Grand Jeté returns with opportunities for S.C. dancers, dance teachers
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Tuesday, February 1, 2022
Dance students from across the state will gather together to connect, compete, and cultivate their skills during the third annual Grand Jeté Student Ballet and Contemporary Dance Competition.
The now week-long event offers master classes led by guest artists, audition and recruitment events with national dance programs and teacher workshops for private studio and public school dance teachers.
“This is not just a competition,” said
Josée Garant, Grand Jeté director. “This is an opportunity for the dance community to come together, learn together and showcase the exceptional talent our state has to offer. Dance is such a competitive field, which is why we feel it is so important to host an event where dancers can get to know each other, support each other and consider their future in dance at the collegiate level.”
Dance students, ages 10-19, who choose to compete have the chance to win prizes, totaling $5,250, in the categories of classical ballet, modern/contemporary and student choreography. They will also gain valuable feedback from the competition’s esteemed, out-of-state, adjudicators—
Jorden Morris,
Akua Noni Parker and
Sarah Wroth. Morris is a retired principal dancer, choreographer and the current guest artistic director of the Orlando Ballet. Parker has performed as a leading company member with prestigious dance companies such as Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Cincinnati Ballet and Ballet San Jose. Wroth is an associate professor of music in ballet and the chair of the ballet department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
Competitors and noncompetitors can attend virtual information sessions and in-person audition classes with university and trainee dance program recruiters from Dean College, New World School of the Arts, Ohio State University, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Texas Christian University, University of North Carolina Charlotte, University of Oklahoma, University of South Florida, University of Utah and others. They can also participate in in-person master classes in ballet and modern/contemporary.
“Grand Jeté is the only event in South Carolina where high school juniors and seniors can share their talents with so many recruiters in one place,” Garant said. “This is an amazing opportunity for students seeking a summer intensive or university dance program with the potential to earn scholarships.”
South Carolina dance instructors can also participate in Grand Jeté which offers in-person teacher workshops. Classes in beginner ballet, intermediate/advanced contemporary and intermediate/advanced ballet will be held for private studio teachers. K-12 public school teachers can register for workshops in historical dance, world dance, ballet fundamentals and modern/contemporary free of charge.
Grand Jeté will be held March 1-6, 2022 with the competition occurring on March 6. Participants can choose to only attend their preferred events and are not required to attend for the full week. In-person events will be held on the Governor’s School’s campus in downtown Greenville.
Interested individuals can register online at scgsah.org/grand-jete until February 1, 2022.
Sponsorship opportunities are available. Contact the S.C. Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities Foundation at 864.282.1570 for more details.
South Arts’ Dance Touring Initiative gains ‘Momentum’
Momentum is a new opportunity open to modern dance and contemporary ballet companies based in the South.
An expansion of South Arts’ Dance Touring Initiative (DTI), Momentum is a new, three-year intensive professional development program for a group of five Southern dance companies. The program will include mentorship, networking, conference showcasing and exhibiting, on-site planning meetings with presenters, tour-prep residencies, and touring. South Arts will convene the group for in-person meetings, webinars, and conference calls throughout the program’s duration and provide funds to support touring engagements in at least five Southern communities. For each touring engagement, the dance companies will provide multi-day community residencies to include educational activities and public performances. Technical assistance and professional development will be designed to complement the tours and enhance companies’ organizational and touring capacity. Each participant must commit to the three-year program running from spring 2019 to spring 2022.
If you are a modern dance or contemporary ballet company based in the South with touring aspirations but limited previous success, Momentum is an opportunity to build both your artistic and technical capacity. Only professional modern dance and contemporary ballet companies located in South Arts’ nine-state region are eligible to apply. (South Arts’ region includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.)
Applications are due January 18, 2019. Read Momentum's full guidelines and application.
Want to learn more about this new initiative? Join South Arts for an informational webinar on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018, 11a a.m. to noon (Eastern). Participate in the webinar.
Questions? Contact Nikki Estes, Program Director, at 404.874.7244 ext. 16.
Front-page image: Ballet Spartanburg, dancer Charlotte Lanning
Story main image: Pexels.com
Three S.C. organizations selected for South Arts Dance Touring Initiative
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RIOULT Dance NY is one of the companies providing residencies for the Dance Touring Initiative[/caption]
The Arts Center of Coastal Carolina in Hilton Head, the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs, and Harbison Theatre at Midlands Technical College in Columbia have been selected for the third cohort of 10 arts presenters participating in South Arts' Dance Touring Initiative (DTI), a competitive and intensive three-year program supporting performing arts presenters throughout the South. With funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, venues across the South will develop a rich selection of performances, workshops, and audience engagement activities to connect local audiences with touring modern dance and contemporary ballet companies.
“We are excited to begin our third DTI cycle,” said Nikki Estes, program director with South Arts. “The first two cycles have connected over 30,000 audience members throughout the South with modern dance and contemporary ballet, and we look forward to broadening that impact over the coming years. After the start of this third cycle, we will have 26 active arts presenters in the initiative as a network and learning community among dance presenters.”
The third cohort of presenter participants:
- Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, Hilton Head Island, SC
- Arts Council of Central Louisiana, Alexandria, LA
- Bologna Performing Arts Center, Cleveland, MS
- City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs, Charleston, SC
- Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA
- Duke Performances/Duke University, Durham, NC
- Harbison Theatre at Midlands Technical College, Columbia, SC
- Kentucky Center for the Arts, Louisville, KY
- Memphis Development Foundation/The Orpheum Theatre, Memphis, TN
- Paramount Theatre/City of Goldsboro, Goldsboro, NC
The 26 arts presenters come from eight Southern states (Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee) and will receive professional development, take part in residency planning visits with artistic directors from major national dance companies, and receive financial support to provide both educational programming and public performances for their audiences.
“DTI enables these organizations to expand their already solid community partnerships,” said Suzette M. Surkamer, executive director of South Arts. “This training provides presenters with additional platforms to garner a larger and stronger audience base, especially around modern dance and contemporary ballet.”
About South Arts
South Arts, a nonprofit regional arts organization, was founded in 1975 to build on the South’s unique heritage and enhance the public value of the arts. South Arts’ work responds to the arts environment and cultural trends with a regional perspective. South Arts offers an annual portfolio of activities designed to address the role of the arts in impacting the issues important to our region, and to link the South with the nation and the world through the arts. For more information, visit
www.southarts.org.
RIOULT Dance NY is one of the companies providing residencies for the Dance Touring Initiative[/caption]
The Arts Center of Coastal Carolina in Hilton Head, the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs, and Harbison Theatre at Midlands Technical College in Columbia have been selected for the third cohort of 10 arts presenters participating in South Arts' Dance Touring Initiative (DTI), a competitive and intensive three-year program supporting performing arts presenters throughout the South. With funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, venues across the South will develop a rich selection of performances, workshops, and audience engagement activities to connect local audiences with touring modern dance and contemporary ballet companies.
“We are excited to begin our third DTI cycle,” said Nikki Estes, program director with South Arts. “The first two cycles have connected over 30,000 audience members throughout the South with modern dance and contemporary ballet, and we look forward to broadening that impact over the coming years. After the start of this third cycle, we will have 26 active arts presenters in the initiative as a network and learning community among dance presenters.”
The third cohort of presenter participants: