Date: Jan 25, 2012

Take to the Stage …

Hofstra University Presents the Second Annual High School Dance Festival, Feb. 20-21, 2012

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY … Hofstra University’s Department of Drama and Dance is offering high school students the opportunity to take two days of dance classes with Hofstra’s accomplished faculty. This High School Dance Festival will culminate with a studio performance on the Hofstra campus. The Festival is scheduled for February 20 and 21, 2012. Times are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday and 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

The fee to participate is $50 per student. Students must bring their own lunch, but a picnic dinner will be provided on Tuesday. To register or for more information contact Jean Benincasa at jean.benincasa@hofstra.edu or call (516) 455-3111.

Students will take the following classes:

Jazz with Royce Zackery. Mr. Zackery has performed nationally and internationally with companies, including Urban Dance Collective, Nathan Trice/Rituals, and Ballet Neo, and in the national touring companies of the Broadway shows Oklahoma! and  My One and Only. He has taught at Broadway Dance Center, Steps on Broadway, and for the Alvin Ailey Extension Program.

Modern Dance with Amy Marshall. Ms. Marshall has worked with Parsons Dance Company, David Storey Danceworks, Cortez & Company, and Taylor 2. In 2000 she founded the Amy Marshall Dance Company. For more than 10 years, the company has performed and led residencies across the United States, in eastern Europe, in China and in South America.

Ballet with Jason Melms. Mr. Melms has performed across the U.S. and in Europe with Joffrey II, Eglevsky Ballet, Virginia Ballet Theatre and the New York Baroque Dance Company; among others. His teaching credits include Hofstra University, NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts Summer Program; USDAN Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, Eglevsky Ballet, Ballet Tech and the Peridance Center.

Master Classes

Irish Dance with Cian Smith on Monday, February 20.  Mr. Smith, a Hofstra senior, is a second place winner of the World Irish Dancing Championship, third place winner of the All Ireland Dance Championship, two-time first place winner of the North American Irish Dancing Championships, and a seven time first place winner of the New England Irish Dance Regional Championship.

African Dance with Dyane Harvey-Salaam on Tuesday, February 21. Ms. Harvey-Salaam is a founding member of the Forces of Nature Dance Company. She has previously performed with Fred Benjamin, Eleo Pomare,  Dianne McIntyre and Ze-eva Cohen and on Broadway in The Wiz, Your Arms Too Short to Box with God, and Timbuktu.

For more information on Hofstra’s Department of Drama and Dance visit hofstra.edu/drama-dance .

Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution of higher education where more than 12,000 full and part-time students choose from undergraduate and graduate offerings in liberal arts and sciences, business, engineering, communication, education, health and human services, honors studies, a School of Law and the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine.

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