Goldrush Nuggets, August 2006

 Happenings in the dance community

UNITY Modifies Membership Bylaws And Plans 2006 Meeting

At the January 2006 Annual Meeting, members voted in bylaw changes that result in major changes for membership in UNITY.

UNITY now has one category of membership. Membership is open to those organizations that serve dance education through activities that enhance knowledge in the discipline of dance, or provide products or services consumed in the delivery of dance education. As always, all representatives of each member organization shall have voice, and each organization is entitled to one vote.

Membership dues for all organizations have also been reduced to $100 per year.

In other UNITY news, the 2006 general meeting of UNITY will be held October 14 and 15 at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Seacaucus, NJ, in conjunction with the UDMA Dance Resource and Costume Preview Show. For more information, contact Pat Cohen at patcohen1@optonline.net or 914-332-9566.

UNITY, a 501(c)(3) corporation, is a coalition of dance education and associated organizations that promotes cooperation and dialogue within the dance profession and speaks as one voice on dance education and other related issues.

National Honor Society for Dance Arts Establishes RI Chapter

Art in Motion Dance Company of North Kingstown, RI is now the only dance school in Rhode Island to have a chapter of the National Honor Society for Dance Arts. This is the first year that the society, formerly affiliated exclusively with high schools, has opened its doors to private schools of dance. The National Honor Society for Dance Arts is a program of the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO). For more information on the National Honor Society for Dance or the NDEO, visit www.ndeo.org.

Tradition In Tap Committee Presents Awards For Outstanding Achievement

On May 27, Ms. Sali Ann Kriegsman, tap historian, presented Tradition In Tap Awards to Mr. Ernest ‘Brownie’ Brown and to the Charles ‘Cookie’ Cook Collection (organized by Circuit Productions/Prof. Susan Goldbetter, producer), on behalf of the Tradition In Tap Committee. Ms. Kriegsman herself was also the recipient of a Tradition In Tap Award for her role as a tap historian, writer & educator.

The Tradition In Tap Awards are presented for outstanding achievement and significant contribution to the tradition and art of tap dance. A picture of the honorary plaques including extensive information regarding the Cook & Brown Tap Experience can be found at www.TraditionInTap.org.

Tom Ralabate Awarded 2006 SUNY Chancellor’s Award For Excellence

Thomas P. Ralabate, Associate Professor in the University at Buffalo (UB) Department of Theatre & Dance, received the prestigious 2006 State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship & Creative Activities. Developed by faculty for faculty, the criteria for selection are exacting. The award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated sound and sustained scholarship in the sciences, humanities, and professional studies or consistent creative productivity in the fine and performing arts.

Besides his creative endeavors, Ralabate, a former US Latin Ballroom Dance Champion, has served as Assistant Chair, Dance; Director of UB Dance Program; and Director of Zodiaque Dance Company, the resident company at UB. Currently, Ralabate is the National Education Chairperson for Dance Masters of America (DMA). In 2004, DMA established an educational scholarship in the name of Thomas P. Ralabate.

A contributing writer for Goldrush magazine, Ralabate’s commissions this year include Joffrey Ballet Midwest, Bermuda Union of Teachers, DMA, Omaha Dance Teachers’ Association, and Dance Teachers’ Club of Boston.

The Youth Dance Festival Of New Jersey Announces Lineup Additions

The Second Annual Youth Dance Festival of New Jersey, hosted by Kozlov Dance International, is excited to announce the addition of two outstanding dance professionals who will assist with this year’s festival: Ludmila Semenyaka, world renowned prima ballerina from the Bolshoi Ballet, and jazz legend Luigi. This year’s festival and dance competition will take place Saturday, October 7th and Sunday, October 8th at the Bergen County Academies, in Hackensack, NJ. The Youth Dance Festival of NJ is designed to be an artistic and educational exchange between dancers from around the country aged 9-25.

Semenyaka currently works now as a repetiteur at the Bolshoi Ballet, coaching the leading ballerina, Svetlana Zakharova, and Anastasia Meskova. Semenyaka is a graduate of the Vaganova Academy and danced with the Kirov-Mariinsky for two years. She joined the Bolshoi in 1972, where she was coached by the legendary Galina Ulanova. Semenyaka was made Honored Artist of the Russian Federation in 1976.

Also new to the festival this year is Luigi, the “Innovator of Jazz”, who will give a master class at the workshop portion of the festival. Luigi has worked in every part of show business, from Hollywood musicals and Broadway, and beyond. He has received many major awards and has given master classes throughout North and South America, England, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, and South Africa. He has served on the faculty for the Harkness Ballet School, Sarah Lawrence College, New York University, the Metropolitan Opera House, and the Joffrey Ballet School. The exercise routine he created for his own rehabilitation after a devastating accident became the world’s first complete technique for learning jazz dance. His method is taught today by not only him at his “Jazz Centre” in New York, but also by his students in schools and colleges all over the world.

The goal of the festival is to create a venue for dance schools and students to share their knowledge of dance through performance. Scholarships, certificates of merit, and written evaluations from judges will be awarded. Age categories include Division I (9-11), Division II (12-14), Division III (15-25). Dance categories include classical ballet, contemporary dance, jazz, folk dance, and Irish step dance.

For more information on the festival, call the festival hotline at 201- 961-4123, or visit the festival website www.ydfofnj.org.

Photo caption: Light of Life Performing Arts, Silver Medalist at the 2005 Youth Dance Festival of New Jersey. Photo by Lloyd Gonzales.