Four distinguished alumni of UNCSA will be the title of the first of all UNCSA Virtual Dance Festival being held on two weekends ̶ 29 to 31 January and 5 to 7 February. Gillian Murphy (high school ’96), principal dancer at the American Ballet Theater, and Kyle Davis (high school ’08), director of the Pacific Northwest Ballet, will offer ballet master classes. Dwana Smallwood, former director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and founder of a nonprofit performing arts center in Brooklyn, and Juel D. Lane (BFA ’12), award-winning dancer and choreographer who performs with Camille A. Brown & Dancers, offer contemporary dance master classes.
The festival offers dancers from 11 years of age, training in a world-class conservatory with renowned teachers. UNCSA Dance School and guest instructors from across the country. The virtual festival is an adaptation and expansion of the North Carolina Dance Festival, which annually brings hundreds of dancers and studio instructors from around the state to the UNCSA campus for a weekend of classes and workshops.
ONLINE REGISTRATION
“While we will miss the excitement and energy that festival participants brought to our campus each year, the COVID-19 pandemic gave us the opportunity to reach even more young dancers across the Southeast, who can participate in the safety of their homes or studio locations, ”said the Festival Director Dayna Fox, member of the dance faculty.
All events will be held online via Zoom. Registrants will need a laptop and a webcam to participate. Registration closes on January 22 for the first session and January 29 for the second session.
“Another advantage of the virtual environment is that we can accept more participants,” said Fox. “We will add more instructors and workshops as needed.”
Participants can enroll in one of three bands: young dancers (ages 11 and 12); intermediate; or advanced. The main master classes, scheduled for Friday nights, are only open to advanced level dancers.
In addition to the four headliners, instructors will include former student Shelby Finnie (high school ’13), a Radio City Music Hall Rockette who appeared on “The Prom” on Broadway and “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert” on NBC; Lindsay Fisher (BFA ’02), dancer and choreographer who teaches at Point Park University and Slippery Rock University and is the co-director of FORGE Summer Dance Intensive; and Ashley Lindsey, who danced with the Limón Dance Company, Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Helen Simoneau Dance and Jessica Gaynor Dance Company and is the director of UNCSA summer dance program.
“We are excited to offer expert instruction from some of our most talented alumni, along with our world-class faculty,” said Fox. “This festival is a must for young dancers who want to take their training to the next level. Opportunities to train with high caliber professionals are rare and precious. “
More about the main attractions
Originally from Green Bay, Wisconsin, Kyle Davis graduated from the Makaroff School of Ballet and received a scholarship from the Rock School for Dance Education. Davis also trained on summer courses, including Milwaukee Ballet, School of American Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet School.
Kyle Davis
Winner of the 2008 Prix de Lausanne contest in Lausanne, Switzerland, Davis also won several awards at the Youth America Grand Prix Regional and Finals in 2005 and 2006. He was a 2007-08 winner of the Elizabeth Harriet Weaver Memorial Scholarship and Martha e Spencer Love Foundation Scholarship for Excellence in the Arts at UNCSA.
Davis played major roles in Balanchine’s “Agon”, “Le Baiser de la Fée”, “Jewels” (Emeralds, Rubies), George Balanchine’s “Nutcracker” (Cavalier, Tea, Candy Cane), “A Midsummer Night’s Dream “(Oberon, Puck),” La Source “,” Square Dance “,” Tarantella, “Theme and Variations,” Peter Boal’s “Giselle” (Peasant Pas de Deux), David Dawson “Empire Noir”, William Forsythe’s “New suite,” “One Flat Thing”, “reproduced”, “The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude”, “Sleeping Beauty” by Ronald Hynd (Prince Florimund, Blue Bird pas de deux, Gold and Silver pas de trois), Jiri Kylian’s “Petite Mort,” Roméo et Juliette “by” Jean-Christophe Maillot “(Benvolio, Acolyte),” Emergence “by Crystal Pite,” Plot Point “” DSCH Concert “by Alexei Ratmansky,” Pictures at an Exhibition “,” The Concert “by Jerome Robbins,” “Dances at a Gathering,” Kent Stowell’s “Cinderella” (Prince, Jester), “The Nutcracker” (Prince, Commedia), “Swan Lake” (Jester, Pas de trois), Twyla Tharp’s “Brief Fling” and “Waiting at the Station”.
In addition to performing with the Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB), Davis choreographed for the company’s main stage, as well as several works for students in the Professional Division of the PNB school. He also created works for the Chop Shop Contemporary Dance Festival, was a choreographic resident at UNCSA in 2017 and at Gonzaga University in 2020, and a guest repetiteur at the English National Ballet.
Juel D. Lane she is a dancer, choreographer, filmmaker and one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch”. Most recently, he won Celebration of Dance: Choreographer of the Year and Best Choreography for Live Performance for “Touch & Agree” by Ailey II.
Juel D. Lane
In 2012, Lane became the first independent black Atlanta-based choreographer to be commissioned by the Atlanta Ballet, choreographing “Moments of Dis” for the company. Lane was selected to participate in the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation 2015-16 Choreography Laboratory for New Directions. Lane’s dance in the film, “The Maestro”, was performed on AfroPunk.com. He recently choreographed in Ailey II and the Dallas Black Dance Theater. Lane was last seen as a dancer on the Emmy-winning TV special, “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert” on NBC.
He recently received the UNCSA Alumni Artpreneur of the Year award, Young Innovator Award from the Southwest Arts Center and Best Music Video for the Bronze Lens Festival. Currently, his film “Touch & Agree” is being shown at several film festivals.
Gillian Murphy repertoire includes leading roles in all the complete classics of the American Ballet Theater (ABT) and in shorter works by Balanchine, Robbins, Kylian, Tudor, Forsythe, Graham, Lubovitch, Taylor, Ashton and Mille. She also starred in world premieres of new creations by Ratmansky, Morris, Millepied, Dorrance, Elo, Barton, Quanz, Weir, Neumeier, Hill, Wheeldon, Stiefel and Tharp.
Gillian Murphy
Murphy was raised in Florence, South Carolina, and received her high school and advanced dance training under the tutelage of Melissa Hayden at UNCSA. As a teenager, Murphy received the Prix de Lausanne Espoir and joined ABT in 1996. After being honored with the Princess Grace Foundation Award, she was promoted to soloist in 1999 and head dancer in 2002. She starred as Odette / Odile at ABT’s The PBS television production of “Swan Lake” and as Giselle in the New Zealand Film Commission’s Stiefel film and Kobborg’s “Giselle” production at the Royal New Zealand Ballet, where she was the main guest artist for three years.
Murphy danced as a guest artist around the world, performing with the Mariinsky Ballet, the Royal Swedish Ballet, the Staatsballett Berlin, the Kiev Ballet, the Australian Ballet, as a dancer with the Metropolitan Opera and in several other international galas and engagements. She is a proud founding member of the Stiefel and Stars concert ensemble and, for three summers on Martha’s Vineyard, ran a training program for 12 to 14 year old dancers, Dreamcatchers.
In 2009, Murphy received the Princess Grace Statue award, the organization’s highest honor. In 2014, Murphy received an honorary doctorate in performing arts from UNCSA. In 2018, she graduated summa cum laude at St. Mary’s College of California with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Proclaimed as “one of the greatest modern dancers” by Vogue magazine, the Brooklyn-born dancer
Dwana A. Smallwood danced for millions as a guest on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” as part of their “The Best…” series. Smallwood learned to dance from a very young age, which led her to be a lead dancer at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
Dwana Smallwood
She appeared on “Sesame Street”, “Good Morning America”, “The Today Show”, “Vibe”, “BK Live”, Wbls FM 107.5, ABC 7 NY News, “The Kennedy Center Honors” and was featured on Oprah’s ” Where are they now.” Smallwood was also featured in “Great Performances” by American Public Broadcasting and in the documentary “Beyond the Steps”, and appears in the documentary “A Hymn for Alvin Ailey”. She was featured in Vogue magazine, photographed by Annie Leibovitz; National Geography; Girl Scout Magazine; Harper’s Bazaar; New York Moves; Essence Magazine; and was the second black woman to appear on the cover of Dance magazine.
In 2013, she founded the non-profit Dwana Smallwood Performing Arts Center (DSPAC), bringing high-level dance education to children and young people, with the goal of shaping elite dancers, creating community identity and stimulating creative activity in people neglected central neighborhoods of the city.
Smallwood studied at UNCSA and received a BA from SUNY Empire State College with a specialization in dance. She also studied at Ailey School, London Contemporary Dance School, Brooklyn Arts & Cultural Association, Martha Graham School, Jubilations and The Palucca School in Germany.
She received numerous accolades, including a tribute from New York City Council member Robert E. Cornegy, Jr. (Key to the district, Proclamation of the 36th district of the city council), Mention from the district president of Brooklyn, Mention from city council (Outstanding Arts and Culture Leader), Brooklyn’s Best Honors, and Bedford Stuyvesant Museum of African Art (Nelson Mandela Humanitarian Award), among others.
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