American College Dance Festival

Hundreds of college dancers from across the Midwest will visit Washington University March 3-6 as part of the American College Dance Festival Association’s (ACDFA) 2005 Central Region Festival.

One of 10 regional ACDFA events, the Central Region Festival brings together approximately 300 student and 50 faculty dancers representing 20 colleges and universities from nine states, along with nationally renowned choreographers David Dorfman, Donald McKayle and Trinette Singleton, who will serve as adjudicators. The four-day conference will include dozens of workshops, lectures, demonstrations and master classes as well as a variety of student and faculty performances, all leading up to a Gala Concert finale.

“The ACDFA provides students and faculty with unique opportunities to experience the diversity of the national college dance world, through the choreography presented and the wide range of classes and workshops,” said Mary Jean Cowell, Ph.D., associate professor and coordinator of the Dance Program in Arts & Sciences. “Our adjudicators — all experienced dance artists — will give public commentary” on most of the dances to foster an open and constructive forum on choreographic process and style.”

Public performances begin with a Faculty Concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 3. A trio of adjudication concerts — featuring a total of 30 student works — will begin at 12:15 and 8 p.m. Friday, March 4, and at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 5. Highlights of the adjudication concerts will be reprised during the Gala Concert, at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 6.

Tickets for the faculty and gala concerts are $8 each, or $5 for students and seniors. Tickets for the adjudication concerts are $5, or $3 for students and seniors. Passes to all five concerts are $20 and $15.

All performances take place in Edison Theatre, located in the Mallinckrodt Student Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. For more information, call (314) 935-5858.

In addition, two free events will be held March 5. An Informal Concert featuring another 12 student works begins at 12:30 p.m. in Edison Theatre. At 5:20 p.m., David Marchant, senior artist-in-residence will present a 10-minute performance titled “Treedance” in the field immediately north of Graham Chapel.

Dorfman, a Washington University alumnus (BU ’77), is the founder of the renowned company David Dorfman Dance, which has performed extensively in New York City and throughout North and South America, Great Britain and Europe. His many awards include three New York Foundation for the Arts fellowships; an American Choreographer’s Award; the first Paul Taylor Fellowship from The Yard; and a 1996 New York Dance & Performance Award (“Bessie”) for his community-based project Familiar Movements (The Family Project).

McKayle — named one of “America’s Irreplaceable Dance Treasures” by the Library of Congress and the Dance Heritage Coalition — has choreographed more than 50 works for companies in the United States, Europe, Israel and South America. He made his professional debut in 1948 with New York’s New Dance Company and later performed in the companies of Sophie Maslow, Jean Erdman, Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham and Anna Sokolow. His numerous honors include five Tony Award nominations; the NAACP Image Award; an Emmy Award nomination; the Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award; the Capezio Award; the Heritage Award; the Living Legend Award; and the Outer Critics Circle Award.

Singleton began her career with The Joffrey Ballet in 1965 and two years later became the first dancer ever to appear on the cover of a national news magazine — Time. She has toured throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe, performing in ballets by notable choreographers such as Joffrey, Arpino, Ashton, Balanchine, Cranko, DeMille, Jooss and Tudor. She is currently director of Bravo!Dance in Wilkes-Barre, Penn., and on faculty with The Joffrey Ballet School in New York.