DeSales Dance Department

Summer Dance Intensive

July 29 to August 9, 2013

The Summer Dance Intensive at DeSales University offers professional dance training to students ages 14 and up. The two-week program focuses on technical training in ballet, modern, jazz, and African dance. Additional classes are offered in ballet repertory, modern repertory, pilates, yoga, and improvisation.  The two-week program will culminate in an informal presentation on Friday, August 9, at 6:30 p.m. in the Brisson Dance Studio.

Check Out the Schedule!

Sidra Bell

SIDRA BELL has a BA in History from Yale University and an MFA in Choreography from Purchase College Conservatory of Dance. She is currently an Adjunct Professor at Barnard College (Columbia University).

Recent commissions include River North Chicago Dance Company, The Ailey School, The Duo Theatre, Ballet Divertimento (Montréal), Arts Umbrella Dance Company (Vancouver), Canadian Children’s Dance Theatre (Toronto), Purchase College Conservatory of Dance in conjunction with the St. Luke’s Orchestra, LaGuardia High School, Springboard Danse Montréal, National Choreographers Initiative, The Margie Gillis Foundation, Stella Adler Studio of Acting/NYU, The Kelly-Strayhorn Theater, LINES Ballet Training Program, University of Michigan, August Wilson Dance Center, Bessie Schönberg Choreographers Residency at The Yard, New Jersey Dance Theatre Ensemble, Point Park University, August Wilson Dance Ensemble, New York Live Arts Studio Series, Ballet Austin, Mystic Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, Ailey II, Tisch School of the Arts Dance/NYU, The Juilliard School, The Barnard Project with New York Live Arts, and Dance Theater Workshop. Her work has been seen at many premiere venues throughout the United States and internationally in Denmark, Austria, Germany, Canada, Aruba, Spain, France, and Greece.

Bell has been commissioned for many special projects nationally and internationally. A solo work, Conductivity, won a prize for performance at the Internationales Solo-Tanz-Theatre Festival in Stuttgart, Germany in 2009 and was then toured in Greece and in select German cities. She was invited back to Stuttgart for the 2011 Solo-Tanz-Theatre Festival with a new solo work Grief Point. She received First Prize for Choreography for the solo and her dancer Moo Kim received First Prize for Performance. Grief Point will tour Germany and Brazil in 2011/2012. Ms. Bell was selected to work as an emerging choreographer at Springboard Danse Montréal for two consecutive years and created works that were presented at Place des Arts, Piscine-théâtre, and Usine C. She has also been awarded several creative residencies at The Duo Theatre, Stella Adler Studio of Acting, The Kelly-Strayhorn Theater, Baruch Performing Arts Center, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Inception to Exhibition Space Grant and Dance Theater Workshop.

Presentations of the company include the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival Inside/Out Series, Symphony Space, Skirball Performing Arts Center, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Ballet Builders, The Harlem Stage E-Moves Series, Tangente (Montréal), The Gershwin Hotel, The Riverside Theatre, Stella Adler Studio of Acting’s M.A.D. Series, danceNOW, The Duo Theatre, Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center, Reverb Festival, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Chutzpah! Festival at The Norman Rothstein Theater (Vancouver), Baruch College Performing Arts Center, Joyce SoHo, New York Live Arts Studio Series and Dance Theater Workshop (Residency & Commissioning Program) to name a few. The company was lauded in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s 2010 Best in Dance for the full length work REVUE which premiered in October 2010 at the historic Kelly-Strayhorn Theater. Critic Jane Vranish wrote- “It was a REVUE unlike any other, a blend of vaudeville, Fellini and Cirque du Soleil. Ms. Bell proved that she had her finger on the future of dance where ballet and hip-hop coexist on the same plane.”

Bell is a sought after master teacher and has taught her unique and comprehensive approach to creative process, improvisation, and technique at many prestigious institutions for dance and theater. She has been on the faculty at Stella Adler Studio of Acting in the Movement Department as well as the Physical Theater Intensive and is also an artist in The Harold Clurman Center for New Work in Movement and Dance Theater (M.A.D.). Other guest teaching includes The Movement Invention Project NYC, The Joffrey Ballet School Jazz & Contemporary Program, Peridance Capezio Center, Project Launch San Francisco, LINES Ballet Training Program, Earl Mosley’s Institute of the Arts, Canadian Children’s Dance Theatre (Toronto), Arts Umbrella (Vancouver), Purchase College Conservatory of Dance, Marygrove College (Detroit), New Jersey Dance Theatre, Cleo Parker Robinson, Ballet Divertimento, Perry Mansfield, New Haven Ballet, Greenwich Academy, LaGuardia High School, Elisa Monte Dance Choreography Workshop, Balance Dance Company (Boise), Long Island University, young ARTS Miami (NFAA), Hunter College, Ailey II, and The Ailey School.

www.sidrabelldanceny.org

Deborah Lohse

Born and raised in California, Lohse trained with the Sacramento Ballet, Thor Sutowski and Sonia Arova. Lohse went on to perform with the Sacramento Ballet, San Diego Ballet and in the work of Joe Goode, Kevin Wynn and Jean Isaacs. Upon receiving a B.A. in Dance as well as a B.A. in Theater from the University of California, San Diego Lohse relocated to New York City where she performed with Monica Bill Barnes & Company for the next 8 years in NYC and touring their two women show This Ain’t No Rodeo across the US and to Italy.

In 2007, Lohse created ad hoc Ballet to present and perform her own live performance work. Under ad hoc Ballet, she presented work at The Clark Theater at Lincoln Center, Dance Theater Workshop, Joyce SoHo, Joe’s Pub, Dixon Place and Dance New Amsterdam. She was also the recipient of grants from the Puffin Foundation and Bossak – Heilbron Foundation and artist residencies from Dance New Amsterdam and yearly invitations to SILO Residency. During this time her work was also brought into the repertory of New Chamber Ballet and Tahoe Youth Ballet. Her choreographic work also led to collaborations with theater directors Nick Philippou and Eric Sanders as well as The Flying Karamazov Brothers.

In 2008, Lohse joined the cast of the Bessie Award winning production Fraulein Maria created by Guggenheim Fellow choreographer Doug Elkins. In addition to touring Fraulein Maria, she continues to work with Elkins creating new work in collaboration with theater directors Anne Kauffman, Michael Preston and Barbara Karger. As a performer, Lohse has also appeared in the work of visual artist Suzanne Bocanegra.

In 2006, Lohse worked with Bessie Award winning choreographer David Neumann on the film I Am Legend and joined SAG-AFTRA. As Lohse’s interests moved into film she began presenting work independent of ad hoc Ballet. In 2010 she received a Professional Certificate in Filmmaking from New York University – School of Continuing and Professional Studies. Awards received for her film studies include The Caroline H. Newhouse Scholarship Fund and Andreas Zahler Scholarship for Advanced Filmmaking Studies. Her film Hunger was awarded Best Art House Film at the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival, Best Experimental Film Nomination at the Female Eye Film Festival in Toronto and the Outstanding Achievement Award from the NYU- SCPS Faculty. Her film collaborations include work with composers David Fulmer, Kevin Keller and death metal band Flourishing.

As an educator, Lohse is regularly invited to lecture and give workshops. She has worked closely with NYC cultural institutions Lincoln Center Institute, Dance New Amsterdam, Eliot Feld’s Ballet Tech and Hospital Audiences, Inc. as well as guest artist invitations to universities such as North Carolina School of the Arts, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, University of Wisconsin, Madison, DeSales University, Muhlenberg College and Purdue University and joining the faculty at ballet intensives for Brooklyn Ballet, Dancewave, Homer Nutcracker and Tahoe Youth Ballet.

DeborahLohse.com

Sydney Skybetter

Sydney Skybetter a choreographer, curator, and consultant for performing arts organizations. After studying at the Interlochen Arts Academy, Columbia, and New York University, Skybetter performed with Christopher Williams and the Anna Sokolow Foundation. Skybetter is a founding partner at Edwards & Skybetter | Change Agency, which provides product development, brand management and technology consulting for such international organizations as the Mark Morris Dance Group and The Fresh Arts Coalition, and has written about performance history and technology for the Ballet Review and The Huffington Post. He is a Producer with the Dance [NOW] NYC Festival, a teacher for the NYU Tisch Dance Department, and a lecturer on Dance History for the LEAP Program at St. Mary’s College. Skybetter serves as the President of the Board of Directors of the Gotham Arts Exchange / Zia Artists, and as the Founding Chairman of the Technology Committee for the Board of Trustees of Dance/USA. He received his Master of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography from New York University.

Skybetter and Associates was formed in 2008 to perform the work of choreographer Sydney Skybetter. Skybetter draws from literary, musical, mathematical, and personal texts to explore his contradictory impulses for clear self- expression and the creation of abstract, narrative-free dance. Skybetter and Associates performs its rigorously formal repertory to enliven an architecture of feeling that can only be articulated by arresting bodies in motion. The company has set its repertory on New York University Tisch School for the Arts, SUNY Purchase, Skidmore College, the Zenon Dance Company, Muhlenberg College, and DeSales University and has performed at Inside/Out at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, The Joyce Theater, The Dance Theater Workshop / New York Live Arts, the Danspace Project, The 92nd Street Y and The Joyce SoHo, among many other venues.

Skybetter & Associates

The DeSales University Dance Ensemble Concert of 2013 was fantastic! 

Our 30th anniversary celebration featured an exciting concert showcasing six alumni works as well as a piece choreographed by guest artist Christopher Morgan!

We had a special Invitation for DeSales Dance Alumni: On Friday, March 15th, there was a Wine and Cheese Reception at 6:30 p.m. in the MAC room of the MacShea Center! The following day, March 16th, there was a special Alumni Concert at 3:00 p.m. on the Labuda main stage! This concert will featured performances and choreography by DeSales Dance Alumni!

We are just over THREE weeks until the opening night of DeSales University Dance Ensemble 2013! Come join us for our 30th anniversary show happening March 15th, 16th, and 17th! It is an exciting concert showcasing six alumni works as well as a piece choreographed by guest artist Christopher Morgan! For ticket information visit desales.edu/dance! See you at the show!

Special Invitation for DeSales Dance Alumni: On Friday, March 15th, there will be a Wine and Cheese Reception at 6:30 p.m. in the MAC room of the MacShea Center! The following day, March 16th, there will be a special Alumni Concert at 3:00 p.m. on the Labuda main stage! This concert will feature performances and choreography by DeSales Dance Alumni! Make sure to check out both!

Amala Gameela

Amala Gameela is a talented and passionate Middle Eastern Dance Artist based in the Lehigh Valley, PA area specializing in folkloric Middle Eastern dance and Egyptian cabaret.  She is a sought after performer, enthusiastic instructor, and event producer who presents traditional Middle Eastern dance with beauty, culture, and professional artistry.

She takes her dance education and training seriously and continues to study with renowned, inspirational professionals from the United States and Egypt such as Mohamed Shahin, Faten Salama, Raqia Hassan, Gamila El Masri, Tito, Aida Nour, and Yousry Sharifamong others. Amala is also honored to have learned from legendary international dance icons such as Mahmoud Reda, Farida Fahmy, Aisha Ali and has completed several Egyptian dance certifications with her most influential instructor, Sahra Saeeda. After almost ten years of Middle Eastern dance studies she is an advocate of preserving the traditional art form and looks forward to expanding her cultural dance knowledge and skills in Egypt.

Amala Gameela embarked on her dance career with Diana Shahein of Beledi Dance Theatre in Stroudsburg, PA, was a core member of Embers & Emeralds, an award winning belly dance troupe based in Easton, PA, and was selected by Gamila El Masri to dance in her production, Night of the Hareem.  She has been welcomed to Bethlehem, PA since her move in 2007 and has been invited to assist Touchstone Theatre’s production, Tales of the Middle East, appeared on several TV channels, and featured as a local artist through Touchstone’s Firehouse Fridays and annual performances at Musikfest among more.

Amala’s sensational performances are elegant and full of expression ranging from mysterious and enchanting to delicate and flirty to fast paced and energetic.  She is a celebrated entertainer and featured performer throughout the tri-state area at various restaurants and night clubs in addition to performing at countless special events such as weddings, corporate parties, concerts, private celebrations, and festivals.  Amala has also graced the stage in Virginia, Florida, Texas, and captivated audiences internationally in Central and South America.

She is the founder and artistic director of Abzahrah Middle Eastern Dance Company based in Bethlehem, PA. Abzahrah is comprised of Amala Gameela’s most talented and enthusiastic, advanced dancers who are dedicated to preserving, studying, and sharing the beauty, culture, and art of traditional and authentic Middle Eastern Dance. Although the company is fairly new, they have enlightened audiences across the tri-state area at various charities, festivals, theatrical shows, concerts, educational presentations, and cultural celebrations. Highlight performances include: St. Luke’s Hospital Charity Ball, First Night Hazelton New Year’s Eve Party, Touchstone Theatre, East Stroudsburg University, Delaware Valley College, several Penn State campuses, Mayfair, and Musikfest to name a few.

Amala Gameela is an enthusiastic and generous instructor who conducts weekly classes, workshops, and private lessons at several locations throughout the Lehigh Valley and is grateful to be based out of The Yoga Loft of Bethlehem. She currently instructs several levels of belly dance students in addition to specialty style sessions and workshops in which she enjoys sharing folkloric dances of the Middle East, the elements of a traditional cabaret show, and how to successfully incorporate props into a belly dance performance. She is anxious to share her love and knowledge of Middle Eastern dance with dancers of all ages, shapes, and levels in a positive atmosphere.

She has also recently begun producing educational dance workshops and professional gala showcases by bringing international superstars to the Lehigh Valley in her efforts to share and sustain authentic Middle Eastern performing arts, such as her first and successful endeavor featuring Mohamed Shahin of Cairo in 2010.

As a tremendous lover of birds and wildlife, Amala Gameela sponsors professional events and haflas geared toward donations for non-profit wildlife organizations featuring her students, local, and professional performers. She earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Studies from East Stroudsburg University, worked as a Conservation Education Coordinator at an AZA accredited zoo, and is currently advancing and broadening her scientific studies. Her passion and love for parrots brought her to the remote jungle of Manu, Peru, where she spent two months working to save fledgling macaws as well as studying tropical ornithology in Costa Rica and Belize.  Amala Gameela remains committed to wildlife conservation and continues to volunteer and assist wildlife rehabilitation centers, conservation groups, animal rescues, wildlife sanctuaries, and parrot organizations across the world.

Amala Gameela would like to personally thank her friends, family, and mentors who support and encourage her to pursue her goals, aspirations, and dreams…and her parrots for her inspiration and joy.

Christopher Morgan Residency

Christopher Morgan, accompanied by company members, will be in residence Friday, February 1 – Friday, February 8, 2013. He will be setting work on the senior dance majors, which will be premiered in the Spring Dance Ensemble Concert.  Throughout the week, Morgan and his company members will be teaching several dance masterclasses, including classes in modern movement as well as jazz movement.

Christopher Morgan’s Biography:

Christopher K. Morgan grew up in Orange County, CA, and learned the Hula and Polynesian
dances of his Hawaiian ancestors as a child. Discovering ballet, jazz and modern dance at
the age of 17, Christopher studied dance at the University of California Irvine. But after only 2
years in school he was offered a job to dance for Malashock Dance & Company in San Diego.
Thus began his extensive performing career that would have him move to Munich, Washington
DC, New York, Dublin and London. Now, he brings his diverse heritage and nearly 20 years of
experience as a professional dancer, educator, choreographer and arts facilitator to directing his
contemporary dance company Christopher K. Morgan & Artists.

Christopher’s choreography has been called “charming and poignant” by Jennifer Dunning of The
New York Times and been presented in 18 countries on 5 continents, in venues including The
Kennedy Center, La Mama, Theater Artaud, The Maly Theatre (Moscow, Russia) the Hong Kong
Cultural Center and the South Lawn of the White House. His 2010 work +1/-1, won the 2010
Dance Metro DC award for Outstanding New Work. Dance Magazine profiled him in April 2011 as
one of six breakout choreographers in the United States.

A skilled facilitator, Christopher also directs The Dance Omi International Dance Collective, an
annual three-week residency for professional, international dancer/choreographers that takes
place each August in upstate New York. From 2007-2011 Christopher served as Choreographer
in Residence and Rehearsal Director for Washington, DC based CityDance Ensemble. He is
currently the Artist in Residence at American University in Washington DC and is the recipient of
a 2011 Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award for Choreography, a 2012 and 2013
Individual Artist Grant from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County and a 2013
Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Fellowship in Dance.

About Christopher Morgan’s Company:

Christopher K. Morgan & Artists is a professional contemporary dance company whose work
stems from a belief in the urgency of live performance in an increasingly isolating, commercial,
and digital world. Founded in July 2011, as a vehicle for Morgan’s choreographic exploration of
social and cultural issues, the Company provides a creative outlet for its artists and collaborators
through virtuosic and expressive dance performances.

With a dual residency at CityDance in North Bethesda, MD and The Alden in McLean, VA,
CKM&A demystifies contemporary dance through interactive dialogue and media, while creating
an opportunity for self-reflection for its audiences through its performances.

www.christopherkmorgan.com

Omitola Hill

Omi has been studying the art of Capoeira for over 17 years under the guidance of Mestre Ombrinho, and currently is the level of “Professor”. He has studied Capoeira in both The United States and Brazil, and has taught people of all ages throughout the world. Omi has conducted workshops, residences and class in capoeira at Yale, Cornell University, Swartmore, The New School, Sarah Lawrance, Borough Manhattan Community College, Columbia University, Dance Batukeira in Ilheur Brazil and The University of Florence and Bologna in Florence Italy.

Omi has also worked with numerous Arts in Education Organizations to conduct performances, residencies and workshops in public and private schools such as in NY Arts Horizons, World Music Institute, City Center, Arts Connection and Alvin Ailey. Omi has also performed with, O SAMBA! Dance Theater, Afro Brazil Arts Dance Troupe, Nego Gato Ensemble, Cryro Baptista, The Organs, Boys Choir of Harlem, Ologunde, Samba New York, City Center and more.

Merián Soto

Award winning choreographer Merián Soto has been creating and presenting solo, group, and collaborative pieces in her native Puerto Rico, across the US and internationally since the mid-seventies. She has collaborated extensively with MacArthur award-winning visual artist Pepón Osorio on full-evening  works such as Historias (1992) and Familias (1995) hailed as models for works created with communities.

 As Artistic Director of the Bronx-based Latino arts organization, Pepatián, she developed and curated national and international projects featuring Latino new dance and performance artists including¡Muévete! and Rompeforma: Maratón de Baile, Performance & Visuales, the international Latino artists’ festival in Puerto Rico from 1989-1996.

 Soto is known for her experiments with Salsa – the dance and music of Pan-Latino collective experiences –  in critically acclaimed works such as Así se baila un Son (1999) Prequel(a): Deconstruction of a Passion for Salsa (2002) and  La Máquina del Tiempo (2004).

 Since 2005 has created an extensive series of dances with branches including the award-winning One Year Wissahickon Park Project (2007-08), What is Love? (2007)  (commissioned by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts), Postcards from the Woods (2009), Branch Dances at Wave Hill (2011-12)  andSoMoS (2012).

 Soto is the recipient of six Choreographers Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, an Artist Fellowship by New York Foundation for the Arts and numerous project grants from institutions such as Dance Advance, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Lila Wallace Arts Partners Program, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the New England Foundation for the Arts, the Harkness Foundation for Dance, and NALAC Fund for the Arts.   Her writings on dance have been published in Heresies Magazine andMovement Research Journal.

 In 2000. Soto received a New York Dance and Performance Award “BESSIE” for sustained choreographic achievement,  and in 2008,  a Greater Philadelphia Dance and Physical Theater Award “ROCKY” for her One-Year Wissahickon Park Project. She is a PennPAT roster artist.

Merián Soto’s official website