A CREATIVE STAFF
The two primary visionaries of the nationally recognized Office of Special Programs at Skidmore College are Sharon Arpey and Donald McCormack. Sharon Arpey is a forty-year veteran of Special Programs and is currently the program director. Ms. Arpey is responsible for conference operations, institutes and programs and the management of the summer campus, including the modern dance residencies. Maria McColl is the Assistant Director of Institutes and Programs and facilitates the dance residencies. Antoinette Smith consults with the visiting dance companies to create the course curriculum for all credit-bearing residencies.
Site-specific dance at the Tang Museum during the residency of the Martha Graham Dance Company. Photo provided by the Office of Special Programs.
Donald McCormack started working for Special Programs in 1972. He became dean in 1986 and steered the program until his retirement almost twenty years later. He worked as a tireless advocate for the arts and education, and he was dedicated to bringing the best to Skidmore and introducing them to the surrounding community. His vast contacts ranged from choreographers to musicians, from writers to stage directors and everything in between.
Since Donald McCormack’s retirement, there have been several deans, including Paula Newberg (2005–6), Jeffrey Segrave (2006–11) and interim dean Paul Calhoun who began in 2011.136
Skidmore’s Office of Special Programs has been greatly responsible for exposing upstate New York to modern dance and has had an important impact on cultural life in Saratoga Springs. Partly as a result of this exposure, other venues in the area established modern dance series, such as the Egg in Albany and the Spa Little Theatre. Some modern dance companies have been presented on the Saratoga Performing Arts Center main stage. The Dance Alliance, the National Museum of Dance and the Saratoga ArtsFest have all collaborated with and benefitted from the dance residencies sponsored by the Office of Special Programs at Skidmore College.
Chapter 7
MODERN DANCE IN SARATOGA SPRINGS
FESTIVALS AT THE SPA LITTLE THEATRE
Under the auspices of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, the Spa Little Theatre has long been one of the primary presenters of modern dance in Saratoga Springs. Its smaller stage and more manageable seating capacity have made the Little Theatre a better-suited venue for modern dance than the large amphitheater. Small-scale ballet performances were also held there.
In the summer of 1969, dancer and choreographer Paul Sanasardo began the Theatre of Modern Dance, a festival of modern dance performances and a school for dance students. Sanasardo and many of the performing artists were part of a teaching faculty that included Dance Alliance founder Patricia Peterson, Skidmore’s Isabel Brown and Mary DiSanto-Rose. This festival was held in August, from 1969 to 1972, and featured a selection of the prominent modern dance companies of the time. Many of these dance companies were also performing nearby at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Becket, Massachusetts.137
For a few years, the Acting Company and Film Festival dominated the Spa Little Theatre. Dance returned briefly in 1975 with performances by the Murray Lewis Dance Company, and from 1979 to 1983, modern dance programing was reinstated.
The 1980s were an important decade for modern dance in Saratoga Springs. In 1984, Skidmore College Special Programs started the modern dance residencies on campus, the National Museum of Dance opened in 1987 and the New York State Summer School of the Arts School of Dance began its program in 1988. The Little Theatre Modern Dance Festivals resumed in the late 1980s with the return of many favorites, the introduction of several new companies and a variety of other dance styles.
The Spa Little Theatre. Photo provided by the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
The New York City Ballet’s Little Theatre Choreography Project, directed by Sean Lavery, debuted in the Little Theatre during the 1987 and 1988 seasons. Young dancers from the School of American Ballet performed in informal lecture demonstrations that introduced several young choreographers to a new audience. Also during the 1989 season, the Copasetics, a classic jazz tap group from Harlem, and Flamenco dancer Pilar Rioja performed.
The extensive 1988 and 1989 modern dance seasons included performances of well-known works and Saratoga premiers. Many of the companies participated in lecture/demonstrations and master classes at the National Museum of Dance, and several of these great choreographers were inducted into the Hall of Fame while their companies were performing in Saratoga Springs.138
“Dance Views” was a 1991 series of “informances.” Companies showed their work in an informal setting and discussed the creative process with audiences. Participants included Lar Lubovich Dance Company, Garth Fagan Dance and the Denishawn Repertory Dancers.139
As a result of the modern dance festivals in the Spa Little Theatre, the preeminent modern dance companies of the country developed strong ties to Saratoga Springs. Together, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and Skidmore College were striving to establish a modern dance season to complement that of the New York City Ballet. Saratoga Springs was indeed becoming a destination for world-class dance.
SARATOGA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
By the late 1990s, select modern dance companies were moving onto the main stage of the amphitheater. Garth Fagan Dance Company performed Griot, a work created with musician Wynton Marsalis and a varied repertory program. Writer Mae Banner, an avid modern dance fan, wrote:
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. Fondly Do We Hope…Fervently Do We Pray choreography by Bill T. Jones. Photo by Lawrence White courtesy of Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
“Translation” was smooth, never frantic, loose but controlled, with the beat deep down in it. It finished with an easy strut that crowded the stage with leg-thrusting, shoulder-swiveling groups, so joyous that the crowd clapped the beat while the dancers did it all over again for a rousing curtain call.140
More recently, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company performed Jones’s dance-theater work Fondly Do We Hope…Fervently Do We Pray and a repertory program featuring one of his signature pieces, Dead Man in the Water. Other major modern dance companies—Martha Graham Dance Company, Trisha Brown Dance Company, Mark Morris Dance Group, Paul Taylor Dance Company and José Limón Dance Company—have all performed on the main stage. Mae Banner again commented:
When the Limón Company dances, the center holds. This is so, whether it’s a solo or an ensemble dance. Even when the ensemble angles off into couples or quartets, the invisible center draws them like a magnet, grounding their most far-flung forays.141
Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company. Rising Low choreography by Ellen Sinopoli. Photo by Gary Gold.
There are currently two modern dance companies in the area. Nacre is the company in residence at the Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs. Directed by Beth Fecteau, Nacre presents classic modern works and showcases new choreographers from the area. The Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company is the resident company at the Egg in Albany and frequently performs in Saratoga Springs.
The Saratoga Performing Arts Center and Skidmore College have led the way by promoting modern dance in Saratoga Springs. Joined by the National Museum of Dance, New York State Summer School of the Arts and the efforts of the Dance Alliance and Saratoga ArtsFest, there is a substantial interrelated modern dance presence in the capital district. Regional presenters, such as the Egg, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and Kaatsbaan International Dance Center enable the companies to reach a wider audience in the Capital District.
SPA LITTLE THEATRE
1969–1972
Alvin Ailey Dance Company
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Lucas Hoving Dance Company
Murray Lewis Dance Company
Paul Sanasardo Dance Company
Paul Taylor Dance Company
Philobulus
Repertory Dance Theatre of Utah
1979–1983
Alvin Aliley American Dance Company
5 by 2 Plus Dance Company
J
osé Limón Dance Company
Lar Lubovich Dance Company
Mummenschanz
Nikolais Dance Theatre
Twyla Tharp Dance Foundation
1986–1990
Hubbard Street Dance Company
Laura Dean Dancers and Musicians
Lewitzky Dance Company
Liz Lerman Dance Exchange
Mark Morris Dance Group
Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Murray Lewis Dance Company
Nicholas Rodriguez and DanceCompass
Nikolais Dance Theatre
Paul Taylor Dance Company
Susan Marshall and Company
Trisha Brown Company
Twyla Tharp Dance
Urban Bush Women
SARATOGA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
1990s–2012
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company
Garth Fagan Dance
José Limón Dance Company
Mark Morris Dance Group
Martha Graham Dance Company
Paul Taylor Dance Company
Trisha Brown Dance Company
Chapter 8
DANCE ORGANIZATIONS IN SARATOGA SPRINGS
THE DANCE ALLIANCE
Pat Peterson was considered to be the guiding spirit and matriarch of the capital district dance community. She started and developed the dance department at the Emma Willard School in Troy. After her retirement from the school, the Pat Peterson Dance Scholarship was established to recognize an outstanding Emma Willard dance student. Pat then devoted all her time to developing dance audiences, volunteering at the National Museum of Dance and directing the Dance Alliance.142
Patricia Peterson (1925–2011). Photo provided by Mary Disanto-Rose.
Under the leadership of Pat Peterson, a community of dance professionals, dance enthusiasts and arts administrators came together in 1978 to form the Dance Alliance. This membership organization was created to facilitate the sharing of information about dance activities in the area. They produced a monthly newsletter that listed all dance opportunities from local performances and master classes to calls for choreographers and trips to Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. The Dance Alliance has subsequently become a primary resource for information and support of the myriad dance-related events in Saratoga Springs.143
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
The Dance Alliance sponsors educational programs that utilize the multiple dance resources in Saratoga Springs. Begun in 1990 by former Skidmore dance pianist Judith Fitzner-Atchinson, the annual Dance+ Festival is a weekend of diverse dance classes for students of all abilities and all ages. Local and invited guest teachers give classes in ballet, tap, classical Indian dance, modern dance and other styles. After being hosted by the Skidmore Dance Department for twenty years, Dance+ is now a one-day event held in the Swyer Studios at the National Museum of Dance.
Andrew Scordato teaching for Saratoga Community Day. Photo by Anthony Tassarotti.
Dancing Through Time is a dance sampler series for senior citizens, also held in the Swyer Studios. Dance professionals offer a lecture presentation on a specific style or choreographer followed by a movement class based on that type of dance. Topics include the legacy of Anthony Tudor, works of Agnes DeMille, the design art of the Ballets Russes and many others.
The Saratoga Community Day has introduced dancers in the community to a variety of dance professionals who teach master classes and discuss their careers. The most recent guest was Andrew Scordato from the New York City Ballet.144
Dance Alliance has organized trips to dance performances at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts, The Egg in Albany, Proctor’s Theatre in Schenectady, EMPAC in Troy and to theaters in New York City. It co-sponsors dance events with the National Museum of Dance, the Emma Willard School and area colleges. This sharing of resources enables visiting artists to “tour” throughout the region.
The Pat and Sven Peterson Scholarship is awarded to a young dance student for intensive summer study. The applicants are screened by members of a selection committee, and the student must be a member of the Dance Alliance.145
The late Pat Peterson’s vision galvanized a dynamic group of dance enthusiasts. They have since been led by former president Mary DiSanto-Rose and current president Mary Ann Fantauzzi. The Dance Alliance members endeavor to fulfill the organization’s original mission:
To create an atmosphere in which dance will flourish by networking and sharing resources among its members; by supporting a critical process for choreographers, performers, and audience, by sponsoring alone or in collaboration with other institutions, dance education programs and concerts for its membership and the public at large.146
SARATOGA DANCES I AND II
In keeping with the mission for Dance Alliance to support emerging choreographers, a major new initiative, Saratoga Dances, is underway. Saratoga Dances celebrates the continuing relationship between the New York City Ballet and Saratoga Springs. This program is the brainchild of Dance Alliance president Mary Ann Fantauzzi and New York City Ballet dancers Justin Peck and Andrew Scordato. As a part of the Saratoga Dances project, New York City Ballet dancers participate in educational programs for area high school students and teach master classes at Skidmore College, the National Museum of Dance and local studios.147
Saratoga Dances debuted in the Skidmore College Dance Theater in 2011. It featured three New York City Ballet dancers in the world premier of The Enormous Room, choreographed by Justin Peck with costumes designed by Mr. Scordato.
The sold-out performance of Saratoga Dances II was held in the fall of 2012 at the Zankel Music Center on the Skidmore College campus. New York City Ballet dancers performed in the world premier of Yaddo Shadow, a duet by Mr. Peck, and in George Balanchine’s Apollo.148 Debra Fernandez’ Swan Song was performed by Skidmore dancers and two guests from the New York City Ballet.
Choreographer Justin Peck shared his thoughts on the Saratoga Dances project:
It was so rewarding to see that we had sold out the large Zankel venue; it made all our hard work worthwhile. Plus, the venue itself is so incredible; seeing the dancers with the glass backdrop overlooking the woods of Saratoga was both distinctive and remarkable. This made me want to continue to bring dance to the Saratoga Springs community during the NYCB off-season.
It is great to present my work here. Saratoga may be a small town, but the people are passionate about dance. They are a real “dance crowd!” They respect the art form, and they have a genuine interest in it. Since they see a lot of dance, I can feel free to try out a slew of ideas on them. Saratoga Dances has been a great testing ground for me to develop certain concepts and movements. It has certainly aided in my development as a choreographer.149
PARTNERS IN DANCE
The combined efforts of several organizations are often necessary in order for a dance company to visit the area. In 1991, dance advocate Toni Smith brought regional dance presenters together with Beverly D’Anne of the New York State Council on the Arts. They discussed forming a cooperative organization to support touring dance companies, either with direct financial assistance or in-kind services.
Partners in Dance: A Consortium of Capital Region Dance Sponsors enables dance companies to come to Saratoga Springs to perform, offer master classes and present educational dance programs in public schools. The organization aids in advertising in print, radio and television, produces a detailed dance calendar and shares resources such as artist housing and outreach activities.150
Local members of Partners in Dance include the Dance Alliance, Nacre, National Museum of Dance, Saratoga Savoy, Tango Fusion, Skidmore College Dance Department and Office of Special Programs. Several individuals who are involved in the performing arts are also participating members.
The following dance companies that have performed in Saratoga Springs have been supported in part by Partners in Dance: Pearson/Widrig Dance Company, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Taylor 2, Battleworks, Ellen Sinopoli Dance
Company, José Limón Dance Company, Martha Graham Dance Company and Nacre. Several programs at the National Museum of Dance and Saratoga ArtsFest dance workshops have received funding and organizational assistance.151
Chapter 9
ARTS EDUCATION AT SARATOGA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER WITH THE NEW YORK CITY BALLET
EDUCATION PROGRAMS FOR STUDENTS
The Saratoga Performing Arts Center continues its commitment to bringing the best of the arts to the region’s children:
Arts education has always been a primary concern for SPAC, which was conceived and incorporated as an educational institution. Education remains the broad base from which the Center builds. Once the debut season was behind it, SPAC immediately embarked on a series of ambitious educational projects designed to develop both future audiences and performers.152
In the summer of 1967, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center initiated an educational program with three distinct schools, one of which was the Ballet School. The New York City Ballet administered the program, and its School of American Ballet provided the faculty. This program was the predecessor of the New York State Summer School of the Arts Schools of Ballet and Dance. The development of these successful state-funded dance programs illustrated the cooperative partnership among New York State and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Skidmore College and the National Museum of Dance, the primary dance education institutions of Saratoga Springs.
Beginning in the second season at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, matinee performances of the ballet were scheduled for student groups. Saratoga Seminars was a related program for schoolteachers and dance educators, sponsored jointly by the Arts Center and the State University of New York. Students enjoyed meeting dancers and hearing firsthand about the performance. Teachers then continued the conversation back in the classroom.
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