More than 30 students from West Windsor and Plainsboro will appear in Princeton Dance and Theater Studio’s first annual spring workshop performance, “Taking Off,” on Saturday May 15, 2004 at the Yvonne Theater at Rider University, 2083 Lawrenceville Road (Route 206 south).
The performances, open to the public are at 1:30 and 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $10.
As a highlight of the workshop, Princeton Dance Theater, the pre-professional dance company comprised of advanced students, will perform two ballet pieces. The advanced pointe students will perform Paquita, staged by PDT co-director Susan Jaffe, a former prima ballerina with American Ballet Theater.
The intermediate pointe students will perform Variations on a Theme by Paganini, choreographed by PDT co-director Risa Gary Kaplowitz, a West Windsor resident and former ballerina with the Dayton Ballet and Manhattan Ballet, and faculty member/choreographer Laurie Yeames.
The choreography of two more New York-based PDT faculty members, Robin Barker and Geoffrey Doig-Marx, will be showcased in “Rhythm of Life” from “Sweet Charity” (senior theater dance); “Steam Heat” from “Pajama Game” (junior theater dance); “My Immortal,” music by EvaneScence (junior and senior jazz); and “Love Is a Crime” from “Chicago,” music by Anastacia (rhythm tap).
This performance marks PDT’s first in a professional performance space, the 440-seat Yvonne Theater on the campus of Rider University. Having just opened its doors in September, 2003, PDT presented the divertissements from The Nutcracker — featuring an original cultural narrative accompaniment written by West Windsor Arts Council member Maria Alonso Snyder — in December, 2003, to more than 1,”800 people at area schools, retirement communities, and Princeton Forrestal Village.
The May 15 workshop performance marks the completion of the school’s first year of operation. “It has been so rewarding for me to have ‘my own’ students,” said Jaffe, who travels from New York twice a week to teach advanced pointe. “I have seen them grow in so many ways as dancers during the eight months our studio has been open. This first workshop will be very special for us and our students and I am sure the audience will be delighted when they see what we have in store for them.”
Dancers from West Windsor include Aana Bansal, Anna Chicco, Michaela Clovis, Melanie Fernandez, Emma and Rebecca Gasperoni, Adrienne and Brandon Kaplowitz, Liliana Ma, Alessa and Katrina Meni, Clark, Jack, and Sage Otterson, Aimee Ozeki, Tiffany Pang, Alyssa Paraggio, Phoebe Rose Sandford, Wendy Schutzer, Allison Taaffe, Laura Whitby, Bonnie White, Carolyn Wills, and Brynja Winnan.
Dancers from Plainsboro include Christina Buttner, Jessica Cohen, Jutta Gruener, Alexandra and Morgan Hendry, Drew and MacKenzie Nelson, and Henry A. Valendia.
“Taking Off,” spring workshop performance of Princeton Dance and Theater Studio, Yvonne Theater, Rider University, 2083 Lawrenceville Road (Route 206 south) Saturday, May 15, 1:30 and 5:30 p.m. Tickets $10, available at the door. A faculty Meet and Greet will take place between performances at 3:30 p.m. (Meet and Greet tickets are $30, and include refreshments and admission to a performance.) PDT is located at 116 Rockingham Row, Princeton Forrestal Village, Plainsboro, www.princetondance.com.
