Hartt Community Division Announces FROM STUDIO TO STAGE

 The Hartt School Community Division welcomes world-renowned Artistic Director Bruce Marks for a new intensive summer dance training program, From Studio to Stage, July 1 through 28, 2012, at The Hartt School's state-of-the-art facilities at the Mort and Irma Handel Performing Arts Center in Hartford, CT.  This unique intensive pre-professional ballet performance program is designed to provide the artistic training and technical foundation necessary for a young dancer to take command of the stage.  The program also provides essential performance experience to prepare young dancers for today's dance world.  Room and board and a limited number of scholarships are available.  Auditions for From Studio to Stage take place in Hartford, CT; New York, NY; Boca Raton, FL; Shreveport, LA; and Columbus, OH, on selected dates in January and February.  For complete audition and program information, including fees and scholarship opportunities, visit www.hcd.hartford.edu, or contact the Community Division Dance Department at 860.768.6000 or via e-mail at dancedesk@hartford.edu. 

Lead by Mr. Marks, who directs this program shortly after serving on the jury of the Beijing International Ballet Competition for Young Artists in June, the From Studio to Stage curriculum offers students ages 10 to 15 technique classes, Cuban body conditioning, performance technique classes, rehearsals, and coaching sessions that address the daily challenges of a professional dancer. 

Each participant will:

• Have a chance to be coached in a classical variation by Artistic Director Bruce Marks;
• Work with Vicente Hernandez of the Cuban National Ballet School, founder of "Preparacion Fisica," to increase turn-out, extension, strength, stamina, and build his/her body into a strong, healthy instrument;
• Build confidence for the stage; and
• Strengthen and connect the physical and artistic aspects of his/her art form.

When asked to create a new summer intensive dance program for The Hartt School, Mr. Marks said he wanted to create something new and truly different from the many programs that already exist.  The goal of From Studio to Stage is to provide a distinctive experience in which dancers will go well beyond the technical training of the studio to experience all elements of performance.  The 4-week program culminates in a staged performance in The Hartt School's Millard Auditorium on the University of Hartford campus.  Mr. Marks states, "I have had the pleasure of working with almost all of the important ballet artists of the second half of the 20th century.  These include choreographers such as George Balanchine and Anthony Tudor and partners such as Cynthia Gregory and Natalia Markarova.  My job now is to transfer that knowledge to the next generation of dancers." 

The complete faculty for From Studio to Stage includes: 

• Bruce Marks, internationally-renowned Artistic Director and Chairman of the Jury of the USA International Ballet Competition
• Vicente Hernandez, Founder of "Preparacion Fisica" for the Cuban National Ballet School
• Samantha Dunster, Chair, The Hartt School Community Division Dance Department
• Katie Stevinson-Nollet, Artistic Director of Full Force Dance Theatre and Associate Professor of Dance for The Hartt School
• Faculty from The Hartt School Community Division Dance Department.

Auditions will take place as follows, with on-site registration 30 minutes prior to each audition: 

• January 7, 2:30 PM – BalletMet, 322 Vernon Avenue, Columbus, OH;
• January 15, 3:30 PM – Joffrey Ballet School, 434 Avenue of the Americas, 5th Floor, Studio 6, New York, NY;
• January 15, 3:30 PM – The Hartt School Community Division Dance Department, Handel Performing Arts Center, 35 Westbourne Parkway, Hartford, CT;
• January 29, 2:00 PM – Shreveport Dance Academy, 2537 East 70th Street, Shreveport, LA
• February 12, 2:00 PM – Boca Ballet Theatre, 7630 NW 6th Avenue, Boca Raton, FL; and
• February 26, 2012, 2:00 PM – The Hartt School Community Division Dance Department, Handel Performing Arts Center, 35 Westbourne Parkway, Hartford, CT.