An up close and intimate evening featuring the dynamic choreography of Menlowe Ballet, Savage Jazz Dance Company, Alyssa Mitchel, The New Ballet, ArtistEDGE, San Jose Dance Theatre, Los Gatos Ballet, Marika Brussel, Zann Aeck, Mariana Sobral and Rena Robinson performed by fearless dancers! You will have an opportunity to meet the choreographers and dancers and learn more about their work and what inspires them. Tickets available on Eventbrite.
Photo Credit: Menlowe Ballet, Michael Lowe, Artistic Director Photographer: Eric Raeber
Launched in early 2011, Menlowe Ballet has performed fourteen successful seasons achieving critical acclaim and ardent audience response. The founders collectively recognized an opportunity to bring a new choreographic voice to the dance canvas on the Peninsula, as well as address an underserved local community in professional performing arts offerings. Artistic Director, Michael Lowe, has long been a fixture in the ballet world, most notably for his work with Oakland Ballet. Michael brings a rich history and perspective to his work - a principal dancer with Oakland Ballet for three decades, a choreographer for the company in his retirement, culminating in the Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Choreography for his ballet Bamboo. His unique choreographic strengths are evident in his contemporary and cultural ballets, featured in each Menlowe Ballet season.
“Menlowe Ballet is a professional ballet company performing work that impacts Bay Area audiences through exceptional dance and stirring, innovative choreography. The company’s repertoire encompasses cultural, classical, and contemporary styles.”
Menlowe Ballet is a professional ballet company performing work that impacts Bay Area audiences through exceptional dance and stirring, innovative choreography. The company’s repertoire encompasses cultural, classical, and contemporary styles. One of Menlowe Ballet’s core values is to continue the tradition of passing dance on from one generation to the next – artist to artist. To that end, aspiring students from Menlowe Ballet’s official school, the Menlo Park Academy of Dance, regularly perform in company productions.
Since our debut in November 2011, Menlowe Ballet has dazzled local audiences with the following: eleven world premieres by Michael Lowe as well as four reprisals of his most beloved works; world premieres by renowned guest choreographers Betsy Erickson of San Francisco Ballet, Viktor Kabaniaev, and Reginald Ray-Savage of Savage Jazz Dance, Val Caniparoli of San Francisco Ballet, Gregory Dawson of dawsondancesf.
Born in Oakland and raised in Alameda, Michael Lowe was encouraged at an early age to explore the joy and discipline of classical ballet to augment his coordination and strength in athletics. With his first dance lesson, his love for music found a counterpart with his natural agility, leading to a career path. Michael joined the Oakland Ballet in 1974 and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 1976 with his debut as Alias in Billy the Kid. A scholarship student at Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in New York City, Lowe also performed with Pacific Ballet Company, Gilbert Reed Ballet Company, Los Angeles Chamber Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, North Dakota Ballet and the Old Souls New Shoes Dance Company under Mark Morris. Michael worked with such legendary choreographers as Agnes de Mille, John Butler, Leonide Massine, Frederic Franklin, Anna Sokolow, Betsy Erickson, Willem Christensen and Ronn Guidi. In 1989, he recreated the role of Beau Gosse for Oakland Ballet’s historical reconstruction of Bronislava Nijinska’s Le Train Bleu.
During and after his performing career, Lowe revealed himself to be a gifted choreographer. He created a number of striking ballets for Oakland Ballet including Table for Two, Witness, The Emperor and the Nightingale, Dim Sum, Double Happiness, and Bamboo, for which he received an Isadora Duncan Award for Best Choreography. Most recently, Mr. Lowe was invited to choreograph a world premiere for Oakland Ballet’s 50th Anniversary celebration. In addition to his choreographic accomplishments, Michael has assumed artistic leadership positions with ballet companies including Oakland Ballet, Peninsula Ballet, Black Diamond Ballet, and he served as Resident Choreographer for Moving Arts Dance.
As Founding Artistic Director of Menlowe Ballet, Mr. Lowe has given his own company a number of beautiful works to perform including Plague, Chuntian, Cirque, Serei, Surfside, Tribute, Transcendence, Legend of the Seven Suns, Playing Love, After Hours, Facets, The Lady with the Lamp and Kimono Wednesdays, as well as the company’s first full length ballet, It’s a Wonderful Nutcracker. Photo: Eric Raeber
Zann Aeck, a native Houstonian began her formal dance training with Patsy Swayze but after a few years, narrowed her focus to train professionally as an apprentice for the Greater Houston Civic Ballet. Zann started her Modern dance training as a student at the High School for the Performing Arts and continued her studies first at the University of Houston and then Southern Methodist University where she received her BA. During this time she was performing with Texas-based companies such as Joan Karff’s New Dance Group. Zann now lives in the Bay Area and has danced or studied with Jeannine Charles, Gary Masters, Maria Basile, Bih-Tau Sung, Natasha Carlitz, and Cheryl Chaddick. Zann currently teaches modern dance at DanceVisions in Palo Alto and has choreographed select pieces over the years for both DanceVisions as well as Jeannine Charles.
Los Gatos Ballet is dedicated to the art of self-mastery. Through our dedicated programs, we travel the inward journey to discover our truth, train with intention in the pursuit of excellence, and align with our purpose. We are committed to sculpting the best version of ourselves through the process. Los Gatos Ballet’s curriculum is unique in its progressive approach. Our syllabus selects the best principals of dance training by incorporating Vaganova, French and American School methods. Through our program, dancers build a strong foundation of anatomy, musicality, technique and artistry. This healthy progression allows our students to develop an advanced level of control and mastery as they are challenged in their physical, mental, and emotional development. Our staff continues to refine and advance our program to provide quality training at every level. We are committed to providing a nurturing environment and we pattern excellence. We are excited to bring our Nutcracker to the McAfee Center for Performing Arts in Saratoga. Join Clara on her adventures with the Nutcracker as she travels to magical realms with suspenseful battles, beautiful palaces and delightful sweets. Let the superb dancing and Tchaikovsky’s iconic score captivate you and your family this Holiday season. LosGatosBallet.org
Reginald Ray-Savage began dancing at Katherine Dunham's Performing Arts Training Center in East St. Louis, IL, where he studied ballet, tap, jazz, and Dunham technique, with such outstanding Dunham company alumni as Norman Davis, Lenwood Morris, and his mentor Archie Savage. His training with these legendary dancers has informed his teaching style and choreography. Mr. Savage began his professional dance career with the Katherine Dunham Dance Company. He moved to Chicago where he danced in several companies including Joel Hall Dance Company, Ruth Page Ballet Chicago, and Lyric Opera, as well as touring productions of "Music Man" and "A Chorus Line".
Mr. Savage came to California in 1989 and founded Savage Jazz Dance Company (SJDC) in 1992. Since then, he has produced a career’s worth of exceptional dances that respond to, spring from, and are inspired by the intentions, energy, and rich cultural heritage of jazz music. The spirit of jazz is the foundation for the company’s existence. Driven by the vision of Mr. Savage, and realized by the commitment of the company’s exceptional dancers, SJDC’s movement is defined by three primary beliefs: the importance of disciplined, technical dance training, rooted in classical ballet and modern techniques; the willingness to give into the rich artistic expression of music, in all forms; and, last but not least, ENERGY. And it is these same beliefs that inform Mr. Savage’s teaching style and daily practice. Since its founding, the company has produced more than 100 new works, choreographed by Mr. Savage, and guest choreographers. In addition to their annual home season, SJDC continues to tour the US, conducting residencies and concert performances. Notable engagements include SJDC’s performance at Casa del Jazz in Rome, Italy in 2006; it was the first dance company to receive such an invitation, performing to a packed house and rave reviews. In 2003, SJDC was invited to perform at the Jazz Dance World Congress at NYU Buffalo. And SJDC was a resident company in the Lincoln Center Institute’s Aesthetic Education Program in Bay Area schools offered through the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts.
Through his work with Savage Jazz Dance Company and his teaching practice, Mr. Savage’s contributions to the arts and dance have been recognized in multiple ways. In 1993, Mr. Savage was awarded the Creative Artists Fellowship in Choreography from the City of Oakland. Mr. Savage was also distinguished with a 2001 GOLDIE Award by the San Francisco Bay Guardian for outstanding contribution to the arts. SJDC has also had the honor of being nominated for several IZZIEs (Isadora Duncan Dance Awards): in 2003 for Company Performance for its entire 2002 season at the Cowell Theater (SF) and in 2007 for Individual Performance by Principle SJDC Dancer, Alison Hurley, in SJDC's 2006 performances at ODC Theater (SF), and, most recently, in 2013 for Outstanding Achievement in Performance for the Company’s work at the Black Choreographers Festival at Laney College (Oakland) in 2012.
Photo: Tracy Martin, Mark Kitaoka, Tracy Martin
San Jose Dance Theatre Is The Resident Ballet Company of the San Jose Center for Performing Arts and home of the Longest Running Nutcracker in San Jose (54 years). www.sjnutcracker.com Dec. 6-8 & 13-15, 2019. Artistic Director, Linda Hurkmans, M.A. As a child, Linda Hurkmans was given detailed Vaganova training from Connie Schwarze and performed for San José Dance Theatre. She was then heavily mentored by Larissa Sklyanskaya (Soloist with Bolshoi Ballet), Natasha Papina (Soloist with Kirov Ballet, and the 1st ballet partner of Mikhail Baryshnikov), and Conrad Ludlow (Principal Dancer with New York City Ballet). Hurkmans received full scholarships to Pacific Northwest Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, and at the age of 16, a full scholarship to the University of Utah Ballet Dept. She danced professionally with The Royal Danish Ballet, the Utah Ballet/Ballet West, The Norwegian Andanse Ballet, Zahkraz Dance, and The Norwegian National Ballet in conjunction with The Year of Dance in Norway and the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. She competed in the 72 country ITI International Ballet Competition in Helsinki, Finland, 1991, and appeared in the CBS Mini-Series “At Mother’s Request” starring Stefanie Powers. Linda Hurkmans holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts, Cum Laude, in Ballet Performance from Univ. of Utah, a Master’s Degree in Psychology from the Notre Dame de Namur University, and full Certifications in Pilates and Progressing Ballet Technique. She has taught and choreographed for Norwegian State Ballet, Western Ballet, Zohco Dance Co., Santa Clara University, Foothill College, De Anza College, Pasquale Esposito’s Italian Christmas, World Wide Women’s Event, and San Jose Dance Theatre. Named San Jose Dance Theatre’s Artistic Director in 2014, Hurkmans helped re-open the doors to the academy and rebuilt it from 0 students to over 100 today, choreographing a full length version of “The Nutcracker”, 25 original works for the school and company, and staging excerpts from the classical ballet repertoire. Hurkmans’ full length production of “The Firebird” debuted to sold out audiences Spring 2019. San Jose Dance Theatre has Open Enrollment in its academy and welcomes dancers age 3 and up to a robust curriculum of Ballet, Men’s Class, Pas de Deux, Modern, Jazz, Character Class, Pilates, Progressing Ballet Technique, and Chinese Tumbling. Please visit www.sjdt.org for more information. Photo: Abhishek Ahluwalia
Jeannine Charles has been dancing, teaching and choreographing professionally for the past 29 years. Early training included years of ballet with Kip Watson (founder of what is now Orlando Ballet) and former New York City ballet dancer and trained in Belgium at Mercador Ballet School affiliated with the London Royal Ballet. She graduated from the University of Washington majoring in Performance/Choreography, receiving Choreography Awards as well as the National Dance Association’s Dance Major of the Year Award. After U.W., Jeannine relocated to the Bay Area and has had the privilege of performing with sjDanceCo (dancer/choreographer), Company Chaddick/SF, Nina Galin Music & Dance, Margaret Wingrove Dance Company, Bih-Tau Sung’s Dancing Sun,, Lisa Burnett and Ehud Krauss among many others. Ms. Charles has taught at Colleges, Universities, and acclaimed dance studios all over the Bay Area, including Zohar Dance Company and School.
Jeannine Charles started her first company in 1995 and evolved this into ArtistEDGE Dance Company. The mission of the company is to find new artistic edges in the creation of dance by collaborating with other artists from other disciplines. These collaborations have included: choreography for Stravinsky’s, ‘A Soldier’s Tale’ with Michel Singher/Espressivo conducting and Daniel Helfgot directing, Paul Davie’s original Opera, ‘Carlota’, Spanish Visual Media Artist, Daniel Canogar in a site specific project at Villa Montalvo, Saratoga, and Stilt Artist and Artisitc Roller Skating Champion, Trey Knight in a project that merged, drama, live music, stilts and dance as well as choreographing the court/assassination scene for Livermore Opera’s Un Ballo en Maschera and collaborating with engineer/inventor Gordon Charles to integrate dance and mobile lighting technology.
Rena Robinson-Steiner, is a professional dancer, teacher and choreographer. Rena has danced with internationally renowned companies including, Dance Theater of Harlem in New York City, Hamburg Ballet in Germany, and Tumbuka Modern Dance Company in Zimbabwe Africa. Along with Rena's professional dance career, she is also a certified massage therapist and yoga instructor. Rena received her Master's in mental health counseling from Sofia University and currently works as a mental health counselor in a local Bay area high school. Rena keeps connected with her first passion of dance by teaching in various dance schools throughout the Bay. Rena is dedicated to utilizing both art and psychology as a means to empower, heal, and inspire.
Alyssa Mitchel, Choreographer and Artistic Director is a San Francisco based dancer, choreographer and teacher. The recipient of a Trustee Merit Scholarship, she earned a B.A. in Liberal Studies/Teacher Preparation with a minor in mathematics from the Dominican University of California, graduating Summa Cum Laude with Honors. She’s also a graduate of the career- bound program at Marin Dance Theatre. Alyssa has danced with Garrett+Moulton Productions, SpectorDance, Peter & Co., eMotion Arts Dance Company, Labayen Dance and SOULSKIN Dance, among others. Her original and collaborative works have been set on several professional Bay Area dancers and companies and she has shown her work at numerous festivals nationwide. In 2018 she was selected as one of six artists for ODC’s competitive Pilot (70) program, a choreographic and production mentorship program for emerging and mid-career Bay Area dance-makers. She was invited back to be the facilitator for Pilot 71 in 2019. Alyssa is the winner of the 2019 Choreography Competition of the International Dance Festival of Silicon Valley. She and lighting designer, Daniel Weiermann are 2019 awardees of the Lighting Artists in Dance Grant for Mitchel’s full-length production, The Classroom which premiered at ODC Studio B in September. Alyssa is also a recipient of the Classical Girl Giving Grant (Fall Quarter 2019). Additionally, Alyssa has been granted residencies and commissions at Bay Pointe Ballet, Moving Arts, LEVYdance, SAFEhouse Arts, Mark Foehringer Dance Project SF and Marin Dance Theatre. Festivals include the Seattle International Dance Festival, PUSHfest, HH11 Dance Festival, San Francisco Movement Arts Festival at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco International Arts Festival, Dance Makers, Dance Mission Choreographer’s Showcase and the Youth American Grande Prix. Alyssa teaches all levels of contemporary dance, choreography, ballet, and core strength. She’s a devoted math, reading, writing, test prep and study skills tutor for students ranging from elementary school through college. For more information, visit: http://alyssaevemitchel.weebly.com
Marika Brussel is a contemporary choreographer working in the ballet genre. Informed by her background as a fiction writer, she utilizes storytelling in her dance-making. She tells contemporary stories through ballet, showing our inter-connectedness and equity as humans, from country to country, class to class, and generation to generation. Her work has explored myths, plays, and personal stories such as Unraveling, a ballet about dementia. From Shadows: A ballet about homelessness, premiered in October 2017, to sold out audiences in San Francisco. Her ballet, Still Time For Impossible, looked at the climate crisis. Her ballets have been commissioned by ARC Dance, Columbia Repertory Ballet, Bay Pointe Ballet, Emote Dance Theater, Berkeley Ballet Theater, and Ballet Theater of New Mexico. She has shown work at festivals around the country, including Dancing in the Park, Oakland Dances, West Wave, Brooklyn Ballet’s First Look, PushFest, Spectordance and SJChoreoFest. Marika has held residencies at the Dresher Ensemble Residency, Moving Arts SF and SAFEhouse Arts. She has twice been part of ODC's Pilot Project, and was a choreographer in Doug Varone's Devices 5. Her other awards include two Fleishhacker Opportunity Grants and a grant from The Classical Girl. Marika is a 2019 recipient of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts Fellowship for Contemporary Ballet. House of Names will premiere in full at ODC Theater in April 2020. Photo: Jared Freeman
Directed by Mariana Sobral, eMotion Arts exists to create and showcase a cohesive body of work that highlights and celebrates Oneness by bringing together dancers and artists. The Company embraces diversity by incorporating different dance styles and artistic visions, and it creates an inclusive space where dancers and choreographers collaborate to bring their artistic visions to life. Our creative process incorporates collaborations with musicians, guest choreographers, and educators. This approach makes the Company a place where its members can further their artistic development and nurture their own Artistic Voice. Photo: Kyle Adler
Info coming soon
Zohar is excited to present this wonderful line up of artists at its 4th Performance Series on Saturday, July 20 at 8:00pm. This program will be an amazing mix of ballet, contemporary, modern, and jazz!
Get your ticket now! Previous performances have sold out in advance.
Reginald Ray-Savage began dancing at Katherine Dunham's Performing Arts Training Center in East St. Louis, IL, where he studied ballet, tap, jazz, and Dunham technique, with such outstanding Dunham company alumni as Norman Davis, Lenwood Morris, and his mentor Archie Savage. His training with these legendary dancers has informed his teach
Reginald Ray-Savage began dancing at Katherine Dunham's Performing Arts Training Center in East St. Louis, IL, where he studied ballet, tap, jazz, and Dunham technique, with such outstanding Dunham company alumni as Norman Davis, Lenwood Morris, and his mentor Archie Savage. His training with these legendary dancers has informed his teaching style and choreography. Mr. Savage began his professional dance career with the Katherine Dunham Dance Company. He moved to Chicago where he danced in several companies including Joel Hall Dance Company, Ruth Page Ballet Chicago, and Lyric Opera, as well as touring productions of "Music Man" and "A Chorus Line".
Mr. Savage came to California in 1989 and founded Savage Jazz Dance Company (SJDC) in 1992. Since then, he has produced a career’s worth of exceptional dances that respond to, spring from, and are inspired by the intentions, energy, and rich cultural heritage of jazz music. The spirit of jazz is the foundation for the company’s existence. Driven by the vision of Mr. Savage, and realized by the commitment of the company’s exceptional dancers, SJDC’s movement is defined by three primary beliefs: the importance of disciplined, technical dance training, rooted in classical ballet and modern techniques; the willingness to give into the rich artistic expression of music, in all forms; and, last but not least, ENERGY. And it is these same beliefs that inform Mr. Savage’s teaching style and daily practice. Since its founding, the company has produced more than 100 new works, choreographed by Mr. Savage, and guest choreographers. In addition to their annual home season, SJDC continues to tour the US, conducting residencies and concert performances. Notable engagements include SJDC’s performance at Casa del Jazz in Rome, Italy in 2006; it was the first dance company to receive such an invitation, performing to a packed house and rave reviews. In 2003, SJDC was invited to perform at the Jazz Dance World Congress at NYU Buffalo. And SJDC was a resident company in the Lincoln Center Institute’s Aesthetic Education Program in Bay Area schools offered through the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts.
Through his work with Savage Jazz Dance Company and his teaching practice, Mr. Savage’s contributions to the arts and dance have been recognized in multiple ways. In 1993, Mr. Savage was awarded the Creative Artists Fellowship in Choreography from the City of Oakland. Mr. Savage was also distinguished with a 2001 GOLDIE Award by the San Francisco Bay Guardian for outstanding contribution to the arts. SJDC has also had the honor of being nominated for several IZZIEs (Isadora Duncan Dance Awards): in 2003 for Company Performance for its entire 2002 season at the Cowell Theater (SF) and in 2007 for Individual Performance by Principle SJDC Dancer, Alison Hurley, in SJDC's 2006 performances at ODC Theater (SF), and, most recently, in 2013 for Outstanding Achievement in Performance for the Company’s work at the Black Choreographers Festival at Laney College (Oakland) in 2012. Photo: Tracy Martin, Mark Kitaoka, Tracy Martin
Linda Hurkmans, M.A.
Artistic Director, San Jose Dance Theatre
As a child, Linda Hurkmans was given detailed Vaganova training from Connie Schwarze and performed for San José Dance Theatre. She was then heavily mentored by Larissa Sklyanskaya (Soloist with Bolshoi Ballet), Natasha Papina (Soloist with Kirov Ballet, and the 1st ballet partne
Linda Hurkmans, M.A.
Artistic Director, San Jose Dance Theatre
As a child, Linda Hurkmans was given detailed Vaganova training from Connie Schwarze and performed for San José Dance Theatre. She was then heavily mentored by Larissa Sklyanskaya (Soloist with Bolshoi Ballet), Natasha Papina (Soloist with Kirov Ballet, and the 1st ballet partner of Mikhail Baryshnikov), Benjamin Harkarvy, and Conrad Ludlow (Principal Dancer with New York City Ballet). Hurkmans received full scholarships to Pacific Northwest Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, and at the age of 16, a full scholarship to the University of Utah Ballet Dept. She danced professionally with The Royal Danish Ballet, the Utah Ballet/Ballet West, The Norwegian Andanse Ballet, Zahkraz Dance, and The Norwegian National Ballet in conjunction with The Year of Dance in Norway and the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. She competed in the 72 country ITI International Ballet Competition in Helsinki, Finland, 1991, and appeared in the CBS Mini-Series “At Mother’s Request” starring Stefanie Powers. Linda Hurkmans holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts, Cum Laude, in Ballet Performance from Univ. of Utah, a Master’s Degree in Psychology from the Notre Dame de Namur University, and full Pilates certifications in Pilates Mat and Apparatus from Turning Pointe Studios and the PhysicalMind Institute. She has taught youth, pre-professional, adult ballet dancers and Pilates students for 18 years in Europe and in the U.S. and at Stanford University and Santa Clara University, where she helped found the Pilates program for dancers and athletes. Hurkmans’ choreography has been performed at the Norwegian State Ballet, Western Ballet, Zohar Dance. In 2014, Hurkmans was named the Artistic Director of San Jose Dance Theatre and helped re-open the doors to the academy and rebuilt it from 0 students to over 100 today. She has choreographed a full length version of “The Nutcracker”, 20 original works for the school and company and has staged "La Bayadere Kingdom of the Shades:, "White Swan Pas de Deux", "Swan Lake Four Little Swans",“Swan Lake Pas de Trois”, “Le Corsaire Pas de Deux”, “Paquita Grand Pas Classique” and more. Hurkmans has overseen San Jose Dance Theatre’s collaborations with Margaret Wingrove’s Dance Co., with Foothill College, and performances at SjDANCE Co. Festival, the Montalvo Arts Center, Santana Row Tree Lighting Event, World Wide Women's Festival at Santa Clara University, San Francisco Movement Arts Festival, and the San Jose Center for Performing Arts. On May 25, 2019, San Jose Dance Theatre will premier Linda Hurkmans' new full length "Firebird" at the Hammer Theatre in San Jose. Photo: Pankaj Bhargava
Launched in early 2011, Menlowe Ballet has performed fourteen successful seasons achieving critical acclaim and ardent audience response. The founders collectively recognized an opportunity to bring a new choreographic voice to the dance canvas on the Peninsula, as well as address an underserved local community in professional performing
Launched in early 2011, Menlowe Ballet has performed fourteen successful seasons achieving critical acclaim and ardent audience response. The founders collectively recognized an opportunity to bring a new choreographic voice to the dance canvas on the Peninsula, as well as address an underserved local community in professional performing arts offerings. Artistic Director, Michael Lowe, has long been a fixture in the ballet world, most notably for his work with Oakland Ballet. Michael brings a rich history and perspective to his work - a principal dancer with Oakland Ballet for three decades, a choreographer for the company in his retirement, culminating in the Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Choreography for his ballet Bamboo. His unique choreographic strengths are evident in his contemporary and cultural ballets, featured in each Menlowe Ballet season.
“Menlowe Ballet is a professional ballet company performing work that impacts Bay Area audiences through exceptional dance and stirring, innovative choreography. The company’s repertoire encompasses cultural, classical, and contemporary styles.”
Menlowe Ballet is a professional ballet company performing work that impacts Bay Area audiences through exceptional dance and stirring, innovative choreography. The company’s repertoire encompasses cultural, classical, and contemporary styles. One of Menlowe Ballet’s core values is to continue the tradition of passing dance on from one generation to the next – artist to artist. To that end, aspiring students from Menlowe Ballet’s official school, the Menlo Park Academy of Dance, regularly perform in company productions.
Since our debut in November 2011, Menlowe Ballet has dazzled local audiences with the following: eleven world premieres by Michael Lowe as well as four reprisals of his most beloved works; world premieres by renowned guest choreographers Betsy Erickson of San Francisco Ballet, Viktor Kabaniaev, and Reginald Ray-Savage of Savage Jazz Dance, Val Caniparoli of San Francisco Ballet, Gregory Dawson of dawsondancesf.
Born in Oakland and raised in Alameda, Michael Lowe was encouraged at an early age to explore the joy and discipline of classical ballet to augment his coordination and strength in athletics. With his first dance lesson, his love for music found a counterpart with his natural agility, leading to a career path. Michael joined the Oakland Ballet in 1974 and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 1976 with his debut as Alias in Billy the Kid. A scholarship student at Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in New York City, Lowe also performed with Pacific Ballet Company, Gilbert Reed Ballet Company, Los Angeles Chamber Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, North Dakota Ballet and the Old Souls New Shoes Dance Company under Mark Morris. Michael worked with such legendary choreographers as Agnes de Mille, John Butler, Leonide Massine, Frederic Franklin, Anna Sokolow, Betsy Erickson, Willem Christensen and Ronn Guidi. In 1989, he recreated the role of Beau Gosse for Oakland Ballet’s historical reconstruction of Bronislava Nijinska’s Le Train Bleu.
During and after his performing career, Lowe revealed himself to be a gifted choreographer. He created a number of striking ballets for Oakland Ballet including Table for Two, Witness, The Emperor and the Nightingale, Dim Sum, Double Happiness, and Bamboo, for which he received an Isadora Duncan Award for Best Choreography. Most recently, Mr. Lowe was invited to choreograph a world premiere for Oakland Ballet’s 50th Anniversary celebration. In addition to his choreographic accomplishments, Michael has assumed artistic leadership positions with ballet companies including Oakland Ballet, Peninsula Ballet, Black Diamond Ballet, and he served as Resident Choreographer for Moving Arts Dance.
As Founding Artistic Director of Menlowe Ballet, Mr. Lowe has given his own company a number of beautiful works to perform including Plague, Chuntian, Cirque, Serei, Surfside, Tribute, Transcendence, Legend of the Seven Suns, Playing Love, After Hours, Facets, The Lady with the Lamp and Kimono Wednesdays, as well as the company’s first full length ballet, It’s a Wonderful Nutcracker.
eMotion Arts Dance Co is a Bay Area-based dance company with the mission of spreading a message of Oneness through Dance. Directed by Mariana Sobral, the Company’s goal is to create and showcase a cohesive body of work that highlights and celebrates Oneness by bringing together dancers, artists, and their unique styles. Embracing divers
eMotion Arts Dance Co is a Bay Area-based dance company with the mission of spreading a message of Oneness through Dance. Directed by Mariana Sobral, the Company’s goal is to create and showcase a cohesive body of work that highlights and celebrates Oneness by bringing together dancers, artists, and their unique styles. Embracing diversity by incorporating different dance styles and artistic visions, we want to create an inclusive space where dancers and choreographers collaborate to bring their creations to life. Our creative process incorporates collaborations with musicians, guest choreographers, and educators. This makes the Company a place where its members can further their artistic development, develop their own Artistic Voice.
Mariana Sobral is the Artistic Director of eMotion Arts Dance Co. Born in Argentina, her career as Soloist and Principal Dancer include roles in classical and contemporary works. Upon moving to the USA, Mariana developed Ballet programs and created award-winning choreographies for studios and companies through the Bay Area, teaching ballet and directing students of all ages and experience levels. As a choreographer her work has been seen in San Francisco as part of the RAW Artist residence at SAFEhouse Arts, West Wave Dance Festival. SPF12, San Francisco Movement Arts Festival, San Francisco International Dance Festival,The DanceWright Project, Zohar Performance Series, and PUSHfest to name a few.
Dacia Biletnikoff was born and raised in California, USA.
She attended London Contemporary Dance School, The Place. For three years she studied modern dance, improvisation, and choreography to receive her Bachelors of Arts in Contemporary Dance with First Class Honours. After graduation, she continued choreography and performance in Bolog
Dacia Biletnikoff was born and raised in California, USA.
She attended London Contemporary Dance School, The Place. For three years she studied modern dance, improvisation, and choreography to receive her Bachelors of Arts in Contemporary Dance with First Class Honours. After graduation, she continued choreography and performance in Bologna, Italy at Arts Factory International, directed by Brigel Gjoka and Mattia Gandini. Here she studied with dancers from the William Forsythe Company and Wim Vandekeybus/ Ultima Vez. From there, she accepted an apprenticeship with Carabdanza in Madrid, Spain, performing for nine months.
Returning to California in 2015, she has now worked and performed with Capacitor, Chadash Contemporary Dance, Ballet Novita, and Nhan Ho Project. As well as, performing as a soloist and choreographing throughout California. Dacia’s passion and research in dance is driven by her fascination and love for movement and the connection it provides in healing the body and mind.
Founded in 2005, the Natasha Carlitz Dance Ensemble performs powerful modern dance choreography addressing themes ranging from abstract mathematical concepts and verbal games to the physical puzzles posed by unusual spaces. Athletic and spirited, the dancers bring both strong technique and emotional depth to their performances. In 2010,
Founded in 2005, the Natasha Carlitz Dance Ensemble performs powerful modern dance choreography addressing themes ranging from abstract mathematical concepts and verbal games to the physical puzzles posed by unusual spaces. Athletic and spirited, the dancers bring both strong technique and emotional depth to their performances. In 2010, NCDE was invited to represent the United States at the Egyptian International Modern Dance Festival, during which Natasha led a modern master class with Egypt's national dance company and NCDE performed evening-length concerts in Cairo and Alexandria. The Dance Ensemble uses a wide variety of music, from classical to rock, and for its inaugural concert in 2006 collaborated with the California Guitar Trio, internationally acclaimed musicians. Tonight’s pieces both feature commissioned scores by contemporary composers, written for NCDE’s 2019 concert, “Metamorphoses.” Natasha Carlitz began her dance training in Palo Alto forty years ago with Grace Butler, a former Nikolais dancer, and performed as a child and young adult with CHORD (Children's Original Repertory Dance) and SMDC (the Saturday Morning Dance Company). She has studied dance in London, Amsterdam, Massachusetts, and Maine—including improvisation and choreography workshops with Pilobolus founder Jonathan Wolken—and, most recently, experienced aerial dance in the Sierras with Project Bandaloop. For the past twenty years, Natasha has choreographed and performed around the Bay Area, contributing repertory to the collective High Release Dance as well as to NCDE. Photo: Sasakthi Abeysinghe
Lauren Baines Dance/Theatre utilizes movement as a point of departure to examine universal and personal truths, questions, and stories. We are storytellers, but we avoid direct narrative in favor of abstraction and nuance. Authenticity is key to our practice as we strive to create works that resonate with us as individuals. Dances origina
Lauren Baines Dance/Theatre utilizes movement as a point of departure to examine universal and personal truths, questions, and stories. We are storytellers, but we avoid direct narrative in favor of abstraction and nuance. Authenticity is key to our practice as we strive to create works that resonate with us as individuals. Dances originate from research and discussion, developing in an environment that values movement invention and individual expression in a technically challenging landscape that navigates between precision and rawness. Invested in collaborative and interdisciplinary processes, we create works of modern dance that incorporate diverse artistic disciplines and emerge through rich investigations between artists. Issues of communication, loss, memory, perception, and identity guide our body of work as we explore, reflect, and question multiple aspects of the human experience in pieces ranging from pure dance to dance theatre and site dance. Photo: Robert Schultze
Toni Shindler-Ruberg is a pre-professional ballet student currently training at Pacific Ballet Academy in Mountain View. She has attended various summer courses including Royal Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet School, Joffrey Ballet, and the School of American Ballet. She performed many lead roles in her school’s performances s
Toni Shindler-Ruberg is a pre-professional ballet student currently training at Pacific Ballet Academy in Mountain View. She has attended various summer courses including Royal Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet School, Joffrey Ballet, and the School of American Ballet. She performed many lead roles in her school’s performances such as Sugarplum Fairy, Snow Queen, Dewdrop Fairy, and La Bayadère Grand Pas. In 2018, she placed in the top three of Youth America Grand Prix’s senior women contemporary finalists. While primarily a ballet dancer, Toni enjoys exploring different styles of dance and seeks to push the limits of her own experience. Follow her dancing on Instagram @tsr_dance.
Photo: Al Ponce
No Strings Attached Dance Company Directed by Lissa Resnick, a Harness award-winning choreographer, the company was founded in Los Angeles and expanded to the SF Bay Area in 2013. Lissa links ballet technique with contemporary dance and theater. The company's work has been featured throughout California including at ODC PUSHfest, where
No Strings Attached Dance Company Directed by Lissa Resnick, a Harness award-winning choreographer, the company was founded in Los Angeles and expanded to the SF Bay Area in 2013. Lissa links ballet technique with contemporary dance and theater. The company's work has been featured throughout California including at ODC PUSHfest, where they received the 2018 Audience Choice Award, Djerrasi Women Ballet Choreographer's Residency, Z Space, sjDANCEco, North Hollywood's El Portal Theater, and named LA Weekly's "Top Five Dance Shows This Week". As a co-founder of Art Moves Project (AMP), an East Bay public art generator, Lissa has brought No Strings Attached Dance Company into AMP as resident dance company. In 2019, No Strings will be featured in Art Moves Project's new work, recently awarded the 2019 California Arts Council Artists in Communities Grant. Please visit lissaresnick.com for more information. Photo: Lynne Fried
Zann Aeck, a native Houstonian began her formal dance training with Patsy Swayze but after a few years, narrowed her focus to train professionally as an apprentice for the Greater Houston Civic Ballet. Zann started her Modern dance training as a student at the High School for the Performing Arts and continued her study first at the Unive
Zann Aeck, a native Houstonian began her formal dance training with Patsy Swayze but after a few years, narrowed her focus to train professionally as an apprentice for the Greater Houston Civic Ballet. Zann started her Modern dance training as a student at the High School for the Performing Arts and continued her study first at the University of Houston and then Southern Methodist University where she received her BA. During this time she was performing with Texas-based companies such as Joan Karff’s New Dance Group. Zann now lives in the Bay Area and has danced or studied with Jeannine Charles, Gary Masters, Maria Basile, Bih-Tau Sung, Natasha Carlitz, and Cheryl Chaddick. Zann currently teaches modern dance at DanceVisions in Palo Alto and has choreographed select pieces over the years for both DanceVisions as well as Jeannine Charles. Zann has studied many modern dance techniques from Martha Graham to Jose Limon and over the years has incorporated essential elements from each to expose students to the full range of modern movement styles including improvisational dance and kinesiology.
Founded in 2002 by Marcie Ryken, Los Gatos Ballet is dedicated to providing excellence in training in a nurturing environment. Through our established levels and Curriculum, we support and challenge our dancers in their physical, mental, artistic and emotional development.
The Youth Program is enrollment-based for ages 4 to 20 yrs. Th
Founded in 2002 by Marcie Ryken, Los Gatos Ballet is dedicated to providing excellence in training in a nurturing environment. Through our established levels and Curriculum, we support and challenge our dancers in their physical, mental, artistic and emotional development.
The Youth Program is enrollment-based for ages 4 to 20 yrs. This is a pre-professional division and is a closed program to ensure consistency in messaging, pedagogy and training principles. Those enrolled are expected to maintain consistency in attendance and participate in LGB productions, as both are vital to the artistic and technical development. We also offer the Allegro Program to those in the Upper Division who are pursuing a career in dance or simply desiring to go above and beyond. The Open Program offers drop-in classes for teens and adults who need more flexibility of time and commitment level. Both programs are eligible for high-quality performance opportunities.
Photo: Annarose Monroe Photography
Jen Costillo has performed and choreographed in the Bay Area for over a decade. In that time she has explored contemporary dance techniques with Jeannine Charles, Raissa Simpson, and FactSF summer intensive, as well as contemporary ballet with Rika Onizuka. She continues to extend her decades of ballet training under Rika Onizuka, Linda
Jen Costillo has performed and choreographed in the Bay Area for over a decade. In that time she has explored contemporary dance techniques with Jeannine Charles, Raissa Simpson, and FactSF summer intensive, as well as contemporary ballet with Rika Onizuka. She continues to extend her decades of ballet training under Rika Onizuka, Linda Rickert and Kim Gardener. She is a former member of the dance collective High Release Dance, where her choreography explores topics relating to technology and social change through the use of wearables, electronics and music collaboration. She has been a both a performing and choreographic member of the Natasha Carlitz Dance Ensemble (NCDE) since 2009 including the successful 2010 tour of Egypt as part of the Egyptian Modern Dance Festival. Her guest appearances include Nutcracker’s Drosselmeyer and Raul Salamanca’s contemporary ballet pieces. Costillo served on the founding board of directors for Push Dance Company is San Francisco. In 2019, she was award SJDanceCo’s Choreoproject Award for “Optional.” Photo: Yaron Kidron
Zohar Performance Series presents its 3rd installment: Dance Around the World. Take a trip with us to Africa, China, the Middle East, Mexico, South America and the Republic of Georgia as our featured performers celebrate dance across cultures. Ballet Folklorico Nube de Oro, Foley Dance, Aguas Dance Company, Eugenia Levallois, eMotion Arts, Monsoon Dance Company, Selina Chih, Students of Mona Khan Company and Erwin Columbus bring their rich and diverse work to create an evening that will sate the hungriest of cultural appetites. Come celebrate the physically dynamic and powerful dance from around the world.
Make a donation to support our performances. Zohar is a non-profit 501(c)3 and contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Tickets are now available on Eventbrite. We sold out for our last 2 performances, so get your tickets early!
Erik Noel Diaz was born in Zacatecas, Mexico, where his love for Mexican folklore began as a child. He began training in Mexican folk dance at an early age with a local group, Ballet Folklórico de Zacatecas. Following, he trained with the prestigious Folklorico dance groups Compañía Estatal de Danza Folclórica Zacatecas (under the direction of Maestro Cesar Lara) and Ballet Folclórico Nacional de México Aztlán (under the direction of Silvia Lozano) in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Erik feels this training opened his eyes towards diversity, and the learning of techniques in Folklórico and other dance forms.
Erik moved to California and began his field as an instructor and choreographed for companies and local groups, which include Ballet Folklórico Anáuac, Modesto; Folklorico Aztlan de Sacramento, Sacramento; Ballet Folklórico Netzahualcoyotl, San Rafael; Ballet Folklorico Las Estrellas, Hayward; and Grandeza Mexicana Folk Ballet Company, Los Angeles. In 2011, he visited Mexico and choreographed pieces for Ballet Folklórico Nawezari and El Estado de Zacatecas, and was honored to serve as a judge for the Colegio de Bachilleres contest in Mexico.
He has had the honor of training with top directors and choreographers, such as Jose Vences, Director of Grandeza Mexicana Folk Ballet Company; Zenón Barrón, Director of Instituto Mazatlán de Bellas Artes and Ensambles Ballet Folkórico de San Francisco; César Lara Bañuelos, Director of Compañía Estatal de Danza Folclórica Zacatecas; César Alejandro Orta, Director of Ballet Folklórico Nawezari, Chihuahua, Mexico.
He choreographed dance pieces in 2011 and 2013 for one of the most prestigious festivals in the U.S.-- the San Fransisco Ethnic Dance Festival-- taking the dance troupes onto the stages of San Francisco. He has attended many Danzantes Unidos Festivals, both as a student and as an instructor. In 2014, he began instructing for Danzantes del Alma, UC Davis. In 2015, he began instructing Ballet Folklórico Nube de Oro and choreographed and directed the piece "Una Noche en Chihuahua," which bestowed Nube de Oro with an invitation to perform at the Palace of Fine Arts for the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival in June 2016. Erik accepted to become the Artistic Director of Ballet Folklorico Nube de Oro in 2017.
His passion for and background in Folkórico has earned him recognition and an appreciation by those with whom he works.
At present, Eugenia continues giving classes to her students; she also leads seminars in different institutions and is constantly called to examine at schools.
She defines herself as “a passionate dancer who can’t imagine life without dancing”.
Mariana Sobral began her study of ballet at "Escuela Nacional de Danzas" in Argentina. Her performance experience includes Principal Dancer and Soloist in many traditional classical, and contemporary ballet works like "Giselle”, "The Sleeping Beauty", "Coppelia”, “La Bayadere”, and “Who Cares?” among many others.
Over the years Mariana developed Ballet programs and created award-winning choreography for many studios in the Bay Area. She also taught ballet & directed students of all ages and experience levels for Ballet San Jose School (now New Ballet School), Bay Area Dance School, Santa Clara Ballet, South Bay Dance Center, Pacific Ballet Academy, Peninsula Ballet Theater, and San Jose State University to name a few.
Her choreographic work has earned her many choreography awards. Described as "an ethereal movement with a strong ballet influence" as well as "musical and moving". "She is a storyteller that likes to bring human emotions into her narrative". The goal of eMotion Arts is to guide dancers to realize what shapes their Artistic Vision, their individual and unique style, their "voice".
Karishma Sharma founded Monsoon Dance Company in 2008 where she brings a unique perspective in exploring dance stories through Indian classical and folk dance forms in a contemporary light. Karishma is a classically trained Kathak dancer and is also part of her teacher's company Prashant Shah & Dancers. She recently toured in Switzerland for her first Kathak ensemble performance.
Selina Chih received her dance specialist certificate from West Valley College, focused on ballet, modern, jazz and ballroom dance, Selina Chih has been inspired by her master teachers Gary Masters, Fred Matthews, Maria Basile, Jeannine Charles, Bihtau Sung and many more. Chih has delivered numerous memorable dance pieces in her career, both as a dancer and a choreographer. She has also landed roles as featured dancer in several musical productions and in films. As a certified special needed dance instructor, she's the founder of FCSN (Friends of Children with Special Needs) Dancin' Star where she teaches, choreographs and performs with her students.
Mona Khan Company Quarterly Classes: Bollywood dance is a richly woven tapestry with its roots in ancient Indian history, pop culture and global influences. It’s not just one specific style of dance, but an amalgamation of many dance styles. We bring you Bollywood dance that is truly finessed, elevated and redefined. The essence and style of songs and medleys are beautifully translated into movement and choreography. We often incorporate elements of Contemporary, Jazz, Hip Hop and Latin dance styles to create unique fusions of the East and West, set against the background of traditional folk and classical South Asian dance forms such as Kathak, Bharatnatyam, Raas/Garba and Bhangra.
Tania Santiago, a native of Salvador, Bahia, founded Aguas Dance Company in 1999 and has been teaching Afro Brazilian dance to all ages throughout the Bay Area since 1997. She leads annual dance intensives to Salvador each winter and for the past 10 years has had an award winning contingent at the SF Carnaval Parade each spring. She is available for performances, collaborations, choreography consulting, workshops and Brazil trip consultation/leading. You can find her teaching at ODC/ Rhythm and Motion studios Tuesday's and Thursday at 8:15 pm and Saturday's at 10:00 .
Vakhtangi Ioseliani (Vakho), born in the Republic of Georgia began his formal dance training at the age of six and performed for 12 years with the Georgian Folk Dance Ensemble, “Imedi”. He then had the great pleasure of touring world-wide with the renowned "Sukhishvili National Ballet Company" as a company soloist for 6 years. Vakho has been living in the U.S. since 2013. He teaches Georgian dance in the Bay Area and is Co-Choreographer of The Foley Project.
Featuring established to emerging classical artists from San Jose to San Francisco.
ABOUT
Zohar Performance Series is proud to present the second show in our Series: The Ballet Spectrum: Classical to Contemporary featuring the exquisitely refined eMotion Arts, Margaret Wingrove Dance Company, Mark Foehringer Dance Project | SF, Menlowe Ballet, San Jose Dance Theatre, The New Ballet, and Mario Barron.
Come experience an elegant and intimate evening as we get up close and personal with exceptionally talented classical and contemporary artists, get a first look at some of their newest work, and discover where to see them next.
Saturday, November 10, 2018
8:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Zohar Performance Space | 4000 Middlefield Road L4 | Palo Alto
Photo: Mark Foehringer Dance Project|SF
Photo Credit: Matt Haber
Dalia Rawson is the Executive Director of The New Ballet Studio Company and The New Ballet School - San Jose. From 1991 to 2006, Dalia Rawson performed a wide variety of leading roles as a dancer with Ballet San Jose. Rawson began teaching at BSJ School in 2000, and was named Ballet Mistress in 2007, Principal in 2012, and Director in 2014. In 2013 Rawson was awarded a Fellowship from the New York Choreographic Institute, an affiliate of New York City Ballet. An ABT Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 7 of the ABT National Training Curriculum, Rawson is also a member of the ABT Artistic Board of Examiners. In 2016, Rawson’s production of The San Jose Nutcracker premiered to sold out houses and critical acclaim. About the work, Tad Malone of The San Jose Metro said, “Ultimately, this show’s captivating success comes down to the meticulous and inspired vision of The New Ballet School’s executive director and choreographer, Dalia Rawson. The routines were intricate, graceful - oftentimes unfurling into each other in remarkably fluid transition.”
Photo credit: Chris Conroy
Audience Choice Award PUSHfest 2018 and Harkness award-winning choreographer Lissa Resnick founded No Strings Attached Dance Company in 2012 in Los Angeles, expanding to the SF Bay Area in 2013. With an emphasis on creating vital works though collaboration, Resnick links ballet technique with contemporary dance, theater, and art. LA Weekly hailed the company’s art/dance collaborations as one of the ‘Top Five Dance Shows This Week’. The company has been featured in venues and curated series throughout California, including Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and San Francisco. Visit www.lissaresnick.com for more info and upcoming performances.
Photo: Lynne Fried
Mariana Sobral began her study of ballet at "Escuela Nacional de Danzas" in Argentina. Her performance experience includes Principal Dancer and Soloist in many traditional classical, and contemporary ballet works like "Giselle”, "The Sleeping Beauty", "Coppelia”, “La Bayadere”, and “Who Cares?” among many others.
Over the years Mariana developed Ballet programs and created award-winning choreography for many studios in the Bay Area. She also taught ballet and directed students of all ages and experience levels for Ballet San Jose School (now New Ballet School), Bay Area Dance School, Santa Clara Ballet, South Bay Dance Center, Pacific Ballet Academy, Peninsula Ballet Theater, and San Jose State University to name a few.
Her choreographic work has earned her many choreography awards. Described as "an ethereal movement with a strong ballet influence" as well as "musical and moving". "She is a storyteller that likes to bring human emotions into her narrative". The goal of eMotion Arts is to guide dancers to realize what shapes their Artistic Vision, their individual and unique style, their "voice".
Photo credit: Kyle Adler
Margaret Wingrove is the founder and Artistic Director of Margaret Wingrove Dance Company (MWDC) and has created commissioned works for Palo Alto Ballet, Berkeley Ballet, sjDANCEco ,San Jose Taiko, Opera San Jose,and the Symphony Silicon Valley. She holds a Bachelor’s in Dance from San Jose State University, a Master’s from University of San Francisco, trained with Richard Gibson and at San Francisco Ballet and performed and studied extensively on both the east and west coasts with modern dancers Paul Sanasardo, Norman Walker and Lucas Hoving. Her original work, Shatterings, created in tribute to her son, John, who died of AIDS in 1989, appeared at Flint Center on the televised Timpany Center’s" A Celebration of Courage" and the Names Project at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Her works have also been selected to be presented at Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts, David Howard Showcase in NYC, San Francisco Dance Festival at Herbst Theatre, and seven of her original works have been performed across England. In 1993, Wingrove received the Women of Achievement Award for the Arts and in 1998 was honored by SJSU’s School of Music and Dance for her Contributions to the Field of Dance. She was honored to be the recipient of Silicon Valley Creates (formally Arts Council of Silicon Valley) 2009 Fellowship Award for Choreography. In 2016, Wingrove celebrated 35 years as Artistic Director of MWDC and, to date, has created 130 original works for her company.
Photo credit: Dave Lepor
Linda Hurkmans, M.A.
Artistic Director, San Jose Dance Theatre
As a child, Linda Hurkmans was given detailed Vaganova training from Connie Schwarze and performed for San José Dance Theatre. She was then heavily mentored by Larissa Sklyanskaya (Soloist with Bolshoi Ballet), Natasha Papina (Soloist with Kirov Ballet, and the 1st ballet partner of Mikhail Baryshnikov), Benjamin Harkarvy, and Conrad Ludlow (Principal Dancer with New York City Ballet). Hurkmans received full scholarships to Pacific Northwest Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, and at the age of 16, a full scholarship to the University of Utah Ballet Dept. She danced professionally with The Royal Danish Ballet, the Utah Ballet/Ballet West, The Norwegian Andanse Ballet, Zahkraz Dance, and The Norwegian National Ballet in conjunction with The Year of Dance in Norway and the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. She competed in the 72 country ITI International Ballet Competition in Helsinki, Finland, 1991, and appeared in the CBS Mini-Series “At Mother’s Request” starring Stefanie Powers. Linda Hurkmans holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts, Cum Laude, in Ballet Performance from Univ. of Utah, a Master’s Degree in Psychology from the Notre Dame de Namur University, and full Pilates certifications in Pilates Mat and Apparatus from Turning Pointe Studios and the PhysicalMind Institute. She has taught youth, pre-professional, adult ballet dancers and Pilates students for 18 years in Europe and in the U.S. and at Stanford University and Santa Clara University, where she helped found the Pilates program for dancers and athletes. Hurkmans’ choreography has been performed at the Norwegian State Ballet, Western Ballet, Zohar Dance. In 2014, Hurkmans was named the Artistic Director of San Jose Dance Theatre and helped re-open the doors to the academy and rebuilt it from 0 students to over 100 today. She has choreographed a full length version of “The Nutcracker”, 20 original works for the school and company and has staged "La Bayadere Kingdom of the Shades:, "White Swan Pas de Deux", "Swan Lake Four Little Swans",“Swan Lake Pas de Trois”, “Le Corsaire Pas de Deux”, “Paquita Grand Pas Classique” and more. Hurkmans has overseen San Jose Dance Theatre’s collaborations with Margaret Wingrove’s Dance Co., with Foothill College, and performances at SjDANCE Co. Festival, the Montalvo Arts Center, Santana Row Tree Lighting Event, World Wide Women's Festival at Santa Clara University, San Francisco Movement Arts Festival, and the San Jose Center for Performing Arts. On May 25, 2019, San Jose Dance Theatre will premier Linda Hurkmans' new full length "Firebird" at the Hammer Theatre in San Jose.
Mark Foehringer Dance Project|SF (MFDP|SF) serves as a
catalyst for professional level contemporary dance. Enriched by this collaborative process, MFDP|SF seeks to present diverse original dance work to a variety of communities on an annual basis. We focus on three areas of dance; producing and performing the works of Mark Foehringer, presenting works by other choreographers through Dancing in the Park and other dance events and dance education through our apprenticeship program and Young Choreographer’s Forum.
Photo credit: Matt Haber
Born in Oakland and raised in Alameda, Michael Lowe was encouraged at an early age to explore the joy and discipline of classical ballet to augment his coordination and strength in athletics. With his first dance lesson, his love for music found a counterpart with his natural agility, leading to a care path. Michael joined the Oakland Ballet in 1974 and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 1976 with his debut as Alias in Billy the Kid. A scholarship student at Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in New York City, Lowe also performed with Pacific Ballet Company, Gilbert Reed Ballet Company, Los Angeles Chamber Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, North Dakota Ballet and the Old Souls New Shoes Dance Company under Mark Morris. Michael worked with such legendary choreographers as Agnes de Mille, John Butler, Leonide Massine, Frederic Franklin, Anna Sokolow, Betsy Erickson, Willem Christensen and Ronn Guidi. In 1989, he recreated the role of Beau Gosse for Oakland Ballet’s historical reconstruction of Bronislava Nijinska’s Le Train Bleu.
During and after his performing career, Lowe revealed himself to be a gifted choreographer. He created a number of striking ballets for Oakland Ballet including Table for Two, Witness, The Emperor and the Nightingale, Dim Sum, Double Happiness, and Bamboo, for which he received an Isadora Duncan Award for Best Choreography. More recently, Mr. Lowe was invited to choreograph a world premiere for Oakland Ballet’s 50th Anniversary celebration. In addition to his choreographic accomplishments, Michael has assumed artistic leadership positions with ballet companies including Oakland Ballet, Peninsula Ballet, Black Diamond Ballet, and he served as Resident Choreographer for Moving Arts Dance.
As founding Artistic Director of Menlowe Ballet, Mr. Lowe has given his own company a number of stunning works to perform including Plague, Chuntian, Cirque, Serei, Tribute, Transcendence, Legend of the Seven Suns, Playing Love, Jin Ji and After Hours, as well as the company’s full-length ballet It’s a Wonderful Nutcracker.
Launched in early 2011, Menlowe Ballet has performed fourteen successful seasons achieving critical acclaim and ardent audience response. The founders collectively recognized an opportunity to bring a new choreographic voice to the dance canvas on the Peninsula, as well as address an underserved local community in professional performing arts offerings. Artistic Director, Michael Lowe, has long been a fixture in the ballet world, most notably for his work with Oakland Ballet. Michael brings a rich history and perspective to his work - a principal dancer with Oakland Ballet for three decades, a choreographer for the company in his retirement, culminating in the Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Choreography for his ballet Bamboo. His unique choreographic strengths are evident in his contemporary and cultural ballets, featured in each Menlowe Ballet season.
“Menlowe Ballet is a professional ballet company performing work that impacts Bay Area audiences through exceptional dance and stirring, innovative choreography. The company’s repertoire encompasses cultural, classical, and contemporary styles.”
Menlowe Ballet is a professional ballet company performing work that impacts Bay Area audiences through exceptional dance and stirring, innovative choreography. The company’s repertoire encompasses cultural, classical, and contemporary styles. One of Menlowe Ballet’s core values is to continue the tradition of passing dance on from one generation to the next – artist to artist. To that end, aspiring students from Menlowe Ballet’s official school, the Menlo Park Academy of Dance, regularly perform in company productions.
Since our debut in November 2011, Menlowe Ballet has dazzled local audiences with the following: eleven world premieres by Michael Lowe as well as four reprisals of his most beloved works; world premieres by renowned guest choreographers Betsy Erickson of San Francisco Ballet, Viktor Kabaniaev, and Reginald Ray-Savage of Savage Jazz Dance, Val Caniparoli of San Francisco Ballet, Gregory Dawson of dawsondancesf.
Adrienne Parker Foley — Former Hubbard Street Dance Chicago company member draws inspiration from her teaching practice, both in the contemporary and classical disciplines, as well as her dance relationship with choreographers’ Twyla Tharp, Ohad Naharin, Lou Conte, Bruce Marx and Janice Garrett, to name a few. Adrienne’s current path involves weaving interdisciplinary dance forms into her contemporary ballet framework.
Vakhtangi Ioseliani — Former premiere dancer with the renowned Sukhishvili Georgian National Ballet has brought his dance discipline to the US with the intention of sharing the tradition of Georgian dance, as well as exploring ways in which Georgian cultural movement lends itself to the contemporary dance framework.
Get your tickets now!
Dance Companies come together to celebrate an exciting and elegant evening of contemporary ballet, jazz & modern dance.
Featured Artists Include: eMotion Arts, Zohar Dance Company, ArtistEDGE, Natasha Carlitz Dance Ensemble, Dacia Biletnikoff, Selina Chih, Mario Barron, Erwin Columbus and Jen Costillo. From beautiful contemporary ballet to expertly crafted jazz dance, culturally inspired Afro-Brazilian and athletic modern, the evening promises to be a treat for all the senses.
Zohar Performance Space | 4000 Middlefield Road L4 | Palo Alto
Photo: eMotion Arts
Photo Credit: Lynne Fried
Eventbrite $15-$25
Saturday, July 21, 2018
8:00pm-9:30pm
Copyright © 2018 Zohar Dance Company - All Rights Reserved.
4000 Middlefield Road L4, Palo Alto, CA 94303