Angela Gallo, Chair of Dance at Coker College, taught two master classes at the FAC on January 23rd. Her background is in the Limón technique, so students were able to work more deeply in that movement vocabulary in her class. The morning class explored partnering and sharing weight toward the end of the class. She spent a few minutes in both classes talking about the Dance program at Coker and answered questions about the audition process as well.

Rebecca Lee, a FAC Dance Alumna, was a guest artist at the Fine Arts Center October 17-21 and choreographed a dance titled Birr for the AM dancers. She came to the Winter Honors Showcase Performance to see the dancers perform her work on December 16th and is pictured with the dancers following the performance. Rebecca received her M.F.A. from Florida State University in Dance.

FAC Alumna, Amanda Porter, performed in both of the evening concerts of the Florida State University’s Days of Dance, which were two different programs. Amanda performed in Rick McCullough’s Cool Tunes! on Saturday evening and another dance work titled Awakening on Friday night, choreographed by an FSU student. Gerri Houlihan, who has been a guest at the FAC, and is a professor of dance at FSU, also had a lovely piece of choreography performed on the Friday concert. Photos are of Amanda Porter in Cool Tunes!, and the FAC students after the concert in the lobby of the Nancy Smith Fichter Dance Theatre.

Jan Woodward, who earned her M.F.A. in dance from FSU had time to speak with Patty Phillips, co-chair of the department and one of her professors in graduate school, and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, who is the Founder and Artistic Director of Urban Bush Women and was named FSU’s 2011-2012 Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor, the highest award granted to FSU faculty.

The FAC students visit Annie Fox’s dorm room and ask her questions about being a dance major at FSU and what college life is really like. Blake Ulmer, an FAC graduate (2011) and current FSU dance major, helped set up the dorm visit and talked with the FAC dancers, as well. Annie, who comes from Philadelphia, is a freshman majoring in dance.

Following the tour of the Dance Department, Larry Gerber, Professor of Voice and Coordinator of the Voice Program in the College of Music, gave a tour of the Music building and facilities along with graduate student Heather Stuyverson. Larry Gerber was the first voice teacher at the Fine Arts Center and was Karen Parks’ first voice teacher. Karen Parks is the current voice instructor at the Fine Arts Center.

The PM dancers traveled to Tallahassee, Florida to visit the Florida State University's Dance Department and to attend two evening concerts. Joyce Fausone, the Dance Department’s Coordinator of Special Events and Community Relations, arranged a tour of the Dance Department and scheduled the dancers to observe a contemporary class taught by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar and the centre of a ballet class with Rick McCullough. Patty Phillips, the co-chair of the department spoke to the dancers about the curriculum and Joyce Fausone about special programs, such as the FSU in NYC, Dance in Paris and the Summer Program in Valencia, Spain. For more information about the FSU Dance Department visit www.dance.fsu.edu. Dirk Holleman, FAC Theatre Tech teacher, chaperone and driver, was instrumental on the field trip managing the bus and navigating Tallahassee and the FSU campus. Dirk is an FSU (and FAC) alum.

The group photos are in front of the Westcott Building at the main entrance into the campus. Pictured are: Dirk Holleman, Maren Trofatter, Lauren Pittman, Rhiannon Laymon, Beth (Elizabeth) Byouk, Jacki (Jacqueline) Calle, Kara Nightingale, Hannah Winton, Samantha Patterson, Nikki Morath, Coryn Owens, Jan Woodward, Charlotte Brown, Tiffany Bunch (theatre student).

New members Jacqueline Calle, Mireille Fehler, Mattison Williams and Hannah Winton were inducted into the FAC chapter of the National Honor Society for Dance Arts (NHSDA). Current members have their photo taken in the dance studio.

Pictured in the back row: Mireille Fehler, Jacqueline Calle, Charlotte Brown, Coryn Owens, Lauren Pittman, Samantha Patterson, Hannah Winton, Maren Trofatter. Front row: Mattison Williams, Rhiannon Laymon, Lael King.

Wanda Ebright from Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, NC taught a modern dance master class to both classes on October 25th. Ms. Ebright is the chair of a new interdisciplinary department that includes the Visual and Performing Arts. She spent some time speaking with the dancers about the new program and about the university at the end of the classes.

Rebecca Lee, a FAC Dance Alumna, was a guest artist at the Fine Arts Center October 17-21. She set a new piece of choreography on the AM dancers during her week residency. Rebecca received her M.F.A. in Dance from Florida State University and currently teaches ballet to the A.R.M.E.S. dancers (the after school dance program for elementary and middle school students held at the Fine Arts Center). This is her second choreography residency at the Fine Arts Center.