VLADIMIR ISSAEV JOINS ARTISTIC ADVISORY COUNCIL (December 2005)

CALL TO TEACHERS: INDEPENDENT PEDAGOGICAL SURVEY (December 2005)

CDA SELECTED FOR NEW YORK STATE ARTS THINK TANK (September 2005)

CDA'S ELIZABETH KENDALL IN NEW FILM ON MARIINSKY (September 2005)

BALLET RUSSES DOCUMENTARY TO OPEN THIS FALL (September 2005)

ARTS BALLET THEATRE OF FLORIDA DANCES FIREBIRD (September 2005)

CDA WELCOMES NEW APPOINTEES (August 2005)

CDA TO ATTEND 2005 VAGANOVA ACADEMY CONFERENCE (June 2005)

CDA ATTENDS CLASSICAL BALLET ROUND OF YOUTH AMERICA GRAND PRIX (June 2005)

CDA ATTENDS ARTS ADVOCACY DAY IN D.C. (April 2005)

CDA ATTENDS ARTS DAY IN ALBANY (April 2005)

CDA INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN NASD STANDARDS REVIEW (April 2005)

CDA BEGINS FORMING ARTISTIC AND BUSINESS ADVISORY COUNCILS (March 2005)

CDA NAMES NATIONAL AND STATE COORDINATORS (March 2005)

CDA ATTENDS NASD AND NDEO CONFERENCES (November 2004)

VLADIMIR ISSAEV JOINS ARTISTIC ADVISORY COUNCIL (December 2005)

CDA is delighted to welcome Artistic Director, Ballet Master, and Choreographer of the Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida, and former Ballet Master of Ballet Nacional de Caracas. Born and trained in Russia under some of the leading Classical Dance pedagogues, Issaev pursued advanced study for Ballet Master and Choreographer at G.I.T.I.S. in Moscow. He has both danced and staged much of the traditional repertoire, and been recognized for his original choreography. As an advisor to CDA, he will help to guide the organization in fulfilling its mission going forward.
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CALL TO TEACHERS: INDEPENDENT PEDAGOGICAL SURVEY (December 2005)

Ballet instructor and author Anna Paskevska is researching how teachers use the position sur le cou-de-pied in petit battement exercises at the barre.
She asks respondents to indicate:
1) whether you instruct students to use a "wrapped," flexed, or fully stretched foot, and
2) where in the sequence of the barre you place the exercise.

Please email responses to: paskevska@earthlink.net. 
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CDA SELECTED FOR NEW YORK STATE ARTS THINK TANK (September 2005)

Fast Forward: Framing the Future is the culmination of a statewide cultural needs assessment conduced by The Alliance of New York State Arts Organizations. The agenda for the introductory session in Glens Falls on September 12th and 13th includes a look at the current funding climate as well as challenges and opportunities facing state cultural leaders, and a discourse among participants for securing the role of the arts in preparation for a major statewide conference in 2006. CDA Executive Director Janet L. Springer was among those invited to attend the plenary.
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CDA'S ELIZABETH KENDALL IN NEW FILM ON MARIINSKY (September 2005)

Classical Dance scholar Elizabeth Kendall, who now sits on CDA's Writer Council, is interviewed in the new documentary Sacred Stage. The film is about the legendary Mariinsky (Kirov) Theater of St. Petersburg and how it survived and maintained its artistic integrity through war, revolution, and the collapse of Communism. Director Joshua Waletzky tells the story through performances from the opera and ballet, and interviews with performers and scholars. The film is available through many DVD retailers.
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BALLET RUSSES DOCUMENTARY TO OPEN THIS FALL (September 2005)

Filmmakers Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine have woven together rich archival footage to tell the story of the unprecedented artistic collaboration known as the Ballets Russes. What began as a group of Russian refugees who never danced in Russia became not one but two dance troupes whose rivalry consumed London society before World War II. For information, theaters, dates, and trailer, visit:
http://www.balletsrussesmovie.com
or
http://www.zeitgeistfilms.com/trailers.php
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ARTS BALLET THEATRE OF FLORIDA DANCES FIREBIRD (September 2005)

Set to Stravinsky's score with new choreography by Artistic Director Vladimir Issaev, the Florida company performs variations from the fabled ballet in a mixed program at Broward Center for the Performing Arts and North Miami Performing Arts Theater in October. For details go to:
http://www.artsballettheatre.org
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Modris Cers, Ballet Master of the Latvia Ballet in Riga has agreed to sit on CDA's Artistic Advisory Council, and Ron Boucher, Co-Director of the Eastern Virginia School for the Performing Arts will serve as CDA State Representative for Virginia.  Elizabeth Kendall, writer, arts critic and teacher, has agreed to serve on CDA's Critics and Scholars Council. The appointments are part of CDA's ongoing effort to broaden national and international participation.
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Executive Director Janet L. Springer and Business Director Dennis Mullen will be in St. Petersburg in June for the annual event. The Academy, which has produced some of the finest dancers ever to grace the stage, invites attendees to demonstrations covering much of the core curriculum of the school of Classical Dance, along with classes in character dance, historical dance, and pas de deux, as well as performances by graduating students. An international contingent of ballet instructors and professionals will observe the training methodology applied by some of the world's most respected and experienced pedagogues where it was first developed by Vaganova herself.
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CDA was on hand at Martin Luther King Jr. High School on April 16th to watch Junior (age 12-14) and Senior (age 15-19) Divisions perform ballet variations selected from the list provided by YAGP. Not surprisingly, the variations even as modified proved too challenging for earnest and talented Junior competitors who have yet to develop the vocabulary, technical skills, musicality, and artistry to handle choreography intended for fully trained and mature dancers. Most impressive to CDA among Senior contestants was Yika Isomoto of Japan, taught by Shouji and Katue Hanzawa of Studio Ballet Int'l, dancing from Le Corsaire. Other standouts were Gleidson Soares Vasconcelos dancing from Le Corsaire and Hanae Seki from La Bayadere, both taught by Svetlana Osiyeva of Harid Conservatory in Florida; Aeri Kim, taught by Jacqueline Archmedowa of the Universal Ballet Academy of Washington, D.C., dancing from Paquita and Seung Hyun Lee, taught by Anatoli Kercheruk also of UBA, dancing from Giselle; Giu Huang Rui of China, taught by Zhen Dan Lu and Xu Jian of Shenzhen Arts School, dancing from Le Corsaire; Marilia Cardoso Licio of Brazil, taught by Simone Malta of Centro Cultural Gustav Ritter, dancing from Carnival in Venice; and Erica Jennifer Young, taught by Sandra Balestracci of Eastern Virgina School for the Performing Arts, dancing from Paquita. YAGP winners are named on the organization's Web site at <www.yagp.org/eng/nyc05.asp>.
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CDA was among 75 national arts organizations in Washington on March 15th to support increased federal funding for the arts and arts education. With an eye towards expediting global artist exchange programs envisioned by CDA, Executive Director Janet Springer met with aides to Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer, and Representatives Jerrold Nadler, Nita Lowey, and Louise Slaughter, Co-chair of the bipartisan Arts Caucus, the second largest caucus in Congress. Topics included reforming international visa processing and reducing processing times and fees, and increased funding for the Cultural Programs Division of the Office of Citizen Exchanges through the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the State Department.
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On Arts Day in Albany March 22nd, Springer called on the offices of State Senator Thomas Duane and Assemblyman Scott Stringer in support of increased NYSCA (New York State Council for the Arts) funding and the Cultural Development Areas Act. She voiced concern that dance funding guidelines under NYSCA are performance driven and do not provide for dance teacher training. Efforts to supplement the Governor's proposed NYSCA budget by $2 million for fiscal year 2006, however, have failed initially to muster support from both houses.
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In reviewing and amending its standards for accredited institutional membership over the next four years, the National Association of Schools of Dance has invited qualified organizations including CDA and its contingency to comment on its existing standards online at <http://nasd.arts-accredit.org/index.jsp?page=Standards>. Standards for graduate degrees are the primary subject of the current comment period, which lasts until May 1st, 2005. Click on the Standards Review section to keep current with the ongoing review process.
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A number of notable figures in the ballet world who share CDA's vision for Raising the Barre on Ballet Training have agreed to serve as Artistic Advisors to the organization, including Anna-Marie Holmes, Irina Kolpakova, Leandro Regueiro, Colin Russell and Laura Grube. The Council will offer its expertise in evaluating the ballet training environment, helping to develop programs and establish program guidelines, and steering the organization generally towards meeting its objectives. Business Advisors already on board include Betty Evans of Palm Desert, California, a former public relations executive for AT&T; Lorene Lacer of of Amarillo, Texas, community activist and retired executive with the electric utility Southwestern Public Service; and Olga Abramova of the St. Petersburg Hotel in Russia.
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Anna Paskevska has agreed to serve as CDA National Coordinator. Ms. Paskevska, an author on dance pedagogy and a ballet teacher at a Chicago private school, is charged with overseeing the efforts of CDA State and Regional Coordinators to build the Alliance and help promote and coordinate CDA activities regionally. Ballet instructors and dance school directors Michelangelo Canale of Alaska, Stephanie Chabau of Florida, Vance Baxter Vogel of Kentucky, Edith Pilsbury of Oregon, and Marlene Turbin Weldon of Wisconsin will support CDA efforts in their areas.
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At the NASD (National Association of Schools of Dance) Conference in Tucson last September, Executive Director Samuel Hope called attention to the challenge faced by dance educators with mounting administrative duties to meet their responsibilities in the classroom, and encouraged an end to infighting over conflicting philosophical approaches to teaching. At its conference in East Lansing, Michigan this past October, NDEO (National Dance Education Organization) reviewed its draft document entitled Professional Teaching Standards for Dance in Arts Education (PTSDAE). The document provides criteria for evaluating "highly qualified" teachers under No Child Left Behind (2001). Pending national review, the draft document will be posted on the NDEO Web site in the hope that it might inform state efforts. Task Force members are Jane Bonbright, Dale Schmid, Sara Lee Gibb, Brenda McCutchen and Karen Bradley.
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