The New York Baroque Dance Company: Looking Back, Looking Ahead
Alan Curtis
 
How Alan Curtis changed our lives  by Norman Lebrecht
is a beautiful online tribute to this important artist who passed away July 15th. He is the first Baroque conductor I danced under when I joined Shirley Wynne's Baroque Dance Ensemble (aka Ohio State University Rococo Dance Ensemble)  while a sophomore at Ohio State University. I danced in the Berkeley production of Jean Philippe Rameau's opera, La Naissance d'Osiris. 

Alan and Shirley collaborated on many operas together at Innsbruck, Austria. This year their legacy continues in the dance. Scholarship students Deda Cristina Colonna and Caroline Copeland, from The New York Baroque Dance Company workshop at the Jarvis Conservatory in the late 1990's, are playing important roles. 
Deda Cristina Colonna
Deda is the stage director/choreographer of the festival opera, 
Armide.   Caroline will be a featured soloist in this production. If you are interested in hearing them speak and seeing them dance in their early years with our company, you can see them in Baroque Dance Unmasked.  Both Deda and Caroline are known for their dramatic approach to historical dance which was the hallmark of Shirley's work with Alan.

I last saw Alan when I performed a special tribute to Shirley at the Berkeley Early Music Festival. He was very moved by the danced tribute and we shared our memories of the "early days."  His passion and encouragement when I first explored performing the Passacaille d'Armide with a mask, helped to set me in a groundbreaking direction. I will be forever thankful.  

I am, with the help of Robin Woodard, continuing the legacy of Alan and Shirley by offering a scholarship in Shirley's name  Click.

Françoise Denieau 
passed away on July 18th.  She danced with former scholarship recipient and New York Baroque Dance Company member, Ken Pierce, in this 1987 video of Atys.

It was difficult to find a tribute to her for our English readers.  However, this hommage in French is a summary of her Baroque work. France Musique tribute (click) honors her as well.

 Wilfride Piollet (1943-2015)
also danced with Ken Pierce in Atys when it premiered in Paris in 1986. For those of you who are not familiar with her tremendous contribution to dance in ballet, modern and baroque, please Click here

Although I did not personally know these two gifted artists, I feel honored that one of our NYBDC dancers was able to share his gift of dance with them. It is this interweaving of lives and experience which enriches our world. In the field of dance we are so very connected in a tapestry.

Looking ahead and continuing their legacy...

It is important to continue our work through workshops, master classes, lectures and performances.  Experiences which allow the cross fertilization of dance styles and allow the mixing of professionals and enthusiasts are ways of securing the future.

Here is a short video clip with Barnard students reflecting on Baroque dance:

Embodied History: Baroque Dance
Embodied History: Baroque Dance

Take the opportunity to attend a class or workshop, to go to a lecture, to attend a performance.

There is still time to register for our summer workshop in Santa Barbara (click),

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