Springboard Danse Shifts Stateside Thanks to a New Partnership With Point Park University

Following a two-year hiatus, Springboard Danse’s signature summer program is springing back into action. Formerly based in Montreal, Springboard’s Summer Project is now ensconced at Pittsburgh’s Point Park University, with which Springboard has begun a five-year partnership. The inaugural U.S. edition runs May 25–June 13 at Point Park’s downtown campus. Springboard Danse’s objective is to directly connect professional-track contemporary dancers with companies and choreographers. During the three-week Summer Project, its primary initiative, dancers are assigned to work with specific choreographers. The 120 dancers selected for this year’s edition will be cast with one of the 10 participating prin­cipal companies—including Kidd Pivot, Kyle […]

How the Dance Community Helped California Wildfire Victims Continue Their Training

The postapocalyptic news footage from California at the start of the year seemed like something from a movie: 14 wildfires raged from January 7 to 31 in Los Angeles and San Diego counties. The fires caused at least 30 deaths and more than 200,000 evacuations, ultimately destroying 18,000 homes and businesses. The Eaton Fire caused so much water, smoke, and mold damage at Unbound Dance Studio in Altadena that the landlord prorated and refunded January’s rent along with the security deposit, releasing Betsy Uhler Colombo from her lease. She had started the studio in 2018 with 17 students and had […]

What My Teacher Taught Me: Richard Villaverde’s Teachers Through Time

Opening the Door The first person to ever give me a scholarship, who recognized what I could be, was Pepe Bronce. He offered me the opportunity to study dance at a local school in Miami on a scholarship when I was 13. I have never truly thanked him for this, but Pepe opened the door for me. That scholarship led me to my first ballet teacher, Maria Eugenia Lorenzo. I had just started dancing and was very self-conscious about how skinny I was, but she developed in me a true love of self. She taught me to “fall in love” […]

Leveling Up: Teaching Safe Lifts and Partnering Skills

Partner work is not just about nailing an overhead press, says Eduardo Permuy, Atlanta Ballet’s company répétiteur. It’s a fact he stresses even for the younger students he teaches in the school. “ It’s not just about going onstage and picking your partner up. You create something together.”  Of course, foundational skills are necessary to take that art from studio to stage. Edyta Śliwińska, an instructor and former professional on “Dancing with the Stars,” spent many years on the Dansport circuit. Whether in class, rehearsal, or performance, she says, even a dancer’s relationship to the music needs to be reframed in […]

Tilly Evans-Krueger on Broadway, Choreography, and Working with Sadie Sink

Tilly Evans-Krueger on Broadway, Choreography, and Working with Sadie Sink

This season, performer and choreographer Tilly Evans-Krueger is pulling double duty on Broadway. Most nights, while she performs the role of Ace in The Outsiders, her choreography is being performed down the street by the likes of Tony-nominated actress Sadie Sink in John Proctor is the Villain. A native of Madison, Wisconsin, Evans-Krueger started with dancing at her local studio. As her interest in serious training grew, her grandmother enrolled her in classes all over the city. She later received her BFA in dance from Wright State University, in Ohio, which allowed her to begin her career with Dayton Contemporary […]

Dance Educators in Arts Organizations Share Their Impactful Career Journeys

Oftentimes, people may think of dance education in the context of a studio, classroom, or university. However, there are considerable numbers of dance educators who work in-house at performing arts organizations or companies that are tasked with the impactful work of promoting the institutions’ programming and community outreach.  Dance Teacher chatted with three leading education and community managers to learn more about the work they do (often wearing multiple hats on any given day); what led to their current role; and the advice they have for others looking to step into their shoes one day.   Giving Back to the Community […]

Luna Dance & Creativity Encourages Young Students’ Choreographic Voices

Luna Dance & Creativity (formerly Luna Dance Institute), a nonprofit organization based in Berkeley, California, is one of a kind. Founded by Patricia Reedy in 1992, Luna exists to bring creativity, equity, and community to every child’s life through the art of dance. The institution accomplishes its mission through a myriad of ways—in-house studio classes, partnerships with K–12 public schools, parent–child programs for reunification in the welfare system, research and advocacy in the dance field, professional learning opportunities for educators around the globe, and more. Luna has reached over 500,000 children since its founding three decades ago, and it hopes […]