Monday, June 13, 2011

Congratulations to all the 2011 Tony Award Winners!

Best Play
War Horse
Author: Nick Stafford

Best Musical
The Book of Mormon

Best Book of a Musical
The Book of Mormon, Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
The Book of Mormon, Music & Lyrics: Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone

Best Revival of a Play
The Normal Heart

Best Revival of a Musical
Anything Goes

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Mark Rylance, Jerusalem

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Frances McDormand, Good People

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Norbert Leo Butz, Catch Me If You Can

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Sutton Foster, Anything Goes

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
John Benjamin Hickey, The Normal Heart

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Ellen Barkin, The Normal Heart

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
John Larroquette, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Nikki M. James, The Book of Mormon

Best Direction of a Play
Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, War Horse

Best Direction of a Musical
Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker, The Book of Mormon

Best Choreography
Kathleen Marshall, Anything Goes

Best Orchestrations
Larry Hochman and Stephen Oremus, The Book of Mormon

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Rae Smith, War Horse

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Scott Pask, The Book of Mormon

Best Costume Design of a Play
Desmond Heeley, The Importance of Being Earnest

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Tim Chappel & Lizzy Gardiner, Priscilla Queen of the Desert

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Paule Constable, War Horse

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Brian MacDevitt, The Book of Mormon

Best Sound Design of a Play
Christopher Shutt, War Horse

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Brian Ronan, The Book of Mormon

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
Athol Fugard Philip J. Smith

Regional Theatre Tony Award
Lookingglass Theatre Company (Chicago, Ill.)

Isabelle Stevenson Award
Eve Ensler

Special Tony Award
Handspring Puppet Company

Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre
William Berloni The Drama Book Shop Sharon Jensen and Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

How Do YOU Dougie?

We've been seeing a lot of versions of the Dougie around the studio lately, and lots of our students visiting from across the country have different ways to do the dance.

We love seeing all the personal styles that come through, and now we want to see how YOU Dougie.

From March 1-15, post a video of you and your friends doing your version of the Dougie on our Broadway Dance Center facebook page, and we'll check them out. Tell your friends to "like" their favorites, and on the 16th, we'll pick some of our top picks and give out BDC classes and swag to the winners! We've never seen a tap Dougie or a ballet Dougie-do they exist???

Please use the CLEAN version of the song only, otherwise, we'll have to remove your post. (this is a family show, people!)


Show some love to your fellow dancers in the comment box, this is a fun dance after all, so please don't hate publicly-who needs that?! We just want to have some good ol' dancing fun!

We'll contact you via facebook email if you're one of our winners-GOOD LUCK!

Now, get creative and TEACH US HOW TO DOUGIE!


The Intermediate dancers at the BOSTON PULSE showed us how they Dougie!

Monday, February 7, 2011

Next!

According to the freedictionary.com passion is – “A powerful emotion, such as love, joy, hatred, or anger.” Not every person has the opportunity in life to find their passion, let alone follow it. For those of us that get to follow our passion of dance why do we always let negative thoughts hinder our ability to really enjoy what we love?

For my husband one of his passions is football. He loves to watch it from August to February. It doesn’t matter the team or the level he just loves the sport. He never sits on the couch while watching or contemplates the other things could be doing. He is fully involved in his passion enjoying every minute he gets of it. Sometimes he has to miss a game because of other commitments, but that just makes the games he gets to watch more special.

For my friend one of her passions is chocolate. She loves it so much that for her birthday every gift she gets usually has some form of chocolate in it. From Reese’s cups to Godiva to just a plain old Hershey bar, every time she eats a piece of chocolate she enjoys it. It always brings her a sense of happiness.

For me the actual physicality of dancing is my passion. It doesn’t matter if I’m on a stage, in class, or in my living room. The movement of dance makes me happy. So this brings me back to my original thought of why do those negative thought s creep in like a thief in the night while I’m doing my tendues.
Why can’t I enjoy dance like a delicious piece of chocolate or an action packed football game.

Well I’m not sure the why will ever be answered, but a simple solution on how to move on from the negative thoughts was answered this week by Tracie Stanfield. Just say “NEXT” it is that simple. It is kind of like the MTV dating show “NeXt”, but with your thoughts instead of people. Anytime you are having a negative thought about yourself in dance class you just say “NEXT” to that voice until it comes up with another thought. So when I’m standing there watching the combination and I hear that voice say “ if only your legs were a little longer I say NEXT, and when that voice says something negative I say NEX. Eventually the voice will either be quiet or maybe start to say some positive things. Tracie had given this advice to another student and when I heard it, I thought it was a perfect solution.

So whatever your passion is, be sure to enjoy it without letting negative thoughts get in the way. If they do start to creep in swat them away with a “NEXT” or perhaps a football game or piece of chocolate.
-Alana Sampietro, BDC Student and Member of Synthesis Dance Project

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Getting Out Of My Comfort Zone

When you are lucky enough to do the same thing day after day sometimes you forget how lucky you are. The everyday routine becomes monotonous and the things you love get taken for granted. In today’s world I forget how lucky I am to have a job, let alone something I love to do. Whether it’s at rehearsal, taking class or teaching I get to live my dream. Not everyone is that lucky; so it’s a shame I have been taking it for granted lately. I didn’t even realize I wasn’t working to my full potential. I was so comfortable that it was easy to slip into my own mediocrity without realizing it.

I decided to change that and really started to work rather than go through the motions. I found I enjoyed working. Somewhere I forgot what it was like to sweat within the first 10 minutes of class. I started pushing myself to stretch a little further, fight a little harder to stay on releve, and just really work as hard as I could. It was the greatest thing. I felt energized after warm up and I was ready to challenge myself even further with the combination. I pushed myself for that extra turn that I knew I could do. Sometimes it’s easier to say I can’t then fight for the “I can”. I tried to dance the combination while it was being taught instead of waiting for the last ten minutes of class when I am in the rhythm and know what I am doing. I could feel myself getting nervous, it was a little scary to push myself out of my comfort zone.

After class I felt great. I had really accomplished something… I had figured out a way to push myself in class instead of waiting for the teacher to push me. Getting out of my comfort zone was exhilarating and I had only taken a baby step out. I hope to continue to push myself so I can continue to grow as an artist. I won’t be taking these opportunites of dance for granted I’m going to live in each and every one of them.

Alana Sampietro, BDC Student and member of Synthesis Dance Project

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

How Many in a Mini?

New Professional Semester student Maria Margaritis participated with Pilobolus as they broke a world record for fitting the most people into a BMW mini!

Check out the article online!


Tuesday, January 11, 2011

International Inspirations

My favorite class this week was Tracie Stanfield’s Adv beg class on Friday. It wasn’t the warm-up which not only stretches you in every way possible, but pushes you to work harder every time you do it. It wasn’t because we did “jazz” across the floor with some front and back forced arch soutenu turns. It wasn’t getting to perform the beautiful combination to Weightlessness with its grounded movement that pushes you thru space challenging you to find a way to connect the strong movement while still keeping a soft and subtle quality in your energy. I found my inspiration this week in the last ten minutes of Friday’s class.

It was during these last ten minutes that Tracie pulled out three international students to perform the combination for the class. These 3 girls are regulars to Tracie’s class, but I’ve never really sat and watched them dance. Each offered some different choices within the combination. The girl in the center cut thru space with such ease, her lines were so strong that she created pictures with every movement. The girl on stage left felt the drama of the song. Her emotional intention was so strong it reached out thru her finger tips. The girl on stage right had lightness to her movement making softer more subtle choices that lead her movement to have a seamless quality. It was so great to be able to sit and watch their talent. I was inspired by the choices they made in the combination to make it their own.

I am always amazed at the international students that come to Broadway Dance Center. Just the thought of going to another country and taking a dance class is scary; forget about staying there for some time and really immersing yourself in the dance culture. These dancers come to class not completely understanding the language, the music, or the culture of NYC dance, but knowing their love of dance trumps their fear. The bravery they show by being in class inspires me to work harder and be braver in my own choices.

-Alana Sampietro, BDC Student and member of Synthesis Dance Project