Photos are of guest artist, Joan Wadopian, with the morning dancers during the eight days of her dance residency in February. She taught master classes and had a question/answer session with them giving the dancers information about her career as a professional dancer, college dance programs, and auditioning. Joan Wadopian has had a successful dance career dancing with the renowned Shen Wei Dance Arts. Previously she performed with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre having trained at the Alvin Ailey School and receiving her BFA from the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase.

Joan Wadopian was visiting dance artist at the Fine Arts Center for 8 days in February setting a work on the afternoon students and teaching master classes to the morning dance students. The choreography is set to music performed by her father, Eliot Wadopian and will be performed in the Dance Concert on April 27.

Since 2005, Joan Wadopian has worked as a principal dancer with the New York-based modern dance company, Shen Wei Dance Arts (SWDA), performing at renowned festivals and venues in the United States, Mexico, Europe, Israel, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia. Prior to joining SWDA, Joan performed with the Kevin Wynn Collection and as a guest artist with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. She trained extensively at the Alvin Ailey School, and holds a BFA from the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase (2002). In addition to performing with SWDA, she teaches Yoga, Pilates and movement based therapy classes to senior citizens.

Photos are of Joan Wadopian with the afternoon dancers.

FAC students took a field trip to see KyleAbraham/Abraham.In.Motion on
Saturday, February 18th at the Chapman Cultural Center Theater in Spartanburg, SC.
Dance magazine called choreographer Kyle Abraham

“

equal parts power and grace

”

. The program describes Kyle Abraham as having diverse training in classical music, visual art and dance forms, from ballet to hip-hop which gives range and depth to a sleek evocative work that probes the complex relationships between identity and personal history. Pictured in the back row are Jessica Wilson and Ashley Gilbert, theatre tech students; second row are Kaitlyn Schultz, Kendall Roberson, Sydney Parker, and Tara Taylor, dance students; front row are Andreia Wardlaw, Briana Hunter and Carley Tomlinson, dance students. Mireille Fehler, Lael King and Mattison Williams, dance students, also attended the performance, but are not pictured. Dirk Holleman, FAC Theatre Tech Director, drove the FAC Activity Bus and the field trip was arranged by Jan Woodward.

FAC Dancers performed Mi Corazon Esta en Fuego, choreographed by guest artist Brian McGinnis, in the Fine Arts Center fundraiser: A Taste of the Fine Arts on February 3rd. Pictured is former FAC dancer, Peter Base, who is now dancing with CBT (Carolina Ballet Theatre) and Anita Sun Pacylowski-Justo, the Director of the School of Carolina Ballet Theatre, who attended the special event.

Andrew Kuharsky was our guest dance artist for a week (January 30-February 3) setting a new piece of choreography on the AM dancers. The new work is titled In Memoriam with music composed by Tomas Luis de Victoria. Mr. Kuharsky is the director of the Greenville Ballet School and Company and has been on the faculty of the Fine Arts Center, the S. C. Governor's School for the Arts, and Wright State University. He danced professionally with Joffrey II, The Atlanta Ballet, and Les Grands Ballets
Canadiens. His choreography has been performed by companies in
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, Kentucky, Vermont, Texas,
and Scotland.