For Ballet, Jazz and Modern Dance Teachers

2008 Workshop Dates:
August 10 - August 15

Admission limited to 25 applicants. College credit available.

Dance Teacher Intensive is designed to help teachers connect and re-connect to why we love to teach dance. Guiding dancers to improve their capabilities and artistry is no easy job. It’s not just about the steps.

In this workshop, each day we will be moving together, taking technique classes, talking, moving, constructing, deconstructing, and talking some more.

Our Complete 2008 Faculty and Program Schedule will be announced soon.

2007 Master Teachers and Program Schedule

• Peter Chu
• Elaine Gardner
• Rebecca Dietzel
• Stephen Pier
• Linda Kent

ADMISSION AND COSTS
Admission to the program is limited to the first 25 applicants.

Cost: $1,200 includes the workshop and all meals

Lodging: Rustic dormitory lodging is available at no additional charge, or we can assist you with lodging recommendations.

Payment Policy: (check or credit card)
$500 nonrefundable deposit is due upon application
Balance is due July 1st

Professional Workshop Application (Word)

Peter Chu began his training as a competitive gymnast and evolved into a dancer at Dussich Dance Studio in Merritt Island, FL. Receiving his BFA degree from the Juilliard School under the direction of Benjamin Harkarvy, Peter was awarded the Hector Zaraspe Prize for choreography. Upon graduation, he joined Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal (BJM Danse) directed by Louis Robitailles for two seasons. He has taught and choreographed for the Edge Scholarship show in LA, the cast of "Le Reve" created by Franco Dragone, Houston Metropolitan Dance Co., The Juilliard School summer dance, Busan International Beach Dance Festival (Korea), as a guest teacher for LADF dance conventions, Dance Masters of America national and regional conventions, Le Domaine Forget Summer Intensive in Charlevoix, Quebec, and for the Invito Alla Danza Festival 2003 in Rome. His versatility and love for dance has motivated him to express his artistry/choreography through various dance techniques and styles. Now pursuing a career as both a choreographer and performer, his work has been presented at Alice Tully Hall, The Clark Studio Theatre, The Juilliard Theatre, Wortham Theater Center, Key Club(Carnival), as well as many other schools and theatres across North America. He recently finished creating and dancing for the film "Love Runs Red," directed by Trevor John. Peter is enjoying his time performing for the Celine Dion show, "A New Day," in Las Vegas.

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Gardner first began creating works in Los Angeles, focusing on collaborations with musicians. Since then, she has created over ninety works for Pick of the Crop Dance, many of them incorporating original music, environmental sculpture, and literary texts. In 1995, Gardner began the creation of a cycle of three full length, Broadway scale productions based on fairy tales with large casts of young dancers and professional soloists. Hansel & Gretel, The Snow Queen, and Cinderella have been seen by over fifty thousand people in Buffalo, Jamestown, Geneva, and Potsdam.

Gardner’s work has also been performed by Western New York ballet and theater companies. A past recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts dance/video grant, Gardner has also been funded by the highly competitive New York State Council on the Arts Dance Program (annually since 1989) and the Arts Council in Buffalo and Erie County. She is a member of the New York State DanceForce and a panelist for the New York State Council on the Arts Dance Program.

Pick of the Crop Dance received the Arts Organization of the Year award from the Arts Council in Buffalo and Erie County in 1996. In 2001, Gardner was inducted into the Western New York Dance Hall of Fame, and was honored by the University at Buffalo Department of Theatre and Dance at their fall dance concert as one of seven western New York dance “treasures.”

Gardner has taught contemporary dance, ballet, choreography and improvisation since 1986 at Nichols School in Buffalo, where she also directs and choreographs for the Nichols Dance Ensemble. Gardner has taught and choreographed at private dance schools throughout the northeastern United States and in Scotland and Latvia. As an extension of her creative work, she creates artist residencies and in-depth projects to introduce children to movement. These residencies have been funded by regional arts councils and service providers throughout upstate New York and New England.

One of her original projects, “Learning on the Move,” has enjoyed particular success as a model for the arts as learning. In this project, an entire grade level creates its own multidisciplinary, movement-centered production. Students create and perform their own script, choreography, music, and visual art under the guidance of classroom teachers and artists from Pick of the Crop Dance, based on a theme from the school curriculum. Learning on the Move had a sixteen-year residency at Holmes School in Tonawanda, funded by the New York State Council on the Arts Arts in Education Program, which led to the school’s recognition as a National School of Excellence in 1992. Learning on the Move has also been employed at schools in Buffalo, Clarence, and Jamestown.

Gardner has worked with autistic and other challenged children at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and in numerous public and private schools. In 1998, Gardner created the Seedling Project, a four-week summer training program for young dancers with a serious interest in concert performance. This program has attracted students from Buffalo, Rochester, Jamestown, and as far as Louisiana. In 1999, she established a junior company called the Seedling Company. This ensemble of a dozen talented young dancers performs throughout the community and, on occasion, with Pick of the Crop professional dancers in repertory concerts.

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Linda Kent (Program Director) toured internationally for over 21 years as a principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Her national television appearances include Ailey's On Being Black, Memories and Visions, Cosby Celebrates Ailey and five Taylor programs for the PBS series Dance in America. Miss Kent has staged works by Taylor, Ailey, and David Parsons for dance companies around the world, including Joffrey Ballet, Bat Dor Company of Israel, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, London Contemporary Dance Theater, La Scala Opera Ballet and the Juilliard School. Miss Kent graduated from the Juilliard School and has been a faculty member there since 1984. She has also taught at the Taylor School, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, the University of Illinois, and Wake Forest University. In 1992, she was the first modern dancer asked to teach at the Bolshoi Ballet School in Moscow. Linda is returning to Perry-Mansfield for her seventh summer as Director of Dance.

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Our 2006 Master Teachers and Program Description

• Finis Jhung
• Rebecca Dietzel
• Elaine Gardner
• Linda Kent

Finis Jhung presented "New Ideas for the Ballet Class." Rebecca Dietzel looked at functional anatomy and neuro-muscular re-education. Elaine Gardner offered strategies for bringing creativity to your teaching and avoiding teacher burn-out. She also demonstrated techniques for engaging the young dancer. Director Linda Kent explored the art of coaching; going beyond the steps. Participants received written course materials to help them incorporate what they learned back in their own studios and classrooms, including an extensive booklet by Finis Jhung that detailed teaching tools, exercises, steps and more. The Master Teachers and invited guests presented additional seminars in Injury Prevention, Bringing Dance to Alternative Audiences, and Nutrition.