JFD NOVEMBER 2004 NEWSLETTER

An electronic publication of Jane Franklin Dance, 3700 South Four Mile Run Drive, Arlington, VA 22206. Tel. 703-298-3235. Web site www.janefranklin.com. E-mail to info@janefranklin.com.

Copyright^© Jane Franklin Dance 2004

CONTENTS

Recently Danced (Highlights of the fall performance season)
In The News (Our volunteer wins an award)
You Won’t Want To Miss (Upcoming performances)
Works in Progress (JFD’s newest projects)
Urgently Needed (Nurturing JFD)
Spotlight On (Profile of Alex Short, senior company member)

Welcome

This is the first electronic newsletter of Jane Franklin Dance (JFD). Thanks for reading us!

Recently Danced

JFD has been busy! Since this time last year, company members have performed, lectured, or been in residence in over 35 venues throughout the state and region.

Fall’s highlight was Oct 16 & 17, when JFD shared the program at Dance Place in Washington, DC, with VT Dance for two performances of Side By Side. The title piece featured Jane Franklin and Vincent Thomas in a witty, spirited duet that calls to mind the reflexive sparring of a political season, ending in whimsy. The program also featured (from JFD): Blue Moon, a lulling play of light and shadow set to music by John Cage; In the Blink of an Eye, layered images of serenity, speed, danger, and rescue; and the humor-filled Games, a contrast in competition and cooperation. Parts of Blue Moon and Games were reworked to include JFD’s Young Dancers enrolled in the Fall Workshop. At times there were as many as 13 young and adult dancers on the stage together!

Earlier, to kick off the fall performing season, JFD was in residence at the ninth annual New Dance Festival at James Madison University (JMU) in Harrisonburg, Va., Aug. 27 through Sept. 3. Each year, JMU Dance Program faculty and students invite a guest company to perform with them, and JFD was honored. During the week- long residency, the company taught several master classes and Jane set an outdoor work on 13 JMU students. The company performed Whisper, Blue Moon, and In the Blink of an Eye. Jeff Hoodock, reviewing in the Harrisonburg, Va., Daily News-Record, called the work “polished, nuanced.” The work for the JMU dancers in the sculpture garden setting was described as “pleasing for both its restrained exuberance and for taking full advantage of a large dramatic space.”

JFD also traveled to Richmond, Virginia, to perform with the city’s own Starr Foster Dance Project at Grace Street Theatre, October 8 and 9. Each company presented three works to a nearly full house. Julinda Lewis from the Richmond Times Dispatch noted Jane's “fine-tuned sense of humor” in the “delightfully playful” Games.

Video clips:   www.janefranklin.com/videoclips.html
Reviews:       www.janefranklin.com/press.html

In The News

Congratulations to Carma Fauntleroy, who received the Business Volunteers for the Arts (BVA) ® / Washington Recognition Award for her work during 2003-04 with JFD. The award celebrates arts and business partnerships and the contributions, efforts, and achievements of BVA participants. While at JFD, Carma accomplished a Board development and planning project.

In her “business” life, Carma provides executive management services and is currently director of the Textile Museum. She will be honored at a luncheon at the Kennedy Center Terrace Restaurant on Dec 9.

You Won’t Want To Miss

On Jan. 8, 2005, JFD will present Day & Night matinee and evening performances at Gunston Theatre One, 2700 S Lang Street Arlington VA 22206.

The Jan. 8 evening performance (8 pm) will feature music by Jonathan Morris and Tom Bickley and poetry by Kim Roberts. Jane's new work explores a cascading domino effect as it ripples through two couples. Also on the program will be Alvin Mayes’ Adam & Eve-inspired duet from his Paradise Project, and Hidden Languages, a work by Ursula Payne exploring the tensions that develop when people retreat to their secret places and invisible dialogues.

The Jan. 8 matinee (3 pm) will be a splendid collaboration featuring JFD company members, JFD Young Dancers Project performers, and our invited guests, the Choreographers Collaboration Project Youth Group.

Please plan to attend! Tickets are available at a discount from our website, www.janefranklin.com).

Also, on February 26-27, 2005, JFD performs at the University of Maryland’s renowned Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center as part of a Choreographers Showcase sponsored by the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission. JFD is honored to be selected for this showcase, adjudicated by nationally known artists Johanna Mendl Shaw and Kevin Wynn, for the second year running. On the program, JFD performs In the Blink of an Eye. For ticket information and directions to the center, which is located on the university’s main campus in College Park, go online to www.claricesmithcenter.umd.edu or call (301) 405-ARTS (301-405-2787).

Works in Progress

Our newest community project is Ridge Line, a dance/music collaboration with composer Judith Shatin, director of the Virginia Center for Computer Music at the University of Virginia, and supported in part by the Arlington Commission for the Arts and the Virginia Commission for the Arts.

There will be a site specific performance of Ridge Line at Fort C.F. Smith Park on April 10, followed by a Concert for Community weekday mid-morning performance on April 28, and an evening performance on April 30, both at Gunston Theatre One.

Urgently Needed

JFD is looking for male performers for our Spring Season. JFD provides opportunities to perform in many types of settings, to teach in the community, and to grow as an artist. It’s an excellent place to dance! Please contact us at info@janefranklin.org or call (703) 298-3235.

The company is seeking part-time administrative assistance in Marketing. Click here to see a job description. Also, volunteer opportunities abound with JFD. Many are listed on our web site (see links under “Support/Get Involved with JFD.” Let us know if you would like to volunteer or assist the company in any way.

JFD seeks shared office space with an arts-savvy partner in Arlington County. Also, we are investigating new performing spaces for special programs in and around the Washington, DC area. Please let us know if you have any leads.

As always, JFD seeks your tax-free donation to help nurture and grow our dance and dancers. Major contributors are listed on our web site (see “Support/Funders”). We hope you will help.

Spotlight On

Alex Short, JFD’s senior company member, has been dancing in the Washington area for 16 years with a number of local choreographers and dance companies. He holds a degree in biology from Oberlin College and is a certified movement analyst (CMA) through the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies.

Where were you born and raised?

That great tropical city of Buffalo, New York. Well, actually, a suburb north of Buffalo called Tonawanda – famous for its chemical plants and very large grocery stores (really, really huge).

When did you start dancing?

That depends on what you call dancing. I did the usual show dancing in high school and leaped around the house when no one else was home. Then I started taking real dance classes when I was in college.

What type(s) of training have you had?

I studied modern, ballet, and contact improvisation in college. Then I came to Washington and took more modern classes as well as tap and ballroom. Most importantly, in 2000, I finished the Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) certification program and became a CMA. You can bet that brought in the bucks.

What brought you to the Washington area (and to JFD)?

My college roommate moved here and I followed after I graduated. Fourteen years later, I produced a dance concert of works by CMAs – it was a smashing success. Jane was one of the choreographers in that concert. She asked me to join the company shortly after that.

What inspires you when you dance?

What inspires me to dance is that I really like moving. Any kind. Improvisation, contact improvisation, modern, jazz, butoh, ballroom, country western, baratanatyam, Hindu mystical, Georgian post-post expressionist, tightrope walking, progressive and pseudo-progressive skydiving, stochastic underwater ballet…. Oops, got a little carried away there. It’s best if you stop after country western.

Have you read any good books lately?

My Life by Isadora Duncan, Balanchine: Celebrating a Life in Dance, Dance to the Piper by Agnes De Mille, and Michel Fokine and his Dances. I started reading Jerusalem, by Karen Armstrong, who also wrote the History of God and who I like very much, but then I got sidetracked by The History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell (really!). The two are quite interesting together.

What do you do when you're not dancing?

Not dancing?

Suggestion Box
Any suggestions for JFD News? Please write them down and send them to info@janefranklin.com.