The five festivals.

Each year in late spring and early summer, the member companies of Regional Dance America come together for the five regional festivals. Referred to simply as Festival, this event is always a high point for the dancers. Classes, seminars, and concerts are crammed into a mad four days of learning, performing, and finding new friends. This year the Southeast festival was held April 6-10, hosted by Greensboro Ballet in North Carolina; the Southwest festival was held April 6-10 in Galveston, Texas, hosted by the City Ballet of Houston; the Pacific festival was held May 11-14, hosted by Peninsula Dance Theatre of Bremerton, Washington; the Mid-States festival was held May 4-8, hosted by Kalamazoo Ballet in Michigan; and the Northeast festival was held June 2-5, hosted by Vineland Regional Dance Company in New Jersey.

All member companies are required to attend the annual festival in their region, and all (except intern companies) perform at least once. The difficult decisions of choosing what a company will perform and at which festival program are made by an outside adjudicator. The adjudicator, chosen from an approved list of dance experts, visits the company, views several ballets, gives a written evaluation of each, and chooses a dance to be presented at the festival. To retain status as a performing company, a troupe must be adjudicated and appear in one festival gala, which is open to the public, or two concert performances, which are open to members only, within a three-year period. The adjudicator may also decide that a company is not qualified to perform in a given year.

THE SOUTHEAST FESTIVAL

This report was written by Robert Lindgren, adjudicator for the Southeast festival. He was formerly the executive director of the School of American Ballet and, before that, dean of dance at the North Carolina School of the Arts.

The 1994 festival of the Southeastern Regional Ballet Association (SERBA) was held in Greensboro, North Carolina, from April 6 to 10, hosted by Greensboro Ballet under the direction of Maryhelen Mayfield. It was well organized, well attended, and held in outstanding facilities. Nineteen companies and over five hundred yound dancers participated.

There were three evenings of performances presented in the beautiful Carolina Theatre: an emerging choreographers evening, a festival concert evening, and a final gala performance that closed the festival. There were many exciting performances by the participating companies, with some interesting and imaginative choreography performed by talented and disciplined dancers.

The gala is usually a showcase for the "honor companies" (the highest status) and this gala was outstanding. Every year one company's performance seems to emerge as a surprise, and this year it was Festival Ballet Company from Morrow, Georgia, performing Paganini, a ballet choreographed by the talented Nicolas Pacana. Festival Ballet's performance closed the gala on a thrilling note.

Each day there was a full schedule of rehearsals, classes, and other activities. The dancers were assigned to classes based on their technical level. The outstanding faculty of guest teachers this year included Lupe Serrano, Sara Yarborough, Thom Clower, and Mel Tomlinson. The classes are one of the most exciting aspects of the festival, and one that the dancers anticipate with great enthusiasm and enjoyment. These classes offer the dancers an opportunity to challenge themselves and compete with their peers on a friendly basis. There are also lectures and movies and time to socialize, make new friends, and swap T-shirts and stories.

After almost thirty years of being involved with RDA, I am still impressed by the level of instruction and the dedication, discipline, and talent of the dancers. Congratulations and bravo to all involved in this year's SERBA festival, and especially to Greensboro Ballet and Maryhelen Mayfield. Ballet in the Southeast is alive and well!

THE MID-STATES FESTIVAL

This report was written by Kathryn Gasper, codirector of the Red River Dance & Performing Company of Fargo, North Dakota.

The 1994 Regional Dance America festival in the Mid-States region was hosted by Kalamazoo Ballet directed by Therese Bullard. Adjudicator Francoise Martinet's selection of works demonstrated nightly each company's strengths and weaknesses. After each performance I went away with pride in the Mid-States, the smallest region. The guest faculty included Simon Dow, Nathalie Krassovska, Jillana, Melissa Lowe, Jory Hancock, and Valerie Roche. They all skillfully geared classes to the various levels of expertise within the companies. The instruction was positive and productive, with just the right amount of challenge to ignite the passions of even the most exhausted dancer. Workshops were held on such subjects as the Alexander Technique, auditioning, stress, makeup, and the history of the pointe shoe. The festival impressed me with its energy, passion, and commitment to quality dance. Once again I left understanding the importance of RDA's mission.

TO BECOME A MEMBER

Contact your regional representative for more information:

MID-STATES

Mary C. Geiger Michigan Classic Ballet Co. [phone]

NORTHEAST

Holly Loutzenhiser Cumberland Dance Co. [phone]

PACIFIC

Nancy Whyte Mount Baker Ballet [phone]

SOUTHEAST

Lynne Snipes Gwinnett Ballet Theatre [phone]

SOUTHWEST

Linda Ford Twin City Ballet [phone]

QUALIFICATION

To qualify, a company must be a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization for at least one year. It must have at least eight dancers who are thirteen years old or older, and it must give at least two paid public performances annually. The artistic director must attend a regional festival before making formal application.

THE NORTHEAST FESTIVAL

REMEMBERING THE MEMBERSHIP EVALUATION

Sitting at the 1994 gala performance of the Northeast festival at Rowan College in Glassboro, New Jersey, my heart swelled with great pride at the quality of the four performances I had witnessed during the weekend. It was very much like the organization that I first became a part of twenty years ago, before some of the older regional companies became professional.

In 1974 the Northeast festival of the National Association for Regional Ballet (NARB), currently called Regional Dance America, was hosted by the Dayton Ballet. The artistic director of Dayton Ballet at that time was Josephine Schwarz, my former dance teacher [see also, page 56]. At Miss Jo's encouragement, I had brought my young company, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC), to the festival to be evaluated for membership. We were the first African-American company to apply in any of the regions. This was a very big step for DCDC. I knew, however, that if we were ever going to gain recognition as a concert dance company of artistic excellence outside of New York City, we needed to be a part of this national organization.

I can remember it all almost as if it were yesterday: We were at Sinclair Community College in Dayton. Nine dance companies were waiting in Blair Hall Theatre to be evaluated by the member companies (members included Dayton Ballet, Toronto Regional Ballet, Imperial Ballet of Canada, Mid-Hudson Regional Ballet, Germantown Dance Theatre, Princeton Ballet, Ballet Guild of the Lehigh Valley). All of the companies to be evaluated were nervous and anxious. For DCDC's audition, Miss Jo had encouraged me to present a contemporary work that I had choreographed entitled Sketches in Black, a piece that depicted my vision of rural Southern life, with music by John Work. We had mostly young ladies in our company at that time, so all of the relationships were among women.

All the other companies seemed so much more grown-up and sophisticated; even their costumes looked real. Ours looked like the dirndl skirts, aprons, and peasant blouses that they were. Finally it was our turn. The dancers took their places onstage and I was introduced. There were fifteen or twenty regional company directors sitting in a five-hundred-seat house. Very intimidating! I gave a brief explanation of our presentation and then sat down near the front of the theater. The curtain went up. The dancers danced well. After ten very long minutes the ballet was over. I was so obsessed with the fear that our presentation was not as sophisticated as those of the other dance companies that I could not enjoy the rest of the festival for worrying. Had they selected our company for membership or not?

At that time you were not told of the outcome at the festival. You had to wait for the membership chairman to write to you. Sometimes it took two or three weeks for any word. Well, finally, after twenty-one long days and nights we were notified of DCDC's acceptance into NARB as an intern company. Of course we were elated, but "intern" meant that we had to go through the evaluation process all over again within the next two years. That was okay. I knew right then that I would be very well prepared and ready to make it as a performing member of the region.

That was the beginning. Through the years there were many, many experiences, good and bad, that helped DCDC learn and grow. We were nurtured and mentored not only by Miss Jo, but also by many of the company directors with whom we crossed paths.

I was thinking back over all of this at the festival held this past June in New Jersey. As I said earlier, this festival included four performances by member companies, and DCDC was waiting to dance in the gala, the special final performance that is much sought after by all of the companies. A company is selected to perform at the festival by an outside adjudicator, who evaluates member companies each spring. Several weeks before the festival the adjudicator submits a report indicating whether or not you were chosen to perform.

Preparing several dances for this evaluation is one of the requirements of membership in RDA. Each member company must also pay dues, and its director must attend a meeting in the fall of each year. Of course, the company attends the spring festival.

Over the years, DCDC has performed in several gala performances. One of these particularly stands out in my memory. As we once again were waiting our turn, I overheard Jean Williams, the director of the very strong Germantown Dance Theatre, tell her company: "All right, dancers, this is it. We have a very well-choreographed ballet. I have rehearsed you over and over until I felt you were truly ready. Now it is in your hands. Just remember that we are strong, technical, concert performers but also entertainers." I turned right around, went straight to our dressing room, where the dancers were waiting anxiously, and repeated verbatim, "All right, dancers ..." I have said the same to my company ever since.