Alwun House’ ‘Spring Ball” – Saturday March 17

The OpendanceAZ Company performs around the Valley, outside of our regular school shows, and the Alwun House is one of the places that we have supported for many years. Helping our friends, Kim and Dana of the Alwun House Foundation with their yearly fundraiser, OpendanceAZ donated our time to perform “Ver Mitis”, a piece created for the Spring Ball, the closing of the 2012 Exotic show. Inspired by all rites of Spring, the dancers, a mix of music styles, and the theme , Michele put together  a 12 minute piece titled: “Ver Mitis”.  A classical/contemporary style dance piece in 4 parts, an opening group piece with classical ballet class music, a duet, “Como Siento Yo”– music: Rubén González, a group number, “Bike Riding” music: Mr. President and a finale “Your Hip Miss Pastorfield” music: Fred Karlin. The audience was very responsive with laughter and applause, and the evening, its artists and audience, food and drink, and beautiful outdoor and indoor beauty made this another unforgettable evening. Performers: Michele Ceballos Michot, Deb Gregory, Mimi Solaire, Natalia Ronceria Ceballos, Martin “Mystik” Gonzalez, Robert Flips Lopez, Cristina Valenzuela, Satsiri Khalsa, Fernando Lino and Anthony Shevlin Gonzales. Video: Ben Levy, Assistant: Amanda Brennan.

Biltmore Preparatory Academy – January 9 to March 2, 2012

“Our Community” a Dance and Mural Project

Funded by a grant from the AZ Commission on the Arts, and BPA Tax-Credit funds, M/Thu/F from 3:15 to 5:00pm, Michele Ceballos Michot –Dance, and Annette Sexton Ruiz –Visual Art, worked with 30 children in 2^nd to 5^th grades.  Assisting throughout the project, Ana Contreras, Amanda Brennan, Fernando Lino, Nena and Emilio and Tiffinie Greer.

Students were read several books, about different communities. They drew images and began to practice dance movement pieces related to the stories in their community. They put images together in the form of paper murals, some collages and a large one created by hand with markers, pastels and crayons. The title of their story “Our Community” was repeated in the permanent ceramic mural and in the dance pieces. Students made big letters on butcher paper and colored them. The letters spelled HOPE, PEACE, LOVE, and OUR COMMUNITY. Each child was a letter, and they wrote what that letter meant to them and for their community. “ P is for progress in my community”;” H is for healing our misunderstandings within our community”. It gave them a chance to write, to think about their community, and what this means. The students did visual art ½ the class and dance ½ the class, the children were always active and creating, one group on stage dancing the other at the tables drawing, coloring, making images for the tiles. There were 4 family nights where they made tiles with their families. Two students, Sophia and Azela, wrote their own song, which they performed. The project culminated in 2 shows for the school and for the community.

Thank you BPA, Faith Burtamekh-Principal, Claudia Garcia- Office Manager, Ana Contreras-Teacher and all the students who gave 150%!, Joshua, Gillian, Rachel, Noah, Leira, Avery, Lola, Rebecca, Kazin, Jada, Mia, Valeria, Yaritza, Paloma, Isaiah, Julia, Leslie, Alexia, Sophia, Monsserah, Michaela, Azela, Mauricio, Antoinette, Yessenia, Missi, Emma, Kora, Aiyanna, Charles, Anthony, Felicia, Shea, Genesis.

 presents

By and for her peers in Second Wave Feminism

Featuring a Retrospective of Kate’s Writings, Sculptures, Graphic, Arts and Films by and about Kate Millett.

Also on the Program, the awarding of the Second Kate Millett Lifetime Achievement Award to VFA’s president, Jacqui  Ceballos

Date: Sunday,June 24, 2012
Time: 3 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Place: Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South in NYC

A LIGHT BUFFET AND NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINKS WILL BE SERVED
Catering by Gillie Holme

Tickets Available from VFA – $35.00 /person for the event.

$10 for a historic souvenir copy of the retrospective
Kate Millett: Her Life and Work compiled for the event

Please address check to VFA and mail:
Amy Hackett,
473 Westminster Rd.,
Brooklyn, NY 11218

QUESTIONS? – CONTACT US BELOW

Co-Chairs: Eleanor Pam Pam@katemillett.vetfems.org,
Sheila Tobias Tobias@katemillett.vetfems.org

Click HERE to Buy Your Tickets Now!

Opendance “ Discovering Arizona” – This 1 of a 4 part series Arts & Educational program funded by a grant from the Glendale Arts Commission.

Jan 3-7th, 2012, from 2:00-4:30pm, 9 children ages 4-10 yrs of age worked with an Opendance teaching artist on the flora & fauna of AZ, reading and looking at pictures, making the scenery and animal masks, creating and practicing 3 dances, “The Desert”, “Buzz, Buzz, Buzz”, and “Arachnids” . On the 3rd day they got to practice outside, exploring the flora & fauna of the library, which is its own mini botanical gardens with cacti, and even peacocks! Show day they practiced and then performed in the auditorium for their friends and family, who were happy, applauded and took lots of pictures.

The program was free to children from the surrounding districts, at the Glendale library. This past and 3 more to come programs, will take place during the Glendale Elementary School District and Peoria Unified School District’s Spring and Fall breaks for ages 4-12.

Discovering Arizona our Flora and Fauna – Jan 3-7, May 29-June 1,
Discovering Arizona our Cultural Roots –March 12-17, July 10-14
(Sign up on the Glendale Library website www.glendaleaz.com

The program series planned by Opendance will engage children and families in the arts and focus on Arizona culture and history, during the Centennial year. The children will participate in music, visual art, and dance, along with one Opendance professional. In this interactive environment, they will learn more about their state from a science, social studies and arts perspective. Offering Discovering Arizona at four different parts of the year makes it accessible to a wide range of the community.

Thank you Opendance teaching artists Tracy Thomason, Ana Bonilla Moreno, Hector Moreno,
Rosy Ferguson and Michèle Ceballos Michot for all your hard work, creativity, inspiration and continued
support for the important collaborative work in arts & education with children around the Valley.

The Opendance adult classes, held at the Pat Smith school of dance ended in July, and will start
up end of August, just across the street from Pat’s at the Pauite Neighboorhood Center.
Currently classes are also being planned in various other areas, please check back in August
for our new class schedule.

Please do not hesitate to email us at mcm@opendanceaz.org if you have any questions or suggestions.
Thank you!

Opendance Tavan School Summer Students

Perform at Fiesta Mall in Mesa, AZ

Tavan Opendancers at Fiesta Mall
Faith, Jacob, Joey, Zach,Mia,Rowan,Alejandro,
Caleb,Mario,Bode and Jared.

This summer, Tavan elementary school, offered a free arts camp
for 150 of their students, June 1 to the 30th.
30 of those students, ages 9-11yrs participated with Opendance
teaching artists, Michele Ceballos Michot, Ana Bonilla Moreno
and Hector Moreno, on a creative movement piece “I Am Alive”
and two folk dance pieces, MX Aztec  and Country dance.

They performed them on June 30th as part of the final summer program
event for their families and friends.

On Saturday July 2nd, Opendance invited the Tavan students to perform their Folk dances and freestyle with breakdancer, Dashiell Cote.  Ana also brought dancers from her company, Ollin Yoliztli who performed dances from Jalisco and Veracruz.

Thank-you
performers for a great show!