Click on the links below to learn more about each of the summer programs.  For more information email info@floridadancetheatre.org or call 863.802.0399.

Summer 2012 Intro-Intensive – Learn More!
A two week dance training experience for dancers ages 7-10.
Prerequisite: FDT Elementary Ballet II, III, or IV.
Date: June 25 – July 6, 2012 (closed July 4th).
Times: Monday – Friday, 2 – 6pm
Download registration form here.

Summer Dance Intensive – Junior Division – Learn More!
June 18—30, Monday through Saturday 9am – 2pm.
Intermediate Dancers ages 10 and up
Performance on June 30.
Download registration form here.

Summer Dance Intensive – Senior Division – Learn More!
June 11—30, Monday through Saturday 10am – 8pm.
Performance on June 30.
Advanced and pre-professional dancers by audition only. Please call 863.802.0399 or email info@floridadancetheatre.org to schedule an audition. This program is designed for students of ages 10-25 who are committed to enhancing their dance training and exploring a variety of dance techniques with Ballet as a core component.  Housing is available for students ages 14 and older at Lake Wire Inn. Please contact FDT to arrange for housing. Deadline for housing reservations is May 1, 2012.
Download registration form here.

Summer Youth Dance Camp (SYDC) – Learn More!
SYDC is divided into three sessions that are each one week long.
Session 1: July 16 – 20
Session 2: July 23 – 27
Session 3: July 30 – August 3
The camp is open to students ages 6-10, with classes in ballet, hip hop, acting, art and more. Students can sign up for one, two, or three weeks. Each week ends with a performance by the students that is open to family and friends.  Tuition for Summer Youth Dance Camp is $175 per week. Full and partial scholarships are available to those students who qualify for Polk County School Board free/reduced lunch program.

]]> http://www.floridadancetheatre.org/2012/04/summer-programs/feed/ 0 http://www.floridadancetheatre.org/2012/04/florida-dance-theatre-to-host-summer-youth-dance-camp/ http://www.floridadancetheatre.org/2012/04/florida-dance-theatre-to-host-summer-youth-dance-camp/#comments Wed, 18 Apr 2012 20:46:19 +0000 admin http://www.floridadancetheatre.org/?p=692 Lakeland, FL – Florida Dance Theatre will host its annual Summer Youth Dance Camp starting July 16, 2012. The camp is open to students ages 6-10, with classes in ballet, hip hop, acting, art and more.

Camp is divided into three sessions that are each one week long. Session dates are July 16 – 20, July 23 – 27, or July 30 – August 3. Students can sign up for one, two, or three weeks. Each week ends with a performance by the students that is open to family and friends.

Tuition for Summer Youth Dance Camp is $175 per week. Full and partial scholarships are available to those students who qualify for Polk County School Board free/reduced lunch program.

For more information, call 863-802-0399, email info@floridadancetheatre.org, or visit www.floridadancetheatre.org.

]]> http://www.floridadancetheatre.org/2012/04/florida-dance-theatre-to-host-summer-youth-dance-camp/feed/ 0 http://www.floridadancetheatre.org/2012/04/april-26-florida-dance-theatre-company-performs-at-the-miami-dance-festival/ http://www.floridadancetheatre.org/2012/04/april-26-florida-dance-theatre-company-performs-at-the-miami-dance-festival/#comments Wed, 18 Apr 2012 20:19:28 +0000 admin http://www.floridadancetheatre.org/?p=689 Florida Dance Theatre performs at Miami Beach Botanical Gardens on Thursday, April 26 at 7:30pm

A popular feature at the Miami Dance Festival since 2007, Lakeland-based Florida Dance Theatre returns with another exciting contemporary dance program that showcases its virtuoso dancers.

The intimate setting at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden will bring the audience closer to the dancers and the choreography.

For information and tickets call 305-858-7002, or visitwww.momentumdance.com.

General admission $20, students and seniors $10.

Junior Division June 18—30
Intermediate Dancers ages 10 and up
Monday through Saturday 9:00—2:00

Senior Division June 11—30
Advanced & Pre-professional Dancers by audition, please contact us!
Monday through Saturday 10:00am — 8:00pm
Performance on June 30th

This program is designed for students ages 10-25 who are committed to enhancing their dance training.  The program is geared to providing students a chance to explore a variety of dance techniques with Ballet as a core component.

Download 2012 Summer Intensive Registration Form

For more information check out our website at floridadancetheatre.org, email us at info@floridadancetheatre.org or give us a call at (863) 802-0399

Faculty Biographies:

Dancer, historian and journalist, Charmaine Warren is a faculty member at Fordham University in the Alvin Ailey/Fordham B.F.A program and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.  She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in dance as well as in English, and a Masters Degree in Dance Research, Reconstruction and Choreography, and a Ph.D. in History at Howard University where she was a faculty member for eight years.  She has lectured nationally at various dance studios and institutions.  And as a movement teacher, she has conducted modern dance classes at various universities throughout the U.S., including Princeton University, Duke University, City College of New York and the University of California at Berkeley, to name a few.  Internationally, she has taught modern dance in Paris, London, Stockholm, and Kingston.  She began teaching Astanga-based yoga classes in Jamaica as part of “Dick Gregory’s First Holistic Health Retreat” in 1998, and continues to teach in the Tri-State area.  Today, Astanga yoga remains an integral part of all her movement classes.  After performing for many years with major New York dance companies, Ms. Warren joined the internationally known, New York-based, dance/theater company david rousseve/REALITY in 1989 with whom she performed for over a decade.  Ms. Warren currently writes on dance for Dance Magazine and The Amsterdam News, sits on various dance committees and is a dance consultant.

John Parks is a former Dancer with the Alvin Ailey Dance Company; The Anna Sokolow Company; Ruth Carrier. He trained in New York City at the High School for the Performing Arts, Julliard School of Music, Clark Center, New Dance Group, Martha Graham School, and the The American Dance Festival. He was assistant to the choreographer and dance captain for The Wiz on Broadway and other Broadway shows acting as producer and choreographer . His film work includes The Wiz, A Rage in Harlem and Malcolm X. He has taught at the University of Michigan; Florida A & M University; Harvard Summer School; Ballet Company of Zimbabwe; Alvin Ailey School; Borough of Manhattan College; Cultural Arts High School, and  presently is on faculty at USF in Tampa.

Sean Musselman, began his ballet training here in St. Petersburg, Florida at the age of thirteen. Mr. Musselman moved to New York to study full time at the School of American Ballet (SAB), and continued to train there until the age of twenty. He has studied with Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rudolph Nureyev, George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. Mr. Musselman performed with several national ballet companies. He returned to St. Petersburg and began his teaching career with the Academy of Ballet Arts and St. Petersburg College. He eventually established his own school, Mirror Lake Ballet Academy, where he founded the traditional Nutcracker in the Park. Mr. Musselman has been a faculty member at Perkins Elementary and Gibbs High School in the Arts Magnet Programs for the past eight years.

Dawn Branch is a native New Yorker and a graduate of the world-renowned LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts. She holds a BA in Media & Communications from State University at Old Westbury and is DEA Certified Level II. Ms. Branch was a soloist with the Bernice Johnson Dance Company and a scholarship student with the Alvin Ailey American Dance School. She studied under the guidance of Mde. Darvash, Penny Frank, Denise Jefferson, Kevin Austin Hunt and Kevin Iega Jeff, the founder and artistic director of the Chicago-based Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre and artist-in-residence for Howard University’s dance major program.

Ms. Branch co-choreographed with Michael Peters (choreographer for Michael Jackson) for “On Stage America,” performed with Ben Vereen at Avery Fisher Hall in New York and performed with Diana Ross at Central Park, also in New York. She was the rehearsal director for The Chocolate Nutcracker (Orlando, FL) performed with Moore Dance Project (operating out of The Center for Contemporary Dance in Winter Park, FL), was the co-Artistic Director of Momentum Arts in Longwood, FL and is the Founder and President of Dawn Branch Master Dance Series & Performances.  Dawn recently choreographed the opening act for “BP” corporate events for the Olympics 2012, and Choreographed a dance for Spring Concert at Bethune Cookman College. Dawn currently is a freelance teacher and choreographer throughout Central Florida.

You don’t want to miss an exciting evening of dance as Florida Dance Theatre celebrates their “Innovations Dance” Series at the Polk Theatre. This innovative performance brings a new and inventive choreography to the Polk Theatre stage featuring the premiere of “Firebird” by Artistic & Founding Director, Carol Erkes, and Associate Director/Resident Choreographer Ferdinand De Jesus. Additional new works by De Jesus and emerging choreographer and company member Stefan Dolbashian showcase FDT’s dynamic dancers’ technical brilliance and passion for movement.

Tickets: Limited Reserved $20, General Seating $15 Adults, $10 Students

Call Polk Theatre at 863.682.7553 for tickets.

L-to-R: Eve Royal, Lyla Saxena, Anna Henricks, Emily Rozen & Ali Simmons

Don’t let the name fool you. No one is racing cars at the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP). They’re dancing.

The world’s largest student ballet scholarship competition awards over $250,000 annually in scholarships to leading dance schools and students 9 to 19 years old.  YAGP competitions are held worldwide.

Lakeland’s own Florida Dance Theatre (FDT) trained five of its Academy students for several months to compete in the ensemble division of YAGP in Tampa earlier this year. Lyla Saxena, age 12, Eve Royal, age 12, Emily Rozen, age 12,  Anna Henricks, age 13, and Ali Simmons, age 13, take four to six hours of classical ballet weekly under the direction of Carol Erkes, founder and Artistic Director of Florida Dance Theatre.

“I am so proud of my students. They put in so much extra time to train for this competition.  Their hard work and dedication to the art of dance was recognized by other professionals in the dance community,” said Erkes.

These students, who had never competed before, challenged dancers of all ages from all over Florida including the Orlando Ballet School and the Academy of Ballet Arts in St. Petersburg. They placed in the top 12.

Their piece, “Quiet Now,” was choreographed by Stefan Dolbashian, a professional company member of FDT. Stefan rehearsed the girls along with Mai Okubo, also a professional company member of FDT.

Florida Dance Theatre is Polk County’s only professional dance company and training academy. It was originally intended only as a training school, but Ms. Erkes was impressed by the talent available in the Polk County region.  Incorporated as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, FDT was created to make presentations of the art of dance, produced under professional standards available to the community at large and to stimulate local interest and awareness of the beautiful art form of dance.

Through the additional artistry of guest choreographers, the company has built a reputation for artistic excellence and innovative programming. Florida artists along with professional dancers from around the United States, Russia, Puerto Rico, and Mexico have made FDT a thriving, powerful, and positive arts organization dedicated to the highest quality in performance, instruction, and community education.

The auxiliary training academy offers a curriculum of instruction in classical ballet, jazz, modern, and more. The faculty of the Academy of Florida Dance Theatre is drawn from the ranks of the professional company and other area professionals ensuring the students a credible source of insight and experience.

Several Academy students have gone on to pursue their professional careers with other companies including the Joffrey Ballet, Ballet Met, Memphis Ballet, Ballet Magnificat, the Smuin Company, and Hartford Ballet. Many students have also received scholarships to college dance programs including Florida State, Southern Methodist University and Goucher College.

By Julie Townsend, LakelandLocal.com

Intro-Intensive

A two week dance training experience for young dancers ages 7-10

Prerequisite:  FDT Elementary Ballet II, III, or IV
Date:  June 25 – July 6, 2012 (closed July 4^th)
Times:  Monday – Friday, 2p.m. – 6p.m.

Schedule:
2:00 – 3:15  Ballet
3:15 – 3:30  Break
3:30 – 4:30  Modern
4:30 – 5:00  Snack break
5:00 -  6:00  Rep (choreography)

On Friday July 6^th there will be a short performance at the studio to showcase technique, movement, and choreography learned.

Dancers need to bring a snack

Dress code: Leotard, pink convertible tights (modern is barefoot), hair in bun, ballet shoes.

Intro Intensive Registration Form

Classes run from 10:00am – 2:30pm.

View/Download the CLASS SCHEDULE.

View/Download the REGISTRATION FORM.

Tuition:
$20/class
$50/day
$250/week

Contact Florida Dance Theatre at phone 863.802.0399 or email info@floridadancetheatre.org for more information.

Junior Division
3:00-4:15pm
Intermediate Dancers ages 10 and up
Session runs: June 18-30

Senior Division
4:30-6:00pm
Advanced and Pre-professional Dancers
Session runs: June 11-30

Audition Requirements
$15 audition fee
Ages 14+ for Earl Mosley
Photo & resumé of training.
Bring pointe shoes (if applicable)

Learn more and download registration form (pdf). Summer Intensive Registration 2012

View, download or print the Summer Intensive Audition Notice 2012

Ver el registro en español

Call 863-802-0399 or email info@floridadancetheatre.org for more information.

Construction/Renovation is set to begin soon on a new building for Florida Dance Theatre on the corner of Lake Wire Drive and Pine Street. Anticipated move-in date for Florida Dance Theatre is June 1, 2012.

Dear FDT Families and Friends,

It is with deep regret we must announce that we are unable to move into the planned facility.  We are extremely disappointed; however, given the current escalating costs of construction and related expenses, the Lake Wire location is no longer viable.

We are beginning the process of finding a new location or possibly renovating and expanding our present location.  We will be purchasing new flooring within the next few months. This flooring will be able to move with us if needed.

We know you share our vision of wanting the best facilities to enhance the experience for all of our dancers, families and faculty.  We remain excited about the future of FDT and appreciate your ongoing support and dedication to our shared goals.

Sincerely,

Carol Erkes
Executive Artistic Director and Founder