Come to the beach and join NJDTE's new SOUTH Summer Workshops this August. Stay in shape after the summer             intensives and be ready for the fall 2014 season. See you then!

LENORE PAVLAKOS MORALES
A native of Brooklyn, Morales is a graduate of The Juilliard School where she received her BFA in Dance. Ms. Pavlakos Morales performed with Maryland Ballet and Eugene Ballet before joining Dance Theatre of Harlem in 1993, where she danced as a soloist and principal dancer. She additionally served as assistant rehearsal director and master teacher. While with DTH, Ms. Morales performed ballets by noted choreographers such as George Balanchine, Glen Tetly, John Taras, and Michael Smuin. She formerly was the Ballet Mistress and Rehearsal Director of Staten Island Ballet and currently is the Ballet Mistress of NJDTE and a guest artist with Morales Dance.

"There comes a point where dancers have done all the summer programs, and they really need something different and more challenging, with improvisational and collaborative skills."
 - Alexandra Wells, Concept & Artistic Director, MIP & Pre-MIP



The Pre-Movement Invention Project 2014 (Pre-MIP) starts in just 4 days! We are excited to welcome our collaborators and dancers to this innovative program, held at DANY Studios in New York City from July 7-18.

The Pre-MIP NYC 2014 Summer Program, now in its fifth year, is a two-week introduction to the creative process and improvisational skills for advanced dancers ages 16 to 18. Each day begins with a Ballet class followed by pointe work for women and men’s work. The morning then concludes with Introduction to Improvisation. After lunch, dancers have Contemporary Technique followed by a Collaboration/Creative Process class.

PRE-MIP DIRECTORS
Alexandra Wells (Concept & Artistic Director)
Nancy Turano (New Jersey Dance Theatre Ensemble, Artistic Director)

PRE-MIP 2014 COLLABORATORS
RETURNING PRE-MIP COLLABORATORS

Francois Perron (French Academie of Ballet, Founder & Artistic Director) graduated from the Paris Opera Ballet School, and has danced with Maurice Béjart, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and Joffrey Ballet, among many others. An ABT® Certified Teacher, Perron has taught worldwide and is on faculty at The Juilliard School. This year, he will be featured as the director of a New York City dance school in the new reality series Big Apple Ballet.

Gregory Dolbashian (The Dash Ensemble, Artistic Director & The Playground, Co-Founder & Artistic Director) graduated cum laude from SUNY Purchase Conservatory. He is a recipient of the Bessie Schonberg Residency at the Yard and won the Hubbard Street 2 International Choreographic Competition. Dolbashian's work has been commissioned by numerous companies and schools around the country, including Atlanta Ballet.

Ana-Maria Lucaciu (Assistant to Alexander Ekman) graduated from the National Ballet School of Canada and has a BFA in dance from Empire State College. She has danced with Canada's National Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet and Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, along with other international companies, and was the rehearsal director for Gallim Dance. Photo by Jubal Battisti.

David Norsworthy (FRESH Dance Intensive and TOES for Dance, Founder and Artistic Director) graduated from The Juilliard School. He has performed nationally and internationally with Camille A. Brown and Dancers, Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre and Dancenorth (Melbourne), among others. His choreography has been presented in New York at the Wave Rising Series as well as internationally at ArtPowersArusha (Tanzania).

For more information, please click here or email [email protected].

"I'm hoping the students will hear their own voices actually, so it's not that they're looking for things they already know, they're looking to discover things they don't know. I would characterize it as the vitality of thought, the versatility of thinking."

-Jill Johnson, MIP Founding Collaborator


The MOVEMENT INVENTION PROJECT (MIP) 2014 starts in just 5 days!  This year, we are proud to celebrate six years of innovation and creativity in dance, and are excited to welcome our new and returning collaborators. Dancers from all over the country will attend the program, held at Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York City from June 30-July 18.

MIP is a unique summer dance intensive in New York City for advanced dancers, 17 to 22 years old. Dancers work with an extraordinary faculty of teachers, choreographers, and mentors in a project that encourages risk-taking, creativity, and the development of improvisational skills, in a supportive environment that prepares the dancer to work in collaboration with today’s choreographers.

MIP DIRECTORS
Alexandra Wells (Concept & Artistic Director)
Nancy Turano (New Jersey Dance Theatre Ensemble, Artistic Director)

MIP 2014 COLLABORATORS
RETURNING MIP COLLABORATORS
Sidra Bell & Alexandra Johnson (Sidra Bell Dance New York, Artistic Director and MIP Founding Collaborator)
Gabriel Forestieri (ProjectLIMB)
Shannon Gillen (Shannon Gillen + Guests, Artistic Director and Staatstheater Kassel/Johannes Wieland)

NEW MIP COLLABORATORS

Jermaine Spivey (Kidd Pivot) graduated from the Juilliard School, and has danced professionally in Europe with Cullberg Ballet, The Forsythe Company and Crystal Pite's Kidd Pivot company, among others. He is a Princess Grace Awardee as well as a National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts 1st Level Awardee. Photo by Allison Schultz.

Artistic Director Nancy Turano has named Lisa Rumbauskas, NJDTE alumna and faculty member, as the first Director of the Young Dancers Program.

This new position is the latest chapter in Rumbauskas’ lifelong affiliation with NJDTE, who began studying with the Ensemble at age 7. She received a BFA in Dance from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied with and performed works by Mark Morris, Ann Reinking, Sean Curran, Gus Solomons Jr. and Ronald K. Brown, among others. She has also toured around the country with various Broadway productions, including Swing!.

Last year, NJDTE offered Rumbauskas a scholarship to study the American Ballet Theater curriculum and become an ABT® Certified Teacher.

We look forward to a strong future for our Young Dancers Program under Rumbauskas' leadership.

To read more about YDP and Lisa Rumbauskas, see the link below.

NJDTE is proud to announce the four recipients of the NJ Governor's Award: Artistic Director Nancy Turano and dancers Kara Menendez, Shannon Scully, and Conner Bormann. Specifically, Turano was named the 2012 Distinguished Teaching Artist for Dance, Menedez and Bormann both received Student Awards for Artistic Excellence and Leadership in Dance, and Scully was awarded NJPAC's award for Excellence in Dance. Bormann also received an NDEO award for Artistic Merit, as well as Leadership and Academic Excellence.

Congratulations to the four of you. NJDTE could not be more proud!

To learn more about the Governor's Awards, these recipients, or to read the full article, see the link below.

Photo: NJDTE Artistic Director Nancy Turano and dancers Connor Bormann and Kara Menendez

NJDTE is proud to announce Lisa Rumbauskas as the new Company Manager. As she is an NJDTE alumna, we are honored to give her this position. After touring for several years throughout the US and Europe, Rumbauskas has now returned to her roots at the New Jersey Dance Theatre Ensemble.

After her training at NJDTE, Rumbauskas also studied at the Joffrey Ballet School, The American Ballet Theatre School, and The Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Since receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, Rumbauskas has performed with many choreographers, including Mark Morris, Lynn-Taylor Corbett, Marc Robin and many more. She has also performed on tour tours with The Lion King, Swing!, Saturday Night Fever, and Cats. Rumbauskas is uniquely qualified to fill this position, and we are excited to welcome her back to NJDTE.

To read the full article, click on the provided link: