Dance Outreach through Master Classes and Guest Artist Adventures!
Dance Outreach through Master Classes and Guest Artist Adventures!
by
Founder and Artistic Director Crystal Lewis
Summer months are usually pretty slow in the dance world, that is outside of the various summer dance intensives and festivals, which generally can last anywhere from a few days to several weeks across the summer. But, a good majority of local dance studios, and even college dance programs, go on hiatus during the summer as the students leave to go on summer vacation with their families. If you’re not taking class at a prestigious festival or performing in one, finding summer work within the field of dance can be a little tricky. Hence, the starting of a dance educational outreach, via master classes and guest artist adventures! There are a lot of talented, young, dance artists whom stay close to home during the summer months and simply don’t have the ability to attend large expensive dance festivals. So why not bring that festival experience to them! I have attended many dance festivals over my dance career. I have attended both small and larger well known dance festivals such as the American Dance Festival (ADF) and have benefited from those experiences a tremendous amount. I also have made it a priority to find local master classes, with professional working artists, when and wherever I can, to soak up those experiences as well. I personally feel that learning through experience is paramount to growth as an artist. With the start of educational outreach through the master class series and guest artist adventures, I hope to bring with me all of the experiences that I have had as a dancer attending those various dance festivals, workshops, intensives and master classes, and pass them on to young dancers whom may not have the ability to experience it otherwise. This is certainly not to discourage dancers from attending large dance festivals; in fact I highly encourage them! They are an invaluable experience for a dance artist. This is only to help provide an experience, small as it may be, to those young dancers who may find themselves staying close to home.
So here is what I was up to this summer!
I had the wonderful opportunity to teach several master classes including Pilates and various levels of modern technique to young dancers in Queen Creek, AZ at NuEvolution Dance Studio, as part of a summer master class series. A lot of the students in attendance of my master class had little to no experience in modern dance technique. As a result, this was a tremendous opportunity to introduce the world of modern dance to some young talented dancers. I loved the openness and complete surrender from the students to try new things. I had a fantastic time and hope to return for more master classes.
If you find yourself in Arizona and want to check out NuEvolution Dance Studio check them out here!
http://www.nuevolutiondance.com/
I also had the pleasure of working with young dance artists in Maricopa, AZ at Maricopa Dance & Fitness, teaching modern technique as well as creating a work for the young performing company there. I spoke with the owner of the studio and discovered she was trying to bring in master teachers and professional guest artists to work with her dancers in order to help give them a professional experience in concert dance. Most of her dance students were familiar with jazz, tap and ballet but did not have much experience in modern dance. Having come from the professional concert dance world herself, she expressed how she would love to change this and provide her students with the opportunity to learn about, as well as appreciate, modern dance. So for two weeks, three days a week, for a total of six hours a week, I taught the young dancers modern technique and created a completely new work on them. It was quite the experience. I have sometimes found that when I am teaching a modern technique class to dancers who have never experienced modern, or very little modern, they can be somewhat resistant to the genre. However, this was not the case with these young ladies. They were extremely open and hungry to learn something new. It was also quite refreshing to see how dedicated and professional they were at such a young age! I had a wonderful time getting to know them as dancers and as people. They definitely left an impact on my heart.
As Founder and Artistic Director of Conversion Dance Project, I would like one of the primary goals of the project to be dance education through outreach opportunities such as these mentioned. I look forward to continuing to create opportunities to reach out to the dance community and beyond. Until then, happy dancing all!
A few of the students at Maricopa Dance & Fitness with Artistic Director Crystal Lewis