The School

John Levis

2010-07-12T04:00:01Z

John Levis, a native Philadelphian, is a composer-pianist and synthesist
who has been involved with the Philadelphia dance community since 1971. It was after his graduation magna cum laude from the Philadelphia Musical Academy (now University of the Arts) in 1980 that he became involved with dance full time. Over the last 27 years, Levis has worked at a number of Philadelphia area schools and companies, including Temple University, the Rock School of Dance Education, Philadanco and the University of the Arts, where he is music coordinator for the School of Dance. He has composed ballets for Milton Myers, Roni Koresh and Manfred Fischbeck, among others. In 1995, he was commissioned by Dance Spotlight to compose and perform the musical score for two videos (later released on DVD) on the technique of Lester Horton. This was done with Ana Marie Forsythe and Marjorie Perces and with dancers from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. In 2004, he composed a score for Milton Myers as part of Philadanco's 35th anniversary at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. He continues to compose for dance, to work with independent film projects and to compose instrumental compositions of all kinds. This will be Levis' 14th year on faculty at Jacob's Pillow. ]]> Contemporary Traditions Program Music Director

Pamela Pribisco

2010-07-12T04:00:01Z

Pamela Pribisco was a principal dancer with the Cleveland Ballet for ten

years. She served as Ballet Mistress for the Cleveland Ballet, American Ballroom Theatre, and Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, for which she choreographed and staged numerous pieces in their repertoire. Pribisco has been Company Teacher for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and recently, was Company Teacher and Ballet Mistress for Complexions Contemporary Ballet Company. She teaches annually at The School at Jacob's Pillow and guest teaches nationally. In addition, she has choreographed original productions of Peter Pan and Peter and the Wolf for young audiences and has written several articles for Pointe Magazine advising young dancers on their careers.]]> Ballet Technique and Alignment for Contemporary Program

Hofesh Shechter

2010-07-12T04:00:01Z

Hofesh Shechter is one of the United Kingdom's most exciting artists,

recognized as both a choreographer and composer. Born in Jerusalem, Hofesh graduated from Jerusalem Academy for Dance and Music before joining Batsheva Dance Company. After his choreographic debut, Fragments, Hofesh was commissioned by The Place Prize 2004 to create Cult and in 2006 The Robin Howard Foundation commissioned Uprising, Hofesh's ever-popular work for seven men. In 2007, The Place, Southbank Centre and Sadler's Wells collaborated in commissioning In your rooms which was presented at all three London venues culminating in sell-out shows and subsequently won the Critics Circle Award 2008 for Best Choreography (modern). Hofesh has created works for many United Kingdom and International companies including Scottish Dance Theatre, CandoCo Bern Ballett, Skanes Dansteater, Carte Blanche and Cedar Lake. In 2008 Hofesh formed Hofesh Shechter Company who tour globally to critical and popular acclaim. Hofesh is an Associate Artist of Sadler's Wells.]]> Contemporary Program Faculty

Carla Maxwell

2010-07-12T04:00:01Z

Carla Maxwell joined the Limón Dance Company in 1965. She soon became a principal dancer and, in 1975, served as Assistant Artistic Director under Ruth Currier. Maxwell was appointed Artistic Director in 1978, and during her tenure the Company has emerged as one of the finest repertory dance ensembles in the world. She received the 1995 Dance Magazine Award and a 1998 New York Dance and Performance "Bessie" Award. Her work has been honored by the governments of Colombia and Mexico and in 2002/2003 she was the Isadora Duncan Award recipient for her re-staging of José Limón's Psalm. Maxwell has danced many roles with the Limón Dance Company, including the title role in Carlota, Limón's final ballet which he choreographed for her. She is responsible for many of the Limón Dance Company's reconstructions of Limón's dances and has choreographed works for the Limón Dance Company and regional companies throughout the United States.]]> Contemporary Program Faculty

Milton Myers

2010-07-12T04:00:01Z

Milton Myers performed with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and was

Director of the Trisler Danscompany for six years. He has taught for the Ballet Hispanico, New Danish Dance Theatre, Les Ballet Jazz de Montreal, Batsheva, Matthew Bourne's Male Swan Lake Company on Broadway and Ballet Stagium in Brazil. He is a professional instructor for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and is an instructor and resident choreographer for Philadanco. Myers is currently on faculty at the Juilliard School and Fordham University's Ailey Program. He has taught throughout Europe, Israel, South America, South Africa, and Canada. He has choreographed for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Judith Jameson, Carmen de Lavallade, Danish Dance Theater and Philadanco. The International Association of Blacks in Dance honored Myers for his artistry and contributions. He has been director of the modern and contemporary program at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival for 24 years. ]]> Contemporary Program Director

Janet Panetta

2010-07-12T20:04:11Z

After training with Antony Tudor, Margaret Craske and Alfredo Corvino,

Janet Panetta danced with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. Performing in modern and post modern companies, she was called "one of the best performers in fifty years" by the New York Times. She has trained dancers in companies such as American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Limón Dance Company, and Trisha Brown Dance Company. She has also been a guest teacher for European companies including Tanztheather Pina Bausch. Her experience in classical and contemporary dance enables her to teach classical technique in a way adapted to dancers with a modern background and training. Panetta's class addresses the requirements of classical technique and the potential and uniqueness of each individual's dancing. The principles of alignment taught have been developed in order to build a firm technical foundation and to allow freedom of movement. ]]> Ballet Faculty for Contemporary Program

Dana Moore

2010-08-02T04:00:01Z

Dana Moore was last seen on Broadway in the smash hit Chicago. If you

missed her in the Broadway production of Fosse, you can catch her on the DVD. A veteran Fosse dancer, Moore worked directly with Bob Fosse as a featured soloist on the Broadway shows Dancin' and the 1986 revival of Sweet Charity. Other Broadway credits include working with Director/Choreographer greats Michael Bennett for A Chorus Line, Tommy Tune for The Will Rogers Follies, Twyla Tharp for Singin' In The Rain and Graciella Danielle for Dangerous Games. She also worked with Woody Allen in the film Everybody Says I Love You, Wayne Cilento in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, George Abbott and Donald Saddler in On Your Toes and Hal Prince and Rob Marshall in The Petrified Prince. Moore is on the faculty at STEPS and teaches master classes in theatre dance nationally and internationally. As a performer, she is a founding member of Chet Walker's company, WALKERDANCE. Moore was in Chet Walker's Jazz on Jazz, which premiered at Jacob's Pillow in 2004. In February 2007, she had the opportunity to reprise and elaborate on Jazz on Jazz at the Shein Auditorium on Sanibel Island, Florida, to much critical acclaim. In addition to her 2004 performance here, Moore also performed in A Jazz Happening in 2007 and 2008. This is her third season on faculty with the Jazz/Musical Theatre Dance Program.

]]> Jazz/Musical Theatre Dance Guest Artist Faculty

Steve Marzullo

2010-08-02T04:00:01Z

Steve Marzullo received his training at the Manhattan School of Music. His

New York credits include: musical director for Once On This Island, Working (Actors' Fund) and Having It Almost (NYMF); associate conductor for Mamma Mia, Seussical, Grease (1st revival), Saturday Night, Floyd Collins and A Little Night Music (E.L.T.); pianist/keyboards for Ragtime, Sweeney Todd (1st revival), Smile, Olympus On My Mind, Blame It On The Movies, Proposals, Back to Bacharach and David, as well as the concert versions of Dreamgirls, Funny Girl, Chess, On the Twentieth Century and Company (original cast). His film credits include pianist for Disney's Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, and Fox Anastasia. At regional theaters and on tours, his credits include musical director for I Do, I Do at the Cape Playhouse, Cinderella at St. Louis MUNY, Tell Me On a Sunday at the Kennedy Center (starring Alice Ripley), Paper Moon at Paper Mill Playhouse and Nude, Nude, Totally Nude at the Canon Theater (starring Andrea Martin). His composer credits include Songs From an Unmade Bed and The Audience, and for Audra McDonald, "Burning the Sauce" (Seven Deadly Sins), "I Hid My Love" (Nonesuch Records), and "Some Days" (Donmar Warehouse Video). This is Marzullo's second season as Music Director for the Jazz/Musical Theatre Dance Program.

]]> Jazz/Musical Theatre Dance Program Music Director

Chet Walker

2010-08-02T04:00:01Z

A performer on Broadway since the age of sixteen, Chet Walker has appeared

most prominently in the musicals of Bob Fosse. Conceiver of the Tony Award-winning musical Fosse, he is an international director choreographer, and artistic director of WALKERDANCE. His staging of The Producers won the Israel Theatre Award for Best Choreography. He has served as a cultural envoy for the U.S. State Department Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs in Serbia and Italy. He directs A Jazz Happening, a benefit for The School at Jacob's Pillow and works internationally on behalf of The School. This marks his 11th season mentoring dancers in the Jazz/Musical Theatre Dance Program. ]]> Jazz/Musical Theatre Dance Program Director

Ric Ryder

2010-08-02T04:00:01Z

Ric Ryder performed on Broadway in The Music Man, Grease, and Blood

Brothers, among others. He appeared Off-Broadway in A New Brain, The Jazz Singer, Chess, and Gifts of the Magi. Ryder can be heard singing on voiceovers in television and film. He has taught musical theatre at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts CAP21 Studio since 1999 and offers master classes and workshops in musical theatre in New York City and internationally with Chet Walker. He also maintains a private voice studio in Manhattan, working with students studying at New York's famed High School for the Performing Arts and enrolled in undergraduate and master's programs. He also works with artists who perform on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in national tours, and in the recording studio. Ryder was Guest Vocalist for the 2008 A Jazz Happening, and 2010 marks his third season as Vocal Coach for the Jazz/Musical Theatre Dance Program.]]> Jazz/Musical Theatre Dance Program Vocal Coach

Bill Hastings

2010-08-02T04:00:01Z

Bill Hastings has performed in over 40 musicals and plays including
Broadway and national touring productions of The Most Happy Fella, A Chorus Line, Cabaret, Rags, Bob Fosse's Dancin' and Sweet Charity. Hastings has choreographed more than 40 productions for U.S., European and Japanese theater, television, video, industrial and concert dance companies including Peter Pan, The King and I, Dames At Sea, The Pajama Game, My Fair Lady, Where's Charlie?, The Boy Friend, The Wiz and Grease among others; plus The Four Minute Egg and Conga for Dance Kaleidoscope and Pink Tofu for Arts In Motion. His piece, Nabta Playa, created for the modern dance company RhythMEK to an original score by composer Marty Beller, premièred at the 2000 Jacob's Pillow Gala and was also introduced by David Parsons for New York City's Metro Arts 13 for their series on modern dance. Most recently, he choreographed the well received I'll be Bach, Shortly and It's Greek to Me for the Rockland County Dance Ensemble in New York and Now or Never for the Progressive Dance Theater in New Jersey. Currently, Hastings is teaching at Peridance, Broadway Dance Center in New York City and at various private schools in the metropolitan area. This will be his sixth season as a Guest Artist Faculty member for the Jazz/Musical Theatre Dance Program. ]]> Jazz/Musical Theatre Dance Program Guest Artist Faculty

Timothy Kasper

2010-08-02T04:00:01Z

Timothy Kasper is an actor, choreographer, dancer, director, singer, and

teacher. He has collaborated on more than 50 musical productions, nationally and internationally. As a facilitator and teacher, he has privately coached a wide range of performing artists and athletes using an eclectic approach based on many styles of movement and physical therapy. During his extensive teaching career, he has taught Movement for Actors at the Strasberg Institute and has served as full-time faculty at the Hartt School of Music and Theatre, among many other endeavors. Kasper performed on the Jacob's Pillow Inside/Out stage with 8&Ah1 in 1999. He designed the costumes for the very first Jazz On Jazz production, created by Chet Walker, which was presented in the Doris Duke Theatre in 2004. This is Kasper's fourth season on faculty for the Jazz/Musical Theatre Dance Program.]]> Jazz/Musical Theatre Dance Program Yoga Instructor and Assistant to the Director

Teri Ralston

2010-08-02T04:00:01Z

Teri Ralston recently moved back to New York. Since her return, she has performed&Nbsp; in a workshop of Natural Woman with director Michael Blakemore, appeared in Hats, Unbeatable, Bajour at the York Theatre, and Marcie in the Galaxy with Transport Group. Ralston has also released her first solo CD, I've Gotta Get Back to New York. She has directed or performed in many New York City productions including the original productions of Company and A Little Night Music, and eight additional works of Stephen Sondheim. Ralston's original production credits include The Baker's Wife, History of the American Film, Prelude to a Kiss, Quilters, and Home Again, Home Again by Cy Coleman. Ralston performed at Barrington Stage in Pittsfield, Massachusetts in 2009 as Cousin Nettie in Carousel. This is Ralston's second season with The School at Jacob's Pillow as Guest Vocal Coach for the Jazz/Musical Theatre Dance Program.]]> Jazz/Musical Theatre Dance Program Guest Vocal Coach

Lisa Donovan

2010-08-24T04:00:01Z

A theatre artist, educator, and arts-based researcher, Lisa Donovan is

Associate Professor and Director of the Creative Arts in Learning Division at Lesley University. Donovan has presented her work at national and international conferences including the Qualitative Inquiry Group in Georgia, the American Educational Research Association in New York City, and UNESCO's World Conference on Arts Education in Portugal. ]]> Choreographers Lab Program Co-Director

Celeste Miller

2010-08-24T04:00:01Z

Renowned for her solo performance and choreographic projects developed in

collaboration with participants, Celeste Miller is a pioneering artist educator. She is recipient of a Choreographer's Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, co-author and choreographer for the national touring production of Women + War, and guest collaborating artist for Virginia Tech University's Singing Darwin. Currently, she is on the national faculty for Lesley University's masters program, Integrated Teaching through the Arts. Co-founder and director of Jacob's Pillow Curriculum in Motion® program, she has directed Choreographers Lab at Jacob's Pillow since 1995. ]]> Choreographers Lab Program Co-Director