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Goldrush
Nuggets
Happenings in the dance community
JOAN WOODBURY NAMED NATIONAL DANCE ASSOCIATION 2006 HERITAGE
HONOREE
Co-founder of the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company and recipient
of numerous honors and citations, Joan Woodbury is a
professor, choreographer, dancer, dance company director, and
tireless supporter and promoter of dance. She taught modern
dance at the University of Utah for 47 years before retiring,
and is this year’s National Dance
Association’s Heritage Honoree. Originally from Cedar City,
UT, Woodbury has received other prestigious awards including
Woman of the Year and Honors in the Arts awarded by the Salt
Lake Chamber of Commerce; the 1990 Utah Governor’s Award in
the Arts for Arts Education; and has been awarded an Honorary
Doctorate of Humanities from Southern Utah University and an
Honorary Doctorate of the Arts from the University of Utah.
She has performed and taught across North America as well as
in Europe, Australia, and Asia. The Ririe-Woodbury Dance
Company is dedicated to furthering contemporary, multi-media
dance by creating and performing original and innovative works
of the highest quality modern dance, and promoting the
understanding of and appreciation for the art form of dance,
in the belief that “Dance is for Everybody!” The NDA Heritage
recipient is chosen for outstanding contributions of
international significance to dance.
THE DANCE EDUCATION FAMILY LOSES GERTRUDE HALLENBECK
In
a letter dated December 27, 2005, the Dance Educators of
America announced the news that Past DEA President Gertrude
Hallenbeck had passed away. Along with being a past president,
Hallenbeck was also Membership Chairperson for DEA, and
started the DEA’s Medallion Achievement Program. She also
served as a ballet master teacher, having taught for many if
not all of the major dance teacher organizations. She died on
December 22 at the age of 85. Vickie Sheer, Executive Director
of DEA, noted that, “Gertrude believed that knowledge had to
be recorded and made available to others, and since she had
the good fortune to have studied with teachers who gave so
much … she began to share it through books, presenting the
basic facts concerning classical ballet, dearest to her heart
“Dance Educators of America will never forget this beautiful,
elegant lady and a perpetual scholarship will be given in her
name at every regional DEA has in future years. Her famous
words were, ‘Good teachers pass the torch,’ and DEA will
strive to keep her standard of excellence.” Hallenbeck taught
at the studio her father started, in Albany, NY, for 61 years.
She passed along her high standards and pride in
accomplishment that she had learned early in her life during
her training at the School of American Ballet and at Jacob’s
Pillow.
TAP LEGEND FAYARD NICHOLAS PASSES AWAY
Fayard Nicholas, whose athletic and acrobatic dancing
enthralled audiences from vaudeville to the White House, died
on January 24 at the age of 91. Nicholas, with his brother,
Harold (1921- 2000), who together were known as “The Nicholas
Brothers,” danced in nightclubs, on Broadway, in films, and
around the world. He started dancing at a very young age after
spending long hours in the theater while his parents played in
the orchestra. He was so taken with the performances on stage
that he began mimicking them for friends, and word soon
spread. The Nicholas Brothers soon went from radio, to local
theaters, to New York vaudeville and nightclubs including The
Cotton Club, and finally to Hollywood.
Among his many honors and accolades, Nicholas won a Tony Award
in 1989 for his choreography of Black and Blue, and The
Nicholas Brothers were awarded Kennedy Center Honors in 1991.
He was Celebrity Spokesperson in 2003 for National Dance Week,
and awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as well as an
honorary degree from Harvard University. He was proud to have
taught dance to the students such as Debbie Allen and Janet
Jackson.
ROXEY BALLET’S “BROWN BAG AND THE BALLET” AND “CELEBRATING
DIVERSITY THROUGH DANCE” EVENTS
The Roxey Ballet, located in Lambertville, NJ, presents a
lunchtime diversion for children, adults, and out of town
guests through their “Brown Bag and the Ballet” series.
Attendees can bring a brown bag lunch and experience the
company as it practices and perfects its works.
“Brown Bag” programs and works change daily and show off the
versatility of the dancers as they move with deft,
chameleon-like ease from contemporary works like For The
Love Of It, to dramatic story ballets like
Othello, Mowgli, Carnival Of The Animals, Wheels
And Bodies In Motion, Dracula, and Cinderella. All
“Brown Bag” events begin at 11:30am and run until 2:30pm, and
attendees may stay shorter or longer. “Brown Bag” events cost
$10. The next events are scheduled for April 4-7 and 18-23.
Founded in 1995, the Roxey Ballet is a nonprofit organization
whose mission is to deliver artistic and cultural excellence.
For more information, visit www.roxeyballet.com or call
608-397-7616, ext. 807.
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