Missouri State University Department of Theatre and Dance, and Springfield Ballet have joined together to offer MOve, an immersive week-long dance experience for incoming 7-12 grade dancers*.

July 25 - July 31, 2021

At Missouri State University

Please note: adjustments to dates or studio location may be required due to guest artist availability and/or current COVID-19 restrictions.

Classes, in-person and virtual, will be taught by Missouri State Department of Theatre and Dance faculty, Springfield Ballet instructors and nationally-recognized dance artists.

Disciplines covered throughout the intensive include ballet, modern, improvisation and repertory. A sample schedule is listed below.

Tuition is $375.00 + $15 Registration Fee. Payment in full is required at the time of registration. Last day to register is Saturday, July 24.

Please note: per Springfield Ballet's current masking policy, masks are required during the full week of MOve, regardless of COVID19 vaccination or not, for all staff and faculty, dancers, guest artists and any guests during the final performance. We appreciate your understanding as we continue to do our best in keeping our dancers and community safe and healthy.

Out-of-town dancers: please contact us for recommended local housing information. Housing at Missouri State University is unavailable this year.

*For dancers not en pointe - please contact Springfield Ballet's Business Office before registering to discuss proper placement.

Sample Intensive Schedule:

Registration for MOve Summer Intensive is found here.

 

Faculty Includes:

• Ruth Barnes, Missouri State University
• Ashley Paige Romines, Springfield Ballet
• Maria Hall, Springfield Ballet
• Abigail Lind, Springfield Ballet and Springfield Dance Alliance

Guest Artist Bios:

Gary Abbott 

Gary began his career as a dancer in Atlanta, GA with Barbara Sullivan’s Atlanta Dance Theatre. There he developed his interest in choreography and created works for musicals presented by Jomandi Productions and The Clark College Players. Receiving a scholarship to attend California Institute of the Arts in 1979, Abbott studied with dance legends Crystine Lawson, Nicholas Gunn, and Mia Slavenska. Abbott later moved to Los Angeles where he danced with Lula Washington Dance Theatre and Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Theatre.

In 1985, Abbott was invited to dance with the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble of Denver, CO where he was nurtured by Ms. Parker-Robinson to create several dances which are still a part of the company’s repertoire. His career there allowed Abbott to study with many great luminaries of the dance world. Among them are Katherine Dunham, Donald McKayle, Eleo Pomare, Donald Byrd and Kevin Iega Jeff.

While residing in Denver, Abbott brought his choreographic talents to The Denver Center for the Performing Arts in the shows, Star Fever (based on The Bacchae by Euripides) and Don Quixote directed by Pavel Dobrusky. Abbott continued to work with Mr. Dobrusky at the Cleveland Playhouse, where he served as choreographer for the play Yerma by Federico Garcia Lorca. It was during his 10 years with the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble that Abbott first visited Gillette, WY and directed and choreographed a year-long project called Harambee. For more than 25 years, Abbott taught and directed artistic programming in the Gillette community. One among those programs is the "Performing Arts Workshop” (PAW) co-founded by Abbott, Jeff, and Suzanne Dowler and "Choose Dance” a program that brought dance to the communities schools and at-risk youth organizations.

Abbott and Jeff, along with Linda Spriggs, Diane Shober and LaVerne Alaphaire Jeff founded Deeply Rooted Dance Theater (DRDT) in 1995. The company’s mission is to re-imagine and diversify contemporary dance by bringing together modern, classical and African-American traditions in dance enables Abbott to continue to serve and grow as an artist. Abbott and Jeff’s artistic goals extend beyond just the dance world and into the world of musical theatre as well. From 2001-2003, Abbott served as choreographer and Jeff as director for Black Nativity presented by the Penumbra Theatre. In 2008 Abbott choreographed "Ballad of Emmet Till” directed by Oz Scott for The Goodman Theater in Chicago and in 2010 Abbott shared choreographic duties with Mr. Jeff, for "Aida” for the Bailiwick Theater of Chicago. In Kansas City, he has choreographed for three shows for Kansas City Repertory Theater. "The Tallest Tree in the Forest”,directed by Moises Kaufman. ‘Fences’ directed by Ron OJ Parson and "Fear City” directed by Chip Miller.

Abbott has had the privilege to teach and choreograph at many prestigious universities worldwide including special workshops in Vienna, Austria and at Peridance Studios in New York City. He has taught and choreographed for Spelman College in Atlanta, Ga, Iliev Foundation in Bar, Montenegro, and Sofia, Bulgaria, Flatfoot Dance Theater at the University of KwaZulu Natal in Durban, South Africa, Tianjin Conservatory, Tianjin, China, and conducting workshops in Shenzhen, China.

Abbott has been fortunate to choreograph works for Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Theater of Kansas City, MO., Dallas Black Dance Theater of Dallas, TX, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance of Denver, CO., David Taylor Dance Theater of Denver CO and others.

Along with his duties as Associate Artistic Director for DRDT, Gary Abbott also serves as Associate Professor of Dance at the University of Missouri Kansas City Conservatory.

 

Andrea Vazquez-Aguirre - SAFE BARRE coach

(MFA: SUNY Brockport, BFA: National Conservatory of Dance in Mexico D.F.) is an interdisciplinary dance artist. She was a scholar under FONCA*, and has danced in several professional companies in Mexico and the United States. She creates work and teaches movement through Laban/Bartenieff lenses. She is interested in performances that explore the idea of 'truth in fiction’ and ‘fiction in truth.’  She is co-director along with her creative and life partner, James J. Kaufmann, of Another River Interdisciplinary Ensemble. *Federal Council for Culture and Arts in Mexico.

 

Additional Guest Artists:

• Alysia L. Johnson is returning to teach Jazz virtually in 2021. She is a two-time recipient of The Juilliard School’s Career Grant for community engagement and has taught and directed students across all levels and styles over the course of seven years. Alysia is currently dancing with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago while also holding the position of treasurer on the board of a Dallas based non-profit, Moving Forward Dance Project, and leading her own project, Emerging Dancers of Dallas.

• Patrick Heslip, artist, will be teaching hip hop.

• Caroline Dahm from Wylliams/Henry Dance Co. will be teaching virtual yoga classes.