This one is special, for me: I am back at Goucher (my alma mater, and my workplace for so many years) with many of the same dance faculty still there, and "echoes" of those no longer there and of all the endless stream of excellent guest artists across the decades... I am playing back in the very studio where I first began accompanying as a Work-Study undergrad in the sixties, forty years ago - playing for Guest Artists like Paul Taylor before they had even become such permanent icons.
Tender nostalgia. The lovely Kraushaar Auditorium stage, where I first played live for choreography in performance, where I helped run the lights for the mind-boggling Alwin Nikolais company when he was there as Guest Artist in the early 70s, where I first saw Eiko and Koma and so many others, where I played (along with Ferd Maisel) for choreography Gus Solomons Jr. had set on the Goucher dancers in '93 - twenty years after I had first played for his Guest Artist classes there. One more chance to try to thank Dr. Chrystelle Bond (Emeritus, the former Chair who first brought me into the studio to play for dance), and Amanda Thom Woodson (current Chair, with whom I have worked in various capacities at Goucher College, Carver Center for Arts and Technology magnet school, and Surge Dance Company). And Elizabeth Ahearn (whose excellent ballet classes at Goucher and at Carver have always stood for the height of professionalism, to my eye). Great faculty.
Wonderful memories. Wonderful people. Wonderful place. One of America's finest college dance programs (although I am, I will admit, prejudiced!).
Playing two Ballet classes, a big-movement Modern taught by Autumn Belk from NC State, and an Improvisation-as-Choreographic-Tool taught by Jane Wellford from Elon.
- played delicately for Adjudicator Joann Mendl Shaw's Physical Listening class for faculty
- played wildly for a great Taylor-esque Int/Adv Mod class taught by Tom Smith
- Ballet for Sharon Garber
- Ballet for Sherry Jerome
- Ballet for Mickie Geller
This was musically a very exciting ACDF, since three other musicians and I got to jam together for several Modern classes! Fun. My thanks to Brian Casey, DJ Dorian, and Salvador Barajas, we were quite an ensemble.
- Int Mod for Deborah McLaughlin
- Int Mod for Roxann Morgan
- Int/Adv Mod for Autumn Belk
- Adv Mod James Frazier
- Mod Sandra Lacy, as part of the jam group
- Adv Mod E.E. Balcos, as part of the jam group
- Played for Jessica Zeller Ballet
- Laura Morton Contemp. Ballet
- Chase Angier Int. Mod.
- James Hansen Int/Adv Mod. a most enjoyable class to play
- Bebe Miller Adv Mod. joined by my bass player Michael Sisson
- also jammed with Sue Chess for Steve Stone's Cunningham Mod.
This was a challenging ACDF to play, since there was no piano or keyboard available for any of these classes, so all my accompaniment was therefore just some combination of my guitar, percussion, and/or voice.
- Played for (from Oberlin) Holly Handman's Advanced Modern Up-Ending class
- (from Pilobolus, etc.) Trebien's Intermediate/Advanced Modern class
- (from Wayne State) Kelly Gottesman's Intermediate/Advanced Modern class
- (from Europe, and now Belhaven) Stephen Wynne's Advanced Modern class
- (from Kenyon) Balinda Craig-Quijada's Intermediate/Advanced Modern class
- Adjudicator Bill Evans' faculty-only master class
- again for another Kelly Gottesman's Intermediate/Advanced Modern class
- Adjudicator JoAnn Mendl Shaw's Moving Through Space master class
- Paul Matteson's ADF Audition master class
- Adjudicator Bill Evans' Laban-Based Modern (open to the students) master class
- Adjudicator Helanius Wilkins' Modern Fusion master class, which was great fun to play for
This was interestingly organized by VCU's full-time musician Robbie Kinter, who had gathered enough experienced dance accompanists for this festival that there were scheduled PAIRS of accompanists for many of the classes! There were also good pianos for all but two of the classes I played, so I used piano, guitar, percussion, and voice variously combined.
- Played (with local percussionist Marc Langelier) Shane O'Hara's Nagrin-Based Improvisation
- Played (with local percussionist Marc Langelier) Patrizia Herminjard's Chance Dance class
- Played (with percussionist Ken Ray Wilemon) Ray Schwartz' Intermediate Modern class
- Played (with percussionist Ken Ray Wilemon) Helanius Wilkins' Intermediate/Advanced Modern
- Played (solo) for (from Old Dominion) Amanda Kinzer's Intermediate Modern class
- Played (with pianist/percussionist Karen Follett) Helanius Wilkins' Performance Skills class
- Played (with percussionist William Goffigan) Gretchen Studlien-Webb's Intermediate Modern
- Played (with percussionist William Goffigan) an Advanced Modern listed as Sandra Lacy but taught by Reuben substituting for her
- Played (solo) Adrienne Clancy's Intermediate/Advanced Modern class
Played 8 classes and taught a Music For Dance workshop.
Played for:
- Mark Taylor Body/Mind Centering Adjudicator's Class
- Two classes of Andre Kozlowski (Dance Alloy to 2003, University of
Pittsburgh, Germany, Switzerland, London):
Intermediate Ballet (in a room with no piano! I used guitar
and voice for ballet!), and Advanced Modern
- Elizabeth Trimm (LIU CWPost) Intermediate Modern Cunningham
- Balinda Craig-Quijada (Kenyon) Intermediate Modern
- Julie Brodie (Kenyon) Intermediate Modern
- Elaine Heekin (Hamilton College) Beg/Int Contemporary
- Jean Palmer-Fornarola (U Buffalo) with SRU accompanist David Ledbetter
The Workshop I taught was Tabloid Headlines Rhythm Game (the Link is to the International Guild of musicians in Dance site, where the handout from this Workshop has been archived), and about a dozen participants enjoyed the rhythms and choreographic ideas, and ended the time with a photo session where they took turns posing drumming/dancing!
Played 6 classes and taught a Music For Dance Workshop,
also played at NCArts on the way to the ACDFA,
for Brenda Daniels excellent Advanced Modern Cunningham, with drummer John Pratt.
Played at NCState for:
Sybil Huskey (UNC Charlotte), Debra Austin (Carolina Ballet), Jolie Long (Brenau U),
David Beadle's Modern (he was subbing for absent Alvin Mayes), Angela Hill (U Tenn),
and danah bella (Radford), who invited me down to Radford as a guest artist the following November.
Played 13 classes (played every class slot every day including all three adjudicators' classes)
including Dan Wagoner's memorable Adjudicator's Class
Also played every class slot the whole time I was there, 13 classes
Played numerous classes all three days including Joseph Mills and Doug Hamby
Played numerous classes all three days including Nancy Lanier again, Jaclynn Villamil, Mark Haim, Jim May, and John Brooks
Played numerous classes all three days including Marina Walchli again, and Nora Ambrosio
Wonderful days, playing for Doug Neilson, Viola Farber, Lan-Lan Wang, Julie Thompson, George de la Pena, and others
Great festival, culminating with a six-musician miracle jam for Gus Solmons Jr.'s Adjudicator's Class in a ballroom with probably 300 dancers none of whom wanted it to end! One of the great experiences of my entire musical life.
Playing for some of the best master-class teachers I have ever played for, including Woody McGriff, Walter Kennedy, Ken Talley, Nancy Lanier, and others
While I was at University of Arkansas in the eighties, we (the University of Arkansas Fayetteville dance department) went down to one of the early ACDFA Regionals, in Oklahoma, a gathering of U Arkansas Fayetteville, SMU, TWU, etc... That was the historical beginning of my happy addiction to ACDFA Regionals!