We are leaving in two days! The dancers and choreographers are getting pretty excited! Here's what Moriah has to say...

Courtney Wolff talks DUMBO Dance Festival! We leave Thursday AM at 6:00am there's still time to donate! 

Whitney Zimmermann talks DUMBO Dance Festival and Dance Wave, the two performance opportunities these students have coming up! 

You may have noticed that the overall fundraising amount for this project has diminished! That's because all 7 students have been awarded funds to attend Dance Wave DUMBO Dance Festival. We want to thank the Experiential Learning Fund for their support in helping these students head to NYC to perform. 

Did you know it's Christina's first ever performance at a Dance Festival? Here's what she has to say! 

Hear from Gabby Mameli, senior dance major at UB. She's looking forward to representing! 

Ginger Page, talking to us about the full circle! Did you know she attended Dance Wave as a high school student and now she's performing for their showcase as a senior is college? FULL CIRCLE!

Tickets, Performance Schedule and more info about DUMBO Dance Festival Click here

Tickets to Dance Wave: Click here

Sophomore student, Katietells us what she's most excited about! 

As the time is getting nearer we wanted to extend an enormous thank you to all those who have donated! We are $70.00 away from the $3000.00 mark and we couldn't be more thankful for each and everyone of you. On October 11th at 6:00am we will be piling into two cars and heading to New York City. There's anticipation and excitement in the air and we have each and everyone of you to thank for helping us! These dancers are working tirelessly and we wanted to share yet another photo of the rehearsal process taken by UB Dance Alumna Lilibeth Javier.

If you missed the lecture demonstration you missed out! Check out this clip of Courtney Wolff. These dancers are not only talented but have driven and intelligent minds! We are so very much looking forward to heading to DUMBO and Dance Wave! 

Last night the cast and choreographer met to put the final touches on the students' Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Grant which they have been working on for three weeks.

If you know anything about grant writing, you know it's a process. It's also important to note that this is a group application and seven brains are always better than one!

Danielle said, "I have never met a group of students that can sit in front of their computers with a shared Google Doc and get to task so quickly. We finished their project description, the last of the documents to be compiled and the most robust. We are now in the final review stage before submission. They worked so diligently and efficiently that we didn't even get a photo".

Time will tell if the students will be the recipients of this grant so in the meantime if you are able to donate any amount will help!

This cast!!! Before the full group rehearsal, the dancers met without choreographer Danielle Lydia Sheather to go over the work so the reconstruction could go smoothly this coming weekend. Not a requirement! But certainly a simple act of professionalism that is often required and not taught in our field. 

"I'm beyond proud of their dedication and passion. All I can say is UB Dance has made some stellar choices in their teachings!" says Danielle Lydia Sheather. 

And... as part of the process, the cast and Danielle Lydia Sheather are having a Lecture Demonstration of the work. Anyone who wishes to attend, head on down to the Center for the Arts on UB's North Campus, Sunday September 23rd from 6:30pm-7:00pm, location TBD. Thank you for your support and if you are able we are still seeking donations.

We're hitting rehearsals soon to reconstruct the piece! Check out this photo of our first rendition of the work! Any help would be greatly appreciated! And you might also be interested to know that alumna Lilibeth Javier, UB Dance BFA 2018 took this photo. We love our current and alum UB Dancers, strong community builds strong network, builds strong support near or far! 

We are thrilled to announce that awhile has also been selected to perform at Dance Wave's Dancing Through College recruitment event at Hunter College in Manhattan, NY. The performances happen to fall on the exact same weekend as DUMBO Dance Festival!

Dance Wave's Performance Showcase offers prospective students the opportunity to attend a dance concert with selected pieces from several universities seeking to recruit students from the event. We will be representing UB Dance, The Department of Theatre and Dance, and The University at Buffalo for a second time, what a thrill!

This is where your contribution helps! Please consider donating to help these wonderfully talented students, any amount helps! 

The 2018 DUMBO DANCE FESTIVAL: A FOUR-DAY SPECTACULAR PRESENTING 70 COMPANIES FROM NEW YORK & AROUND THE WORLD

Committed to developing dance as an important art form, WHITE WAVE scours the globe in search of the most innovative of today’s dance makers, both emerging and established, and brings them to Brooklyn for one extended weekend of 11 different programs. For four nights and three days, dance lovers will experience a veritable cornucopia of the best of contemporary dance. DDF is committed to advancing the best of dance by providing on-stage and be-hind-the-scene opportunities for 70 dance troupes from across America and around the globe, allowing audiences to experience, first-hand, the incomparable vitality of the New York dance scene.

“This is a festival about opportunities,” says Young Soon Kim, Artistic Director of WHITE WAVE Dance. “The DUMBO Dance Festival provides an opportunity for over 350 performing artists to showcase their work. Further, it offers New York audiences the chance to participate in one of the most diverse displays of leading-edge choreography and excellence at an affordable price.”

UB Dancers will be performing awhile on Friday, October 12th, 2018 at 9:00pm

To purchase tickets click here

Location: Gelsey Kirkland ArtsCenter 29 Jay Street, DUMBO, Brooklyn, 11201 Directions: Just one train stop from downtown Manhattan, accessible from the F train at York Street; and A, C trains at High Street.

Ticket Price: General Admission: $15

 For more information on the Festival click here

Danielle Lydia Sheather, Canadian born dancer, choreographer, artist, and educator, considers herself a life-long learner and an advocate for dance. Her professional training includes the Paul Taylor Winter Intensive, Limón Spring Studies Program, Horton Pedagogy Workshop, Centre National de la Danse, Off Jazz Stage d'été, and One Body One Career Countertechnique Intensive in Melbourne Australia. She has performed both nationally and internationally in various settings from commercial to concert dance on both television and stage including national commercials for Busch Gardens Williamsburg and the International Dance Festival at the Duke on Broadway.

Her choreography has been showcased at various venues including Baryshnikov Arts Center (NYC), Stevie Eller Dance Theater (Tucson, AZ), McGinnis Theater (Greenville, NC), and at Le Regard du Cygne (Paris, France). Her choreographic works are an artistic expression of human consciousness through the medium of physical exploration and she has enjoyed successful collaborations with other artists including harpist Rachel Knight and visual artist Ruben Ramirez.

She received her MFA from the University of Arizona as a University Fellow and was awarded the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant for the College of Fine Arts and the Creative Achievement Award. During her studies, she was invited to teach in Mexico and received funding, including the Medici Scholarship, to study in Nice, France. She has since returned to her alma matter, The University at Buffalo (SUNY), serving as Clinical Assistant Professor of Dance. In 2003, Danielle received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award and graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Honors College with a BFA in Dance and BA in Psychology.

Danielle has previously served as Guest Artist and Instructor at East Carolina University and is an ABT® Certified Teacher in Primary through Level 5 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. She is a also certified Yoga Instructor (RYT 500hr, ERYT 200hr) and has taught for New York Yoga and Sonic Yoga in NYC.

My name is Whitney Zimmermann and I am originally from Buffalo, New York and grew up dancing at Tonawanda Dance Arts in Tonawanda, New York. There I trained with my mentor, Miranda Zimmerman-Spada, Kristy Boyens-Kulak, Melanie Boniszewski, and Kelsey Boniszewski.  I am now a Junior at The University at Buffalo and am currently pursuing a Bachelor of the Fine Arts in Dance. During my time at The University at Buffalo, I have trained in Ballet, Modern, Jazz, and Tap under the instruction of Melanie Aceto, Anne Burnidge, Jeanne Fornarola, Joyce Lichtenberger, Jenna Del Monte, Tom Ralabate, Kerry Ring, and Danielle Lydia Sheather. I have also taken courses such as Laban Movement Analysis, Creative Movement, Choreography 1, and Technical Theatre.  To supplement my training I have also taken classes at Broadway Dance Center, Steps on Broadway, Millennium Dance Complex in Toronto, and The Playground in Los Angeles. All of these classes helped shape me into the dancer and person I am today and that has built me up to this opportunity to dance at the 2018 DUMBO Dance Festival in New York City. At The University at Buffalo, I performed in the Zodiaque Dance Ensemble, Emerging Choreographers Showcase, and Dancer’s Workshop. I have also co-choreographed a piece for The University at Buffalo's Dancer’s Workshop.  Currently, I am one of the student Assistant Directors for Zodiaque Dance Company’s 45th Season under the direction of Kerry Ring. Most recently, I began training on aerial silks at the University at Buffalo with Kathleen Golde. Training on silks has helped me find more strength and balance in my dancing which will really help complete the performance aspect of this project.  In 2015, I began teaching at Tonawanda Dance Arts for student’s ages one through thirteen and I believe that my teaching experience will also help me to successfully complete the project. I am the Arts Administrator helping to compile the Center for Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities Grant information for our project awhile: A piece based on Time and Space which will also provide us funding to perform at DUMBO Dance Festival if selected. The organization skills necessary to build classes for my students are very similar to the compiling of documents for this project. All in all I believe that my collective experiences of classes completed, performance, choreography, and teaching will contribute to my successful completion of this project.

My name is Katie Wackowski and I am 18 years old. I am currently a Sophomore at the University at Buffalo and I am taking on two majors! Dance as my first and Exercise Science and Athletic Training as my second. I am from Buffalo, New York and have grown up here my whole life. I began dancing at the young age of two and have grown to love it ever since! I started my dance career at Mary Alice’s Dance Studio in Orchard Park, New York. This studio quickly became my second home and my friends here became my second family just as fast. I danced here anywhere from five to seven days a week and that became my new normal! My time here consisted of countless hours of training, working hard and refining my technique as well as laughing, learning and loving every second of what I was doing and who I was doing it with. I trained in ballet, tap, jazz, modern, lyrical, contemporary, musical theatre, acrobatics, pointe and hip hop. I graduated from Mary Alice’s Dance Studio in the Spring of 2017 and can proudly say I danced there for fifteen years! From there I began my training at The University at Buffalo (UB) in the Fall of 2017 as a Freshman in the Dance Department. Here I have trained specifically in ballet, jazz, modern and tap. I have had the opportunity to begin training in aerial silks as well as take numerous master classes to keep me well rounded and versatile. I have been lucky enough to earn three performance opportunities since coming to UB and my favorite show I participated in was for the Zodiaque Dance Ensemble. Within this show I was fortunate enough to perform an original work choreographed by Clinical Assistant Professor Danielle Lydia Sheather. This wonderful piece along with my peers and I have been given the opportunity to perform at the 2018 DUMBO Dance Festival in NYC this Fall. We are ecstatic to go and I am honored to be given this truly amazing experience to represent my school, my professor, and myself! All of my training thus far has got me here today and I could not be more grateful for the opportunity!

My name is Courtney Wolff I am a resident of Buffalo, NY and currently attend the University at Buffalo (UB). Here at UB, I am pursuing a dual degree in Biomedical Engineering and Dance.

Before coming to college, I was a part of a competitive dance team through Center Stage Dance Studio in Buffalo, NY. Together, we travelled across the United States and I, personally, went abroad to London to compete. Traveling allowed me to observe how people from different cities move, and oftentimes inspired me to be the best possible version of myself. Innately we are taught how to physically move our bodies in classes, but dance lends so much more than just physical ability. I realized that everyday there is a life lesson to learn with dance whether it’s time management, respect for teachers/peers, or getting to know new dancers.

Luckily the dance program here at UB provides us with many performing opportunities, some of which I got the chance to take part in last year. Aside from taking daily technique classes, during the 2017-2018 school year, I participated in both Emerging Choreographers Showcase and Zodiaque Dance Ensemble. Coming in as a freshman, it was amazing to receive these performance opportunities as it was a great way to immerse myself into the dance department here at UB. During this time, I also had the great pleasure of working with Danielle Lydia Sheather (choreographer) and six other cast members during the creation of awhile, a piece performed in Zodiaque Dance Ensemble.

These experiences have prepared me to successfully complete this project because working with others allows me to learn from what they do. It essentially allowed me to collaborate, then analyze and apply those skills to my own work. Additionally, performing lends confidence to step out of my comfort zone and go on new adventures. Dance taught me to try hard for the things I want in life. Strive towards my goals, and accept any help I was able to get along the way. Exposure is everything in the dance world, and the cast of awhile is so excited to be coming to Brooklyn, NY to present our piece again. When you get to try new things, work with new people, and travel to new places, it allows expansion of the mind and body for further success in whatever endeavor life takes you on.

Hello, my name is Christina Tribo and I am currently a sophomore in The University at Buffalo Department of Theatre and Dance (UB) pursuing a B.F.A degree in dance. I have completed two semesters of dance training here in ballet, modern, jazz, and tap.

I began my dance training at the Royal Academy of Ballet and Dance at the age of two and started performing with the Greater Buffalo Youth Ballet at the age of ten. I have performed en pointe for eight years dancing roles in ballets such as Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Coppélia, and Firebird. I have also performed excerpts from The Nutcracker, La Bayadere, Paquita, Carmen, Don Quijote, and Raymonda. I also performed for four years with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, during their holiday outreach performances at St. Mary School for the Deaf and Kleinhans Music Hall.

I was a recipient of The Ginger Burke Scholarship in the 2012-2013 and 2015-2016 dance seasons and I attended the Royal Academy of Ballet and Dance Summer Intensive for six summers. In 2016, I was selected to participate in the New York State Summer School of the Arts (NYSSSA) Modern Dance program. The summer of 2017 and 2018 I attended The Ailey School Professional Division Summer Intensive in New York City. There I trained daily in Ballet, Horton, Graham, Taylor, Jazz, Contemporary, and West African.

Along with the daily technique training technique at UB I have been selected as a performer in various concerts including: Dancer’s Workshop, Zodiaque Dance Ensemble, and Emerging Choreographer’s Showcase.

I am truly excited and grateful for this opportunity to go to the DUMBO Dance Festival this year. An invitation to an event such as this is beyond my wildest imagination, and to be going with such a remarkable cast and choreographer is a blessing to me. I was actually very surprise by how much I connected to and was challenged by our piece awhile. The music and concept on their own are very thought provoking and for every person the question “where does the time go?” has different answers. The opportunity to share that question and perhaps our own answers with another audience member seeks to bridge the gap between dancer and viewer. I am interested in attending because I want to show others what the UB Dance program can offer and how hard we work to pursue performance opportunities like these.

Hello, my name is Ginger Page and I am from Buffalo, NY. I am currently pursuing a dual degree, a B.A. Dance and a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing at SUNY, University at Buffalo (UB). Before attending UB, I trained intensely at both the American Academy of Ballet and Royal Academy of Ballet and Dance. Ballet has always been the focus of my training, and it is still a huge part of my life today. Transforming into a college dancer and performer with greater exposure to other forms of dance has been an amazing learning experience as well, especially with all of the diverse opportunities that have come along.

I train daily in ballet, modern and jazz classes and throughout my time with UB I have performed as a member of the Zodiaque Dance Ensemble, Emerging Choreographers Showcase and Dancer’s Workshop. I was honored to be a part of The Language of Objects exhibit at UB’s Anderson Art Gallery for the Stand Tall project by Brendan Fernandes. I also have also had the chance to participate in two dance films. Working with Clinical Assistant Professor Jenna Del Monte on her work Blindsided, and as well as with a fellow student majoring in Media Studies on his work What Now. Both these experiences helped me to find my love for collaborating with other artists and film. Dancing for film has been a unique opportunity, as it taught me innovative choreographic tools, alternate learning skills and opened my eyes to site specific work.

To further my dance education outside of UB, I have trained with the intensives of Complexions Contemporary Ballet’s NYC Summer Intensive and New York State Summer School of the Arts (NYSSSA) School of Ballet under Daniel Ulbricht. Additionally, I have trained with Jennifer Ringer, Amanda Edge and many other artists/alumni of New York City Ballet and Syracuse Summer Intensive. Trying to be well-rounded in my performance experience, I have also been working as a make-up artist. My love for dance grows every day, and teaching dance classes at local studios around Buffalo has allowed me to spread that love to younger students who share my dream of becoming a professional dancer.

I feel well prepared to attend DUMBO Dance Festival due to the wide scope of experiences I have had here at UB. The above opportunities have taught me to be resourceful and approach new learning experience with grace and maturity. As I was Rehearsal Assistant in the original creation of awhile, I feel confident in my abilities to help with the re-staging of the piece and assist my fellow dancers to re-work the performance for a larger venue. I am particularly confident because of the organized thought process that being a dual degree student requires.

Having the opportunity to dance in New York City amongst many other people that share a love for dance is an incredible experience that I would love to have. We as a group worked so hard alongside choreographer, Danielle Lydia Sheather to bring this piece to life and it would be an honor to share it with other artists across the country and beyond. We would like this opportunity to represent The University at Buffalo and UB Dance so that we can showcase the pride and knowledge this school has given us.

Hello, my name is Moriah Markowitz and I am from Long Island, New York. I am currently a senior dance major at the University at Buffalo pursing a B.F.A. degree. After spending multiple years learning how to choreograph by either practicing in my room, learning from amazing mentors and choreographers, or simply watching videos online, I found my love for choreography and performance. While studying at The University at Buffalo, I have had the opportunity to work with many dancers and focus on developing my choreographic vocabulary, performance qualities, technique, and characteristics in various styles of dance. This would be impossible without the help of my professors, peers, and various studios from both Long Island and Buffalo where I have gained invaluable experience. Currently, I am employed as a dance instructor at three different studios, as I hope to help the students in my class find their true passion within the art of dance. Previous to my education at the University at Buffalo, I grew up dancing at Inspirations Performing Arts Centre. This is where my love to dance flourished and no longer became a hobby, but sculpted me to train hard until I could make a career for myself. Without the dance training, experiences, and opportunities I have had thus far I would not be the dancer, choreographer, or person I am today. Being a performer in The University at Buffalo’s Zodiaque Dance Ensemble, and Emerging Choreographers Showcase, as well as “The Dance Project” created by Artist Simply Human, further developed my skills as a dancer. As choreography is my true passion, I have taken choreography classes offered at the University, and have had multiple opportunities to present my work. Venues where my work has been showcased include: Dancers Workshop both in 2017 and 2018, and studio solos that are performed on the competition stage seasonally. The training, dedication, time, effort, and endless opportunities have truly prepared me to complete this project. The process of creating awhile was quite astonishing and learning new choreographic techniques and physical movement on my own body has been such an educational process. Attending the DUMBO Dance Festival would prepare me for future dance opportunities I may otherwise not received without this experience.

Hello, my name is Gabby Mameli and I am Senior Dance major at The University at Buffalo (UB). I am looking forward to graduation earning a B.A. in Dance and a minor in Nutrition. I have lived in Buffalo, NY my entire life and grew up studying dance at Celebrity Dance Emporium under direction of Amanda Cacciotti. After graduating from Clarence Senior High School in 2015, I decided to pursue my dance education further at The University at Buffalo. Since attending UB, I have had the opportunity to perform in numerous dance performances. These performances included, Zodiaque Dance Ensemble, Emerging Choreographers Showcase and Dancers Workshop. I have also had the opportunity to study Aerial Silks at UB, under direction of Kathleen Golde, which I have grown to truly love over the past two years. In the Summer of 2017, I studied at Millennium Dance Complex in Los Angeles, California and after participating in their Summer Intensive program I was able to come back to UB feeling a new sense of appreciation and love for dance. In the Spring of 2018, Zodiaque Dance Ensemble’s performance Cool Hunting premiered where I was lucky enough to perform awhile choreographed by Danielle Lydia Sheather. This brilliant choreography was brought to life by the cast, including myself, due to the fact that we spent several hours a week perfecting this piece of art. Now that we have the opportunity to travel to Brooklyn, NY to perform this beautiful piece again we are all ecstatic.