News & Notes

News and activities of Nikolais/Louis company members and students.
Send us your updates and special memories.

• Ririe-Woodbury Co. performs Nikolais Dance Theater works.
  
  

  	Touring schedule: October 1–14, 2008: France February 4–6, 2009: Memphis, TN, Buckman Performing Arts Center
  For more information, visit the Ririe-Woodbury Co. Web site.

  
  
  
• Life of Danial Shapiro Celebrated at the Joyce
       Many gathered on the 5th of May, 2007, to honor the life of dancer-choreographer Danial Shapiro at the Joyce Theater in New York City.  See Danial Shapiro, a Celebration of a Life
  
  
  

In Memoriam ~ Ruth Scherer, long-time office administrator for Nikolais/Louis from the Henry Street Playhouse to the 18th Street studio, passed away Wednesday, March 14, 2007. We so remember her warm personality, which nurtured all of us. After leaving the Nikolais/Louis organization she volunteered in the offices of the American Museum of Natural History. I spoke with her in December and found her still the loving, bouncing person that we all knew and loved.  —Ruth Grauert Left: Frankie Garcia and Ruth Scherer at Nik and Murray’s house on Barrow Street, mid-70s.  Photo: Beth Bagnold

Porcelain Dialogues Revived      at St. Mark’s Church.       On Feb. 1–4, Janis Brenner and Guests performed a revival of Murray Louis’s 1974 Porcelain Dialogues, pictured here from left to right: Sara Pearson, Betsy Fisher, Robert Small, Janis Brenner, Michael Blake, and Peter Kyle. Opening night was dedicated to Murray Louis and the late Danial Shapiro. See Dance Insider announcement (PDF). Photo © Julie Lemberger

Murray Louis receives Honorary Doctorate, Photo by Cathy Kuehner

• Murray Louis Receives Honorary Doctorate on 80th Birthday. 
       Shenandoah University honored Murray Louis with an Honorary Doctorate of Arts on November 4, 2006. The award ceremony followed the conservatory’s Fall Dance Ensemble Performance, which featured his Bach Suite (1956) and the “Bird Solo” from A Stravinsky Montage (1982). The reconstruction of Bach Suite was made possible by American Masterpieces: Dance, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts. See Claudia Gitelman’s report of the award ceremony.
  
  
  
• Danial Shipiro (MLDC 1978–1985) Dies at Age 48 (October 3, 2006)
  
  
       “Danny was a BIG man whose motion ideas escaped the confinement of a small floor by moving to tables and beds, chairs and barrels. I still see him flying through the air to some unlikely landing place. So I’ll remember him as a MOVER who could not be constrained. He dared to leap for the moon and hang on a star, making them a part of HIS world.”  —Ruth Grauert
  
  

  
  Obituaries:
  
       Danial Shapiro: Turning Darkness into Light
  

  Linda Shapiro, October 2006, The Dance Insider
  
  

        Danial Shapiro, Accomplished Choreographer
  

  Camille Lefevre, October 4, 2006, Star Tribune, Minneapolis
  

  
  
• Murray Louis Receives the 2006 Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival $35,000 Award
       June 18 at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina — see details.
  
  
  
• Nikolais/Louis Legacy Workshops Alumni Week, held July 24–28, 2006, Salt Lake City, Utah, “an astonishing and extraordinary event,” according to attendees.  See the gallery of snapshots and photos.
  
  
  
• Ruth Grauert receives the Martha Hill Award:  On November 28, 2005, Ruth Grauert received the Martha Hill Lifetime Achievement Award, presented at Hunter College in New York City.  See introduction by Beverly Blossom and Ruth’s acceptance at the Award Gala:
  
       By Streaming Video  (opens in RealPlayer or Windows Media Player)
  
       By Downloading File (23 Mb)   (right-click and save target or link as)
  
  
  
• Tribute to Murray Louis Concert.  December 17–18, Hunter College Kaye Playhouse. See flyer (PDF document).
  
  
  
• An Evening with Beverly Blossom—Funny, Compassionate, and Wise:  Bernie West Theatre (Baruch College).  At 79, Beverly Blossom returned to New York in a one-woman show that she called “the incomplete lament of an old dancer.”    See New York Times review by Roslyn Sulcas (requires member login, but registration is free).
  
  
  

• 	From Cafe Mahleria, choreographed by Kelly Roth. The dancers: Noel Brown, Jaime Velilla, and William Griffin. Costumes: Catherine Irving-Conner. Performed April 9, 2005, at Golden West College in Huntington Beach, California.

  Kelly Roth started his study at the Nikolais/Louis Dance Theatre Lab in 1976. He has performed in New York with Sara and Jerry Pearson, Lorry May, Robert Small, Robert Diaz and Thomas Holt. In 1978, he was a guest artist with the Paris-based Danse Theatre Susan Buirge at the Berlin Festival. He has also performed on tour with the Murray Louis Dance Company and assisted Mr. Louis in the creation of Suite for Erik (Five Haikus), setting it on former Joffrey Ballet star Gary Chryst and the late Erik Bruhn.
       In 1995, Kelly relocated to Las Vegas to build a dance program for the Community College of Southern Nevada. In addition to his duties as head of the CCSN Dance Program, he choreographs for such organizations as the Las Vegas Civic Ballet and the Desert Dance Theatre. Roth and choreographer Kyla Quintero founded the Dance in the Desert Festival, which began as an opportunity for local choreographers to present their works and is now an annual event that has grown to include artists from throughout the West.
       Kelly Roth & Dancers/Concert Dance Company, has appeared in the Avignon Festival in France, to the International Choreographic Festival in Mexico City, Prague Festival 2000 in the Czech Republic and in frequent engagements in California, Arizona, and Utah. In June 2003, Kelly Roth and company received first prizes for choreography and Best Contemporary Dance Presentation at the Dance Grand Prix Italia in Cesena, Italy. Cited for “high artistic achievement,” Mr. Roth is the recipient of a prestigious Nevada Artist’s Fellowship for 2005.
  
  
  
• Mimi Garrard reflects on her Nikolais heritage:
  
       “Tapping into the Eternal: My Journey with Alwin Nikolais”
  
       Two Film Festivals this summer will screen Mimi Garrard's videodances:  In June, Omagbitse Suite will be presented at TREEPEOPLE as part of the 2005 Dance On Camera West Festival in Los Angeles and at the Fear No Film Festival in Salt Lake City, Utah.  See MimiGarrardDance.com.
  
  
  
• Helen Kent-Nicoll Update (December 2004)
  
  
  
• Crocodiles of Cuba, an Earthwatch Expedition trip to Cuba (April, 2004)
  
  
  
• On June 8, 2004, Phyllis Lamhut hosted at her home a book signing, honoring Claudia Gitelman and her Liebe Hanya, which is now available in the major book stores.  (See Review.)
  
  
  
• Annelise Mertz (Professor Emerita of Washington University in St. Louis) Wins the 2004 Missouri Arts Award, the State’s Highest
  
  
  
• Wanda Pruska-Wallace (Henry Street Playhouse and NDT 1960–1983, MLDC 1971–1975) and her husband, David Wallace, now operate a resort called Nature’s Paradise on St. Lucia in the Caribbean. Phyllis Lamhut recommends it highly as “a great place, most beautiful.” Wanda offers a 20% discount to the Nikolais-Louis “Family” (mention Bearnstow Journal when you inquire). And Nature’s Paradise has a dance studio available! See their Web site (including pictures of Wanda!) at www.stlucianaturesparadise.com.
  
  
  
• Greetings from Suzie McDermaid Freidel (and Squire and “Puck”) from Glenlyon Vindyards & Winery.  (See also www.glenlyonwinery.com.)
  
  
  
• The Nikolais Legacy Forum, held at Hunter College, Oct. 10–12, was a tremendous success.  More on the Legacy Forum.
  
  
  
• Knocked Knees, New York, and Nik — a memoir by Susan P. Lloyd (October 2003)
  
  
  
• Reflections on a Reunion.  On March 22, 2003, Nikolais-Louis alumni gathered at the home of Mimi Garrard and Jimmy Seawright to commemorate the life to Frankie Garcia, who died in December, and the tenth anniversary of Alwin Nikolais’ death.  See photos from that event by Norman Ader & Peter Koletzke and by Jimmy Seawright.
  
  
  
• It Rained in the Sahara, a trip to Morocco (February 2003)
  
  
  
• Susan Buirge Update (February 2003)
  
  
  
• Pantanal Team VI, a trip to Brazil’s Pantanal (April, 2002)