Fall 2009 Emerging Artists:

This program is designed to provide infrastructure for choreographers, to create new work with a focus on group work and to provide deep, ongoing mentorship between experienced and early-to-mid-career choreographers. The Emerging Artist Award provides the opportunity for New England-based choreographers to be in residence at Green Street Studios from September 2009 to November 2009. Green Street Studios will provide choreographers with Mentor/Choreographers, and will provide 40 hours of rehearsal space per awardee for the creation of new work. The new works will premiere in a fully produced, shared concert at Green Street Studios in December, 2009.

All awardees and their dancers will meet with the Mentor/Choreographers together twice in the process to show their ongoing work and to discuss/provide feedback. Scheduled group meetings with individual groups and mentors will take place several times over the rehearsal process to provide a forum for group discussion. For the final concert, choreographers will share production responsibilities including but not limited to: marketing, public relations, program design, press release, costume design, and care of the performance space. Audience interaction is the final component of the Emerging Artists: following the final performance, a panel discussion open to the public will follow. The Mentor/Choreographer will moderate a discussion encouraging audience questions and comments directed to the choreographers.

Mentors for the Fall 2009 session are Kelli Edwards and Dean Vollick.

KELLI EDWARDS has been performing and choreographing in the Boston area since 1993. Her concert work has been presented at Green Street Studios, The Dance Complex, the ICA, and just recently at Summer Stages Dance at Concord Academy. She has also choreographed numerous theatre productions for The New Rep, American Repertory Theatre. The Huntington, Actor's Shakespeare Project, and Stoneham Theatre. She has performed in the works of Marcus Schulkind, David Parker, Sara Rudner, Ruth Birnberg, Brian Crabtree, and Nicola Hawkins among others. Kelli received her MFA in Choreography from Smith College and is currently on the performing arts faculty at Milton Academy.

DEAN VOLLICK began his ballet training at the late age of twenty, already a college student in Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. He has studied with many fine Canadian teachers including Lois Smith, Glen Gilmour, Luc Amyot, Mavis Staines; the Artistic Director of Canada’s National Ballet School, Laura Alonso (daughter of Alicia Alonso) at the Banff School of Fine Arts. His career as a classical dancer spanned several years and included work with Ontario Ballet Theatre, Ballet Omaha, and Ballet Florida. Though he loved the classics, he found that contemporary dance was his forte, and acquired training in Graham based technique while working with Toronto Dance Theatre. As a company dancer and freelance artist Mr. Vollick danced across Canada and many parts of the US. A desire to teach led him back to the National Ballet School where he completed the two-year teacher-training course for professional dancers. He is on the faculty of the American Academy of Ballet at their Summer School of Excellence, held at SUNY College in Purchase New York. He spent four years as a full time teacher at Boston Ballet and was Principal of Boston Ballet’s ground breaking Citydance outreach program. Currently Mr. Vollick is working as a freelance teacher and choreographer in the Boston Area, and is on the faculty of Ballet Arts Worcester, Walnut Hill Academy, and Boston Conservatory. He recently completed certification in the foundations of Gryrotonic Exercise, and is enjoying working as a trainer with dancers and non-dancers alike.

Thank You & Congratulations to the Fall 2009 Emerging Artists & Mentors on a wonderful and successful show!

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