance Center in San Diego and overseeing a new crew called Super Galactic Beat Manipulators, which he no longer manages though the crew continues to operate with his occasional involvement. Read More...
The Curtain Comes Down on Rent
NY Times
The landmark musical "Rent" ended its Broadway run on Sunday after 12 years. The musical opened in April 1996 at the Nederlander after a run Off-Broadway. The play opened on Broadway the same month that its playwright and composer, Jonathan Larson, won the Pulitzer Prize for drama. He had died three months earlier at age 35. Rent is now No. 7 on the list of longest-running Broadway shows, right behind "Beauty and the Beast" and just ahead of the "Chicago" revival that is still running. Read More...
Mamma Mia! Becomes 16th-Longest Running Show on Broadway Sept. 4
www.playbill.com
The international hit musical Mamma Mia!, which continues to pack in audiences at the Winter Garden Theatre, becomes the 16th longest-running production in Broadway history Sept. 4.
Mamma Mia! will surpass the record-breaking run of Jerry Herman's Hello, Dolly! when it plays its 2,844th performance at 8 PM. Read More...
Finding the College That's the Right Fit for You
Secrets of coming up with a shortlist, from figuring what you're really looking for to asking the right questions on campus
US News and World report
You don't need to be a math whiz to solve this one: Who has better odds of gaining acceptance at the college that's the best match, the kid who applies to 25 schools indiscriminately or the one who applies to a carefully whittled-down list of seven?
Safety in numbers doesn't apply to getting into college, no matter how many applications you think you can churn out thanks to your good pal, the Common App. Getting that fat envelope from the school of your dreams requires figuring out exactly which school that is, and that takes introspection and research, not extra supplemental essays. Read More...
After all these years, Broadway comes callingSF Gate
In 36 years on Bay Area stages, Charles Dean has played drunks and dreamers, rock stars and lonely old men. He's broken a toe onstage, acted with a case of conjunctivitis and fallen offstage into a man's lap when he lost control of a motorized wheelchair.
A journeyman actor, Dean has appeared in more than 150 local stage productions. For 20 years, from 1977 to 1997, he did 80 plays at Berkeley Rep alone, both lead roles and character turns. He's accomplished something most actors find impossible - he's made a living as a Bay Area stage actor, without taking outside jobs to supplement his income. Read More...
Television's BestNew York Times Ginia Bellafante discusses some of the best performances from the last TV season.
Read More...
The Rest Was Silence, but Then Came the SequelNew York Times
Hamlet 2 belongs to the school of free-for-all satiric farce whose creators ball up wads of ideas, apply chewing gum and hurl them against the wall to see what sticks. If the style smacks of desperation, enough of the jokes cling to make Hamlet 2, directed by Andrew Fleming, intermittently funny.
Read More...
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Dates, Directors, and Faculty subject to change without notice. The faculty is comprised of college professors representing their schools and professional industry artists. Images are of USPA programs, but may not represent actual program or location. Photos by Tito Deverya (UCLA TFT), and Lauren di Matteo.
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