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helanius

wilkins

(fall, 2012)

Helanius J. Wilkins, a native of Lafayette, LA, is an award winning choreographer, performance artist and instructor based in Washington D.C. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of EDGEWORKS Dance Theater – an all male contemporary dance company of predominately African-American men (www.hjwEdgeworks.org). In 2008 he was awarded with the Pola Nirenska Award for Contemporary Achievement in Dance, DC’s highest honor given by the Washington Performing Arts Society; and was a three times finalist for the D.C. Mayor’s Arts Awards. In 2002 and 2006 he received the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Local Dance Commissioning Project award. In addition to performing the works of several nationally recognized choreographers including Robert Moses, Earl Mosley, Joy Kellman, Troy Powell, and Kevin Wynn, he has enjoyed creating, presenting, and receiving commissions for choreography throughout the United States. To date, he has choreographed and directed over 60 works. In summer 2010, Wilkins made his DC theater debut as the choreographer for Studio Theatre’s wildly successful and critically-acclaimed musical production “Passing Strange.” Foundations and organizations including New England Foundation for the Arts (National Dance Project), DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Arts have supported Wilkins's work.
Wilkins also teaches professional and pre-professional dancers as well as students of various ages and levels of skill. He has served as an adjudicator and master teacher at American College Dance Festivals in 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, and 2011. He is currently on faculty at Joy of Motion Dance Center. His fall 2012 guest artist in residence position at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) marks his second appointment.

Photo Credit: By Angelisa Gillyard.

 

hallie

dalsimer

(fall, 2011)

Hallie Dalsimer is a dancer, teacher, and choreographer based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. From 2006 to 2009, she lived in New York and worked on various projects with Keith Thompson/ danceTactics Performance Group,Elizabeth Dishman/ Coriolis Dance Inc., Stefanie Nelson Dance Group, VIA Dance Collaborative, and Nicole Wolcott among others. She also appeared asa guest in "Underground" "with David Dorfman Dance at Lincoln Center Out of Doors and in Keigwin + Co's first production of "Bolero NYC." Hallie spent 16 months in Tel Aviv studying Gaga technique with Batsheva Dance Company and in open classes. There, she performed in "Splash," by Joel Bray and "Decomposition," by Moran Sanderovich, and collaborated with multi-media artist Yaara Nirel on a short dance film. She has taught Gaga technique in Santa Fe and New York City. As Visiting Artist for the UMBC Dance Department in Fall, 2011, her courses include: Advanced Modern Technique, Improvisation, Dance Workshop and Repertory.

 

 

 

 

tzveta

kassabova

(fall, 2010)

 

Tzveta Kassabova was born in Bulgaria. At different times she has been a gymnast, physicist, and meteorologist. She has an MFA in Dance from the University of Maryland College Park. As a dancer her main work was with Ed Tyler. She has been part of David Dorfman Dance and Sara Pearson/Patrik Widrig and has also performed in works of Mark Haim, Nancy Bannon, Maurice Fraga, Zoltan Nagy, Joshua Bisset, and Netta Yerushalmy, among others. Her work as a choreographer has been presented at Mulberry Street Theater, ADF, Dance Place, and CSPAC. She recently received a Metro DC Dance Award as Emerging Choreographer for her duet 'to blue'. Some of the works that Tzveta created in the course of the MFA program at University of Maryland include: 'Bigodini' (2005), 'Alissa' (2006), 'DC' (2006), 'Grid' (2006), 'Sumiko' (2007), 'The stairs in my house' (2007), 'Unfolding' (2007), 'to blue' (2007), and 'Still new' (2008). She has collaborated on two site specific projects 'Bathroom#1900' (2006) and 'Locus' (2008). She has enjoyed working in collaboration with composers Rama Gottfried, Aleksei Stevens, and Martin Gendelman, and choreographers Brooke Belott, Lillian Cho, Katie Iacono, Ginger Wagg and Laura Quatrocci. Tzveta has created costumes for 'Grid', 'Unfolding', 'Seanara Dear' and 'Locus'. As UMBC's visiting artist in Fall 2010, she taught Advanced Modern Technique, Improvisation, Dance Workshop and Repertory.

The Artist-in Residence Program

The Artist-in Residence program offers intermediate and advanced level dance students the opportunity to work intensively with a different visiting artist each year. The program brings nationally and internationally recognized dance artists of significance to UMBC for a full semester, usually in the fall. Students have the opportunity to take courses such as advanced modern technique, repertory, composition, dance workshop and/or improvisation with the visiting artist, and to learn new dance techniques and methods of choreography.

 

Past visiting artists: