Heidee Alsdorf

Elizabeth Hartzell started dancing at UALR while working towards her painting degree. Now a senior, she is double-majoring in studio art and dance.  Her choreographic work Look Inside and Awake was chosen to be presented at ACDFA 2013 in Jackson, Mississippi.  She spent the last semester studying in Arezzo, Italy after receiving the Academia dell’Arte scholarship.  There she studied with Rita Petrone, Giorgio Rossi, Sabine Fisher, and Tarantella.

Ali Herring, of North Little Rock, AR is a UALR senior with a double major in dance performance and theatre. There she has performed in dance concerts, various student projects, and the annual college benefit showcase, Finale. She has also performed in theatre productions, performs annually in Arkansas Festival Ballet’s spring productions, and works as an aerial silk instructor and personal trainer.

Jessica Hyde of North Little Rock, AR was introduced to dance technique at 12 and has been pursuing an education in dance since. She was a part of the dance departments at Horace Mann Middle and Parkview High School, both Arts and Science Magnet Schools in Little Rock, Arkansas. She recently finished her junior year as a part of the Dance Performance B.F.A. Program at UALR. This summer she will perform once again in the Artists in Resonance Dance Projects.

Danny Jimenez  of Bella Vista, AR is a 20-year-old from Louisville, Texas. Danny started dancing in the hip-hop community as a popper and began his classical dance training at UALR, where he is now a sophomore dance major. He also has been a guest dancer in Arkansas Festival Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker for 2 years. Danny hopes to use the TeeBoDans Project as a way to learn and grow as a performer and artist.

Emily Karnes of North Little Rock, AR is a senior, dance performance major at UALR.  She has taught classes at Arkansas Academy of Dance for four years and is a residential company member of Arkansas Festival Ballet where she has performed leading roles in Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, and others.  She received a full scholarship to the Accademia dell’ Arte in Arezzo, Italy from the UALR dance department for the spring semester of 2012.

Trent Montgomery is a sophomore dance performance major at UALR. He is originally from McGehee, AR where he grew up dancing at Candyland Dance Studio. He has performed in various dance concerts at the university and has also choreographed for the McGehee High School Dance Team. Recently, he was a part of Arkansas Festival Ballet’s production of Pinocchio.

Olivia Perry of Little Rock, AR is a senior dance major at UALR.  She has performed in eight concerts featuring period specific, modern, jazz, ballet, and guest artist work. She has also performed in Ballet Arkansas’s 2011 and 2012 Nutcracker.  Olivia recently staged her first choreographic works, Shadow within Reason, Etiquette, and Atomic Age at UALR.  She has also studied locally and at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance in New York City.

Rachel Powell of Cabot, AR began her training with Kirt & Linda Hathaway and the Academy of Ballet Arkansas, and later trained with Arkansas Academy of Dance under Rebecca Stalcup, Melinda Tobian, Dennis Poole and Mark Bush.  Rachel is now a senior dance major at UALR. As a resident company member of Arkansas Festival Ballet, Rachel has performed leading roles in The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty and Alice in Wonderland.

Blake Worthey is a simple guy from Memphis, Tennessee where he first caught the dance bug from his dad, who was a street dancer. He learned popping from his dad and used that knowledge to win dance battles in Arkansas and Oklahoma.  He continues to study other, slightly less robotic, dance forms at UALR where he is now a junior, dance performance major.

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The study findings are somewhat like those found in studies where alcohol, not sleep deprivation, is the variable. The study reports that sleep deprivation does not impact commitment, only perception of sexual interest and intent. Men who are sleep deprived tend to interpret women’s sexual interest and intent as more inviting than it really is. This presents issues in sexual harassment, relationship conflicts, and a number of other arenas.

An abstract of the study has been published in an online portion of the journal SLEEP and findings from this study will be presented at the organization’s 27th annual meeting, SLEEP 2013, in Baltimore, MD.

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It all started with the idea to tour my choreographic work nationally.  Having been commissioned to create works and set some of my existing works on professional companies in the region, I was beginning to get a little itch to put my choreography in front of dance audiences elsewhere.  New York was, of course, always a top choice, but to have a venue where we could afford to have a fully-produced concert, I looked at other East Coast cities.  Baltimore/DC was always high on my list, because of the active dance scene in that area.  After finding that many of the DC venues were either under construction or booked solid during the time of year I was considering, I looked to Baltimore Theatre Project, where they are wonderfully supportive with artists producing new work.  I performed at Theatre Project years ago, and remember it as a fond experience.  After speaking with Chris Pfingsten about dates, and how it all works, I knew this was the right place!  Theatre Project actually co-produces productions with artists, so it was nice for them to be supportive of this project.

New York was always in the back of my mind as a possibility for this tour.  I contacted Peridance Capezio Center back in the early fall about performing in their Salvatore Capezio Theater.  We were not sure if we would be able to afford to add this leg of the tour, but the dancers all agreed they would prefer to perform there if possible, even if it meant they received no pay (or even per diem.)  Our current tour includes:

Peridance Capezio Center, 126 E. 13th Street, New York, NY  10003
Sunday, June 16 @ 2:00 p.m.

Baltimore Theatre Project, 45 W. Preston St., Baltimore, MD  21201
Thursday, June 20 @ 8:00 p.m.
Friday, June 21 @ 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, June 22 @ 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, June 23 @ 3:00 p.m.

As the fall semester began, I applied for a summer research grant through the UALR College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.  I knew that it would take a great deal of additional fundraising to make this whole thing happen (touring dance means taking dancers–10 of them–and lots of money for travel/housing), but was confident that I would find a way to make it work.  As luck would have it, I received some info from the Arkansas Arts Council about USA Projects, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that supports artist’s projects.  Having received and Individual Artist Fellowship from the Arkansas Arts Council, I was eligible to apply through USA Projects to conduct an online fundraising campaign to support this new project.  I applied, and my project was accepted!  This was going to be my biggest source of fundraising to make this tour possible!

I began inviting dancers to take part in this project back in October.  Originally, my idea was to have a mix of UALR and non-UALR dancers, including professional dancers in the area.  The schedule of the project was tied into the possibility of taking some of the dancers from Ballet Arkansas, where I had created American Dream.  At one point, it looked like I may have 5 UALR dancers and 5 non-UALR, including one UALR alum. However, for the Ballet Arkansas dancers, this was their only time off after a long season; therefore, many of them opted not to take part in the tour.  From the start, I made it clear that this was a tour of my choreographic work, with me as the Artistic Director.  I wanted to show my work, and connect Arkansas dancers with the broader dance world. As it stands now, while every dancer in this company is a current UALR dance major, each was hand-selected by me because of his or her talent, commitment, and approach to rehearsal and performance.  The dancers know they were hand-picked, and are treating this project with the utmost professionalism and dedication.

Starting in late November with the online fundraiser through USA Projects, fundraising became (necessarily) a big focus of preparing for this project.  Many donors from across the country donated generously to help us meet our minimum fundraising goal.  As part of the USA Projects fundraiser, a couple of our dancers, Ali Herring and Elizabeth Hartzell, conducted an aerial silk workshop.  We also did other fundraisers, such as a bake sale, another aerial silk workshop through Absolute Aerial Silks, and jewelry bars through Origami Owl Custom Jewelry. The Department of Theatre Arts and Dance has helped us greatly by providing rehearsal space and even helping out with some expenses for this tour.  Even though we leave in just over a week, we continue to raise funds to provide the dancers with at least some per diem (food money!).  (Anyone interested in donating can write a check to Stephanie Thibeault, P.O. Box 7741, Little Rock, AR  72207, and the amount will be split evenly between the 10 dancers to help defray their costs while on tour.)  We will also be taking donations at our open rehearsal on Monday, June 10, at 12:00 noon in CPA 129 (the large dance studio).

What works are we taking on this tour?  Well, one of the new pieces to appear in this tour is Engendered Species, which debuted as part of UALR’s “BodyWorks” concert in April.  It is a mesmerizing work that explores gender identity.  Other works we are touring include American Dream (2012), Oui, Oui, Paris (2010), Covetous, the Bond Endures (2001), Alternate Realities (2005), So, Love…(2011),  and possibly a new work called Place, which is still under construction. (Nail-biter!)

So far, this has been an amazing experience for everyone involved.  I have truly enjoyed working with the dancers so intensively on this project; their hard work and dedication, both inside and outside the rehearsal studio, has been inspiring. I am encouraged that we are creating true professionals in the dance program here at UALR, and look forward to sharing what we have with the rest of the world.  This is the first project for Tee-Bo-Dans (the name I have given this company of dancers), but I may decide to continue doing other projects under the same name.

The face of dance in Arkansas is changing, and I believe this project is a prime example of the potential of our talented dance artists!

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Heidee Alsdorf
Rogers, AR
Junior

Elizabeth Hartzell
Little Rock, AR
Senior

Ali Herring
North Little Rock, AR
Senior

Jessica Hyde
North Little Rock, AR
Junior

Danny Jimenez
Bella Vista, AR
Sophomore

Emily Karnes
North Little Rock
Senior

Trent Montgomery
McGehee, AR
Sophomore

Olivia Perry
Little Rock, AR
Senior

Rachel Powell
Cabot, AR
Senior

Stephanie Thibeault
Originally from Jonesboro, AR
Associate Professor

Blake Worthey
Memphis, TN
Junior

The post The Company appeared first on College of Arts, Humanities, <br />and Social Sciences.

Nixon intends to print as many copies of the work as her funding will allow. Read more about the project and Nixon in the Sync interview→

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UALR Department of English Assistant Professor Nickole Brown was recently interviewed by storySouth, an online poetry magazine. Brown’s work at UALR focuses on poetry and has achieved notable success, winning numerous awards and securing grants from a number of sources, including the National Endowment for the Arts.

storySouth has been lauded by USA Today and a number of the pieces published by the site have gone on to win awards and be printed in various anthologies. Read the full text of the interview on the storySouth site→

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Now through July 2013, Gallery I will feature “Sacred Symbols in Sequins.” “For many, the term Vodou brings up unfortunate Hollywood-inspired imagery involving hexes and curses, but visitors to Sacred Symbols in Sequins will gain new insights to the beauty and sanctity of Haitian Vodou after viewing 16 exquisite early to mid-20th century Haitian Vodou flags,” said gallery director Brad Cushman. “Six stunning Vodou libation bottles and eight portraits of contemporary Vodou practitioners by renowned photographer Phyllis Galembo provide a context for these dazzling sequin- and bead-encrusted ceremonial banners.”

FLOW is the exhibition that will be housed in Galleries II and III beginning June 11 through July, 26. “This exhibition explores the many meanings associated with water through a selection of thirty-two works drawn from the collection of the Sheldon Museum of Art at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Along with a range of interpretations, the works reflect varying approaches to imaging water, from traditional landscape to abstraction,” Cushman said.

Gallery summer hours – Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. – will begin mid-May and end Labor Day.

For more information, contact Cushman at (501) 569-8977 or at becushman@ualr.edu.

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The troupe: Heidee Alsdorf, Elizabeth Hartzell, Ali Herring, Jessica Hyde, Danny Jimenez, Emily Karnes, Trent Montgomery, Olivia Perry, Rachel Powell, Sean Porter, and Blake Worthey, will all tour with Thibeault for two weeks in June. While on their tour, they will also take classes at various studios between performances.

Having received a UALR research grant to create the work, and an Arkansas Arts Council fellowship to promote the work, Thibeault was able to secure funding for most of the tour expenses. But the troupe is now looking to raise additional funds to cover travel expenses for the UALR students and alumni who will tour in New York City and Baltimore. All proceeds from these fundraisers go directly to support this tour.

This weekend on Saturday, June 1, from 4 to 6 p.m., the troupe will have an Origami Owl (O2) Jewelry Bar at the Rawn Home in Maumelle, AR at #6 Nicklaus Drive. This Saturday event is family-friendly and allows for moms (or others) to shop and mingle with the dancers while their children play and watch movies with supervision provided.

Then, Sunday, June, from 2 to 4 p.m. the troupe will have another O2 Jewelry Bar event at Joel’s Salon in Little Rock. The salon is located at 2300 Andover Ct in Pavilion Woods, directly behind Pavilion in the Park.

Online orders placed now through June 2 also support this project and can be placed at teebo.origamiowl.com. While the dancers would love to experience creating custom jewelry with attendants, they understand other engagements may make that impossible for this event.

Donations are also welcomed. For more information about the project or to make a gift to fund the dance tour, visit teebodans.org.

Finally, you will be able to keep up with the dancers’ experiences here on our website! Throughout their rehearsals, fundraising, travel, and performances, the dancers will be writing blog entries, and sharing their photos and videos with us! More information to come.

The post Dance Students, Alumni to Tour NYC and Baltimore appeared first on College of Arts, Humanities, <br />and Social Sciences.

Ackerman’s script for the ABC-television crime drama “Castle” earned her consideration for an internship focused on television scriptwriting in drama.

“The scene I wrote is a perfect Castle-esque scenario; the team comes across two murders and the only connection is the manner of death – blue satin stiletto heels through the eye,” said Ackerman.

The eight-week internship program gives college students a chance to work in television production over the summer. Interns in the highly competitive program work closely with their hosts and designated supervisors to maximize knowledge and exposure in their industry-specific area of interest.

Sony Pictures, Imageworks, CBS, HBO, The Disney Channel, NBC Universal and Warner Bros are among the host networks.

To move past the finalist stage, Ackerman will submit a DVD or online interview and an original, full-length script to the Foundation. Winners will be announced later this summer.

Ackerman, who is also an Iraqi-war veteran, hopes to become a writer for television, film, or stage following graduation.

She had applied previously to the program and was not accepted. However, she said she submitted a more polished script this year after taking a scriptwriting class under School of Mass Communication professor Alanna Newton, and being mentored by Department of English professor David Jauss.

The Emmy Foundation’s Summer Student Internship Program provides over 40 industry-wide internships to college and graduate students from across the country and has been hailed for more than a decade as one of the top ten internships in the country.

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BA Studio Art 2012

BA Art History 2012

MA Art 2012

English

BA English 2012

History

BA History 2012

MA Public History 2012

International and Second Language Studies

BA French 2012

BA International Studies 2012

BA Spanish 2012

MA Second Languages 2012

Music

BA Music 2012

Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies

BA Interdisciplinary Studies 2012

BA Philosophy 2012 (Report Postponed)

MA Interdisciplinary Studies 2012

Political Science

BA Political Science 2012

Psychology

BA Psychology 2012

Rhetoric and Writing

BA Professional and Technical Writing 2012

MA Professional and Technical Writing

Sociology and Anthropology

BA Anthropology 2012

BA Sociology 2012

Theatre Arts and Dance

BA Theatre Arts 2012 (Report Postponed)

BFA Dance 2012 (Report Postponed)

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