Spring Dance Concert Offers Eclectic Mix

"Ballet, Modern, Funk, African - the Spring Dance Concert has it all," says Director of Dance Linda Caruso Haviland. Bryn Mawr, Haverford and Swarthmore students will perform in the concert, to be presented in Bryn Mawr's Goodhart Theater at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 21, and Saturday, April 22. The performance is free and open to the public; a reception will follow each performance.

Student dancers will perform a collaboratively choreographed piece directed by Natalie Bishar '06 and a tap trio choreographed by Marcelina Chavira '07, Maeve O'Hara '08 and Hannah Albrecht '08. Other students will perform the work of noted dance artists who serve on the Bryn Mawr faculty. Among the choreographers whose work will be presented:

Myra Bazell, M.S.S. '04, co-director and choreographer for Scrap Dance Collective. Bazell has performed, created dances and taught throughout the United States and in Europe, South America and the Middle East. She graduated with a B.F.A. from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and has taught Movement for Theater there. She is a sought-after choreographer for theatrical productions, is a recipient of several grants or fellowships for her choreography, and was selected by Philadelphia Magazine as an "artist to watch."

Kun-Yang Lin, dance artist, choreographer and artistic director of Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers. Lin, who is fully trained in Chinese dance as well as ballet, traditional modern dance techniques and post-modern dance, has performed as a principal dancer and associate artistic director with the Mary Anthony Dance Theatre and has performed with numerous companies including, among others, the Martha Graham Company, Anna Sokolow's Players Project, Jennifer Muller/The Works, Paula Josa-Jones and Janis Brenner & Dancers. His choreography has been presented throughout Asia, Southeast Asia, London, Austria and in numerous prestigious U.S. venues including Jacob's Pillow, Symphony Space, The Yard, and the 92nd Street Y.

Jeannine Osayande, director of Dunya! Performing Arts Company. Osayande has studied and performed in the United States and Africa with master dancers and drummers and traveled Senegal as part of the Sene/Gambian Education and Cultural Exchange. She attended Lesley College and has studied dance and music with masters such as Mary Basse-Wiles, Ibrahima Camara, De Ama Battle, Edir Passos and Youssouf Kambossa. As a dancer, teacher, choreographer and folklorist of African-rooted dance, she has received support from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Pew Charitable Trusts, AT&T, the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Independence Foundation.

Heidi Cruz, a member of the Pennsylvania Ballet Company Repertory. Cruz, born and raised in Allentown, Pa., began her dance training at the age of four at The Dolly Haltzman Dance Academy. She went on to study with Suki Schorer at the School of American Ballet and Gloria Govrin at Pennsylvania Ballet Company. She joined the Pennsylvania Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 1995. Some of her featured roles include Summer Fairy in Ben Stevenson's Cinderella, Vortex in Alvin Ailey's The River, Eve in Margo Sappington's Rodin, Mis En Vie, the pas de trois in The Sleeping Beauty, Trey McIntyre's Plush and Christopher d'Amboise's Symposium. She has also premiered works for such renowned choreographers as Paul Taylor, Jessica Lange and Pennsylvania Ballet members Meredith Rainey and Matthew Neenan.

Dance Program faculty Madeline Cantor and Linda Caruso Haviland will also direct students in études from The Études Project by acclaimed choreographers David Parsons and Danny Buraczewski.

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