Year in Review: Dance

The Dance Program has continued to expand its pedagogical offerings and raise the bar for dance production values. Dance Director and Lecturer Elizabeth Bergmann and Senior Lecturer Claire Mallardi, through the Committee on Dramatic Arts, taught curricular movement classes to 22 students. There were more than 875 enrollments this year in the co-curricular program. Visiting artists played a vial role in he education of Dance Program student and a Harvard contingent attended the American College Dance Festival. The Dance Program staff continued to work with students and the FAS administration in seeking a solution for the future home for dance at Harvard.

Past and present dancers from the Paul Taylor Company and Taylor 2, the company’s touring ensemble, provided a powerful, direct link to this great artist’s work. In November, Taylor 2 offered a master class and an informal performance called “How We Dance What We Dance,” co-sponsored by the OFA’s Learning From Performers program. Mary Cochran, a former long-time principal dancer of the Taylor Company and current faculty member at Mills College, was featured in a January residency. Cochran taught a daily technique and repertory class that featured excerpts of Taylor’s work.

In March, Dramatic Arts Lecturers, Dance Program Instructors, and Dance Program students attended the Northeast Regional American College Dance Festival. On March 10, the Dance Program co-presented choreographer Mark Morris with the Learning From Performers program in Sanders Theatre. Dancers’ Viewpointe III, the Program’s annual showcase of selected student and professional choreography, took place April 10th-12th. New works by Dance Program instructors Jodi Allen, Laszlo Berdo, Elizabeth Bergmann and Adrienne Hawkins were premiered. Students Brad Backus (HMS), Shelby Braxton-Brooks ’03, Jetta Martin ’04 and Ryuji Yamaguchi ’03, who had auditioned in the fall for the opportunity to choreograph new works and were mentored throughout the academic year by instructors Elizabeth Bergmann, Brenda Divelbliss, Claire Mallardi and Margot Parsons, presented their own exciting new choreography.

Designed to complement the vibrant and ever-growing dance community at Harvard, the newly created Harvard Contemporary Dance Ensemble, Elizabeth Bergmann artistic director, gave its premier concert in May. This on-going ensemble, featuring the choreography of Bergmann, well-known guest artists, and program instructors, in comprised of instructors and advanced Harvard students. Also in May, Sean Curran, former principal with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Dance Company and stomp cast member, and Susan Shields, who has performed with The White Oak Dance Project and Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, presented master classes. Brenda Divelbliss, Dance Program Artistic Associate and Teaching Fellow for “The Art of Movement Design” (Dramatic Arts 14), was recognized with a CUE award. These are given to TF’s who receive student evaluation scores of 4.5 out of 5.0 from a minimum of 7 students. Divelbliss is also a dance instructor at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School.

The Rieman Center, Harvard’s hub for dance instruction and performance, also hosted student-run dance companies, including Mainly Jazz, Harvard-Radcliffe Dance Company, and the Harvard Ballet Company, throughout the year.

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