Springfield College Dance Program Guest Artist Series
The Springfield College Dance Program presents dance lessons and lectures on the history and different styles of dance featuring guest artists in a virtual format via Zoom this month.
Led by Springfield College Assistant Professor of Dance and Director of the Dance Program Sarah Zehnder, these special dance events highlight the strong impact that the art of dance has on the campus community.
Dance and Film Class with Mitchell Rose
Thursday, April 16
2-3:30 p.m. EST
This class is open to Springfield College faculty, students, and staff, and the Springfield community.
Mitchell Rose will discuss his process of creating and editing dance for film as well as showing some examples. Click the image above to view one of his videos.
Manically funny, often poignant, and always surprising, Rose’s films are screened around the world and have won 95 festival awards. He is a professor of dance-filmmaking at
The Ohio State University and is a frequent guest lecturer on the topic. To learn more, visit mitchellrose.com.
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://springfield.zoom.us/j/519898440
Meeting ID: 519 898 440
House Dance History Lecture with Mark Schmidt
Thursday, April 30
11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. EST
This class is open to Springfield College faculty, students, and staff, and the Springfield community.
Join Mark Schmidt, a choreographer, performer, and educator based in New York City as he presents a lecture on the history of house dance, a style that was influenced by martial arts, tap, waacking, African, and various social dances. He also will demonstrate some basic steps. Schmidt first found solace on the dance floors of New York City’s underground house music and queer club scene in the 1990s. His recent work explores these unique social dance spaces as cultural security zones that simultaneously function as sites of resistance and community building.
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://springfield.zoom.us/j/269680992
Meeting ID: 269 680 992
House Dance Class for All Levels with Mark Schmidt
Thursday, April 30
4-5:30 p.m. EST
This class is open to Springfield College faculty, students, and staff, and the Springfield community.
House dance can be considered a contemporary version of vernacular jazz. While its precursor is known as lofting, house has received influences from other forms over the years, including martial arts, tap, waacking, African, and various social dances. Mark Schmidt, a choreographer, performer, and educator based in New York City, will teach some of the codified movement vocabulary found in house as well as demonstrate foundational concepts of footwork and floorwork. In addition to learning vocabulary, he will review possible social interactions that are part of the dance form. This class is an exercise in rediscovering the joy of dance, both as it relates to music and others moving with us.
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://springfield.zoom.us/j/932598202
Meeting ID: 932 598 202
The Samba Class with Randi Henry took place on Monday, April 13. The class was open to Springfield College faculty, students, and staff, and the Springfield community.
Take a virtual samba class with Randi Henry, instructor of dance performance and managing partner for SambaViva Brazilian Dance and Music Ensemble. She teaches samba and Afro-Brazilian dance in the greater Boston area, and has been teaching dancers, students, and Brazilian cultural enthusiasts for more than 15 years.
