Theater and Dance 2009-2010
Overview
Our mission is to explore what it means to be an artist. Theatre and Dance, which are integral parts of the liberal arts education at Union College, encourage academic excellence and engage students in inquiry and experiences that develop risk taking, collaborative skills and critical judgment - essential tools for every profession. Our production season reflects these goals in eclectic choices exploring a variety of techniques and genres from many cultures. We seek to experience historical, political, social, technical and artistic choices through performance.
Theater and Dance at Union offers:
- An academic foundation in theater literature and history, as well as technical production and performance skills preparing interested students for further study and/or professional training
- An opportunity for involvement in all aspects of production for all students in a small and rigorous program that nurtures community in the liberal arts tradition
- Study with a faculty of working theater professionals and guest artists
- A modern theater and dance complex with three performance spaces, design studio, well-equipped scenic and costume shops and faculty offices
- The choice to study abroad, take on the challenge of professional internships and/or specialized training opportunities with theater artists and institutes
THE FACULTY
William Finlay, Chair
Professor of Theater
Prof. Finlay has directed and choreographed throughout the New England area. While serving as a senior member of the performance faculty at Boston University from 1981-1994, his professional work was seen at the Alley Theater, the People’s Theater, the Hartman Theater Company, the Huntington Theater Company, Portland Stage, Trinity Square Repertory Company, and the American Repertory Theater. As a founding Director for the Blue Heron Theater Company in New York City, he directed the American premiere of Fernanado Arrabel’s “On The Tightrope.” In 1990 he directed and choreographed the original music-theater piece “ViVa Cummings!” a work that was later shown at the IX International Theatre Festival in Carcas, Venezuela. As a nationally known combat choreographer for the stage, his work has been seen in many regional theaters throughout the country. Since 1999 he has served as the Artistic Director of the Saratoga Shakespeare Company, a professional summer Shakespeare festival in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. At Union he is the Chair of the Theater and Dance Department. He has a B.A. in Theater education/speech from Rhode Island College and an M.F.A. in Directing from the University of Connecticut.
Patricia Culbert
Senior Artist in Residence
Prof. Culbert is an internationally trained actress and a teaching professional who specializes in vocal and performance training for the actor. She holds an M.F.A. in Directing from Boston University’s School of Theater Arts. She is a voice over artist for audio books and coaches theater productions at colleges and professional theaters throughout the capital region and is an acting company member of the Saratoga Shakespeare Company in Saratoga Springs, New York. She previously was coordinator of theater at Dean College in Massachusetts and has taught at Skidmore College and Northeastern University. Prof. Culbert has been professionally associated with the Capital Repertory Theater, Williamstown Theater Festival, the Seattle Repertory Theater, the Hartman Stage Company, and, among other numerous Boston theaters, the Huntington Theater Company.
Charles Steckler
Professor of Theater and Designer-In-Residence
Prof. Steckler is a studio artist and theatrical designer. He has exhibited his work - drawings, prints, photographs, collages and dioramas - in numerous one-person and group exhibitions and he has designed stage sets for over 100 shows. He has been a Yaddo Fellow, an Associate at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, a Resident Artist at the Vermont Studio Center and a Prix de Rome Finalist. He received his B.A. from Queens College (NY) and his M.F.A. from Yale University where he studied with Donald Oenslager and Ming Cho Lee. In search of new ideas and images for his design and studio work Steckler has traveled to Mexico, Russia, Thailand, Nepal, Bali, Korea and frequently to Western Europe. In 2006, he had a 35-year retrospective exhibition in Union’s Mandeville Gallery.
Steven Michalek
Visiting Assistant Professor of Theater and Dance
Steven Michalek has held myriad positions at numerous regional theaters including Merrimack Repertory Theater (carpenter/welder), Shakespeare & Company (lighting designer, master electrician, ATD), the Ogunquit Playhouse (TD) and Connecticut Repertory Theater (TD). He has also acted on area stages including the Mac-Hayden Theater and the Ghent Playhouse. He has previously taught at Milton Academy’s Center Stage Summer Program and at the New Hampton School. He has a B.A. in English from the University at Albany and an M.F.A. in technical direction from the University of Connecticut.
Lloyd Waiwaiole
Costume Designer and Visiting Assistant Professor
Lloyd Waiwaiole has spent his entire life in the theater. At age seven, he toured with “The King and I” and spent his childhood singing and dancing. He received his master’s degree in theater design from San Jose State University. His work has been seen in theme parks across the country, in New York, and in regional theaters from California to New Hampshire. He is a founding member of Capital Repertory Company and is a teacher/designer at The New York State Theatre Institute. Known best for his numerous costume designs, he takes great joy in directing and teaching. At Union he has designed costumes for many productions, scenery for seven productions, and has now directed many productions.
Department of Theater and Dance Web site
Dance
The dance program offers an active, practical program for college credit plus multilevel technical classes, workshops, master classes and performance opportunities. All students of dance, both beginner and experienced, are given the opportunity to work with experienced faculty. The elements of discipline, exploration, experimentation, and creativity join to provide an environment of learning and development.
Minor in Dance - A total of 6 credits are required to achieve a minor in dance. Students must take a choreography course (ADA050), a history (ADA052, ADA053, or ADA0140) and one elective chosen from (ADA 490-493) – see Academic Register. One required credit must be chosen from the theater program in consultation with the Director of Dance. Two full dance technique credits must be acquired over six terms of study.
“Dance in America” is an introduction to dance from Native American to contemporary diverse styles such as ballet, modern and post-modern dance as well as the foremost important movements of Latino and African American dance. This general education course includes live performances, workshops, lectures, and video viewing. There is special emphasis on historical background and international influences, the study of dancers, choreographers, tradition, and trends that influence the making of contemporary dance as an art and form of expression. No prerequisite.
“American Musical Theater and Dance” is a general education course introducing the American Musical from Vaudeville and Minstrel shows to today’s contemporary Broadway shows. Through lectures, video viewing and workshops students learn a historical background focusing on the work of lyricists, composers, choreographers, directors and producers. This unique American entertainment art form reflects American diversity and culture, changing times, values and trends. No prerequisite.
“Special Topic in Comparative Studies. Histoire de la danse, Danse de l’histoire/History of Dance, Dance of History” examines Western European dance and dance texts as a revelatory of broader historical and cultural patterns. A general education course with special analyses of dance as a key tool of nation-building (as with the court of Louis XIV) and/or a central medium of artistic creation (as in 1920s Paris), primary focus on France as creator, user, and potential abuser of dance’s power, and attention given to other European models (Berlin, St. Petersburg, London). Readings are from theoreticians, historians, and dance litterateurs such as Moliere, Gautier, Cocteau. No prerequisite.
“The Dance Experience” course introduces the many facets of dance through the discovery of dance vocabulary, styles, and creative skills to publicly present original choreography. Special emphasis on inner creative abilities, and built on trust to explore the art of choreographing. Studio classes include specific dance forms, video viewing, improvisation, and creative process sessions. Dance technique classes are recommended.
“Staging Explorations in Theater and Dance” course is based on the close examination of a particular period or theme of multidisciplinary artistic production that will offer students an immersion into important developments in performance expressions. The curriculum will explore a dynamic movement in the artistic avante-garde, its historical background, and its principal creators in theater, dance and associated performing arts, through discussions, lectures, studio work, and collaborative creation. The resulting theater-dance collaboration is produced and performed at the Yulman Theater during the winter term.
Technique classes in ballet, jazz, modern dance, Hip Hop and tap are held in a state-of-the-art facility to recorded accompaniment. Students gain an in-depth understanding of how the body moves while also gaining an increased understanding of proper placement, alignment, and flexibility. The classes offer training that is both anatomically healthy and artistically inspiring. Students develop the ability to move through space with a sense of ease that comes from knowledge and understanding. These classes are offered in ballet (three levels), modern, jazz, hip-hop, tap, dance and fitness and Pilates for performers. Course credit is available at the rate of one-third credit per trimester (for full details, please see the Academic Register). The fee is $100 for the first class, every additional class is $50. Union students are encouraged to take as many classes as they elect to pursue.
Each year, the dance program receives guest artists specialized in diverse dance styles and forms of dance expression. Dance workshops in classical have been taught by Edward Villella, artistic director of the Miami City Ballet, as well as members of the New York City Ballet. In modern dance lecture-demonstration have been given by the Jose Limon and Paul Taylor dance companies, and Ballet Jazz de Montreal. The dance program also offered dance technique workshops in Afro-Caribbean dance, traditional Japanese dance, musical dancing, and contact improvisation with an instructor from Cirque du Soleil. Union faculty and students have the opportunity to present their own choreography during the Winter Dance Concert presented at the Yulman Theatre and the Steinmetz Dance Performance at the Nott Memorial in the spring.
The Department of Theater and Dance has a special relationship with Edward Villella and the Miami City Ballet. In 1991, Edward Villella received an honorary doctorate from Union. In 1994, the Edward Villella L.H.D. 1991 Fellowship was created from gifts of Charles D. Lothridge, class of 1944. The yearly award is granted through a juried competition and is intended to expand a student’s study of dance beyond the Union experience.
THE FACULTY
Miryam Moutillet
Senior Artist in Residence and Director of the Dance Program
Miryam has studied with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, the National Ballet of Canada, the Banff School of Fine Arts, and Maggie Black of New York. From 1976-1979, she danced professionally and toured internationally with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, interpreting classical and modern works by choreographers such as Balanchine, Fokine, Petipa, Dolin, Bejart, Butler, and Nault. In 1980, she co-founded with Edouard Lock La La La Human Steps, a dynamic and eccentric post-modern dance company that has been acclaimed worldly. Since 1983, acting as her own choreographer, she has performed one-woman shows, played in theatrical performances, worked in videos and films, and performed with visual artists. During, 1990-2001, she periodically lived in Japan. Interested in Asian culture, she studied Asian history, Chinese calligraphy and Traditional Japanese Dance “ The Hanayagi Buyo style”. As a choreographer, she uses her wide expertise to create dances that challenge movement vocabulary. As a teacher, she aims to conduct classes in diverse dance styles and emphasizes the act of dancing. As an independent artist Miryam Moutillet explores the many possibilities of the performing arts, reaching for a contemporary vision of the world.
Carla Domenico-Wasbes
Dance Instructor, Hip Hop
Carla Domenico graduated from Russell Sage College with a master’s degree in physical therapy. She studied Jazz, Modern, and Hip Hop with Philip Cole of Montreal, coaches the Emeralds Dance Team for the Albany Patroons and teaches Hip Hop at eba Center as well. She has choreographed for many groups since 2000 including The Young Guild, The Student Dance Club of RPI, and the Conquest AFL2 Football Treasures Dance Team. Carla’s choreography has been featured in Brave New Dances for several years.
Christine Geren
Dance Instructor, Ballet and Pilates for Performers
Christine Geren began her training with The Northeast Ballet Company in Schenectady, NY. Supported by dance and academic scholarships, she earned a BA in Dance from Mercyhurst College while also performing lead roles with The Lake Erie Ballet in The Nutcracker, Balanchine’s Serenade, Alice in Wonderland and Giselle, among others. Ms. Geren is currently a principal dancer with the Albany Berkshire Ballet, guest artist with the Ajkun Ballet Theatre and a seasonal member of the Northeast Ballet Company. Her repertoire includes Paula Weber’s Carmina Burana, and as well as principal roles in Caprice, Nocturnes, Our Town, The Rockwell Suites, and The Nutcracker with the Albany Berkshire Ballet and Chiara Ajkun’s Le Corsaire and Giselle. Ms. Geren teaches ballet, pointe and pilates for the School of the Albany Berkshire Ballet and is certified under POWER PILATES® for Pilates Mat classes. She is also the School Administrator for the School of the Albany Berkshire Ballet.
Marcus Rogers
Dance Instructor, Jazz, and Tap
Marcus Rogers has trained locally at the Myers Dance Studio and Cindy’s Academy of Dance. He has also studied in New York City on scholarship at Peridance Center, Studio Maestro, and the Joffrey Ballet School. Some of his professional credits include the national tour of Sesame Street Live, the national tour of Bear in the Big Blue House Live, and Jean Ann Ryan Productions with the Norwegian Cruise Lines. Marcus has performed many principle roles with the Northeast Ballet Company. He has also worked with the Schenectady Light Opera Company, Park Playhouse, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, the National Museum of Dance, and Spotlight Management. He is currently a faculty member at Union College and an instructor at Myers Dance Studio.