Zohar Performance Series:4

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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 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