Diane Jacobowitz
Executive & Artistic Director
Contact: Veronica Carnero
718.522.4696
veronica@dancewave.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DANCEWAVE ANNOUNCES KIDS CAFE GOES TO COLLEGE NOVEMBER 2009-FEBRUARY 2010

Brooklyn, NY – Dancewave is proud to announce a very exciting festival, Kids Cafe Goes to College, to take place November 12th, 2009 - February 11th, 2010. Kids Cafe Goes to College will feature panel discussions on college dance programs, master dance workshops, and professionally-produced matinee performances on February 6th and 7th at the Kumble Theater at Long Island University. Focusing on professionally-based college dance programs in the metropolitan area and beyond, this festival will offer the serious high school dancer an opportunity to see the dance departments from these esteemed schools in action. The college theme is a twist on Dancewave’s annual Kids Cafe Festival, a popular community event now in its 16th year that invites high school dancers from all over New York City to perform dances created by both student and professional choreographers.

Kids Cafe Goes to College will showcase college dance departments to targeted audience of 150-250 high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors with strong interest in dance and dance programs, as well as approximately 600 audience members composed of NYC-area families with a strong interest in dance.

Participating college dance departments include The Juilliard School, Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, State University of New York Purchase College Conservatory of Dance, Barnard Dance, the Hunter College Dance Program, Adelphi University, Fordham University, Marymount Manhattan College Dance Department, Connecticut College, Long Island University, Ohio State University, and many more to participate in this festival.

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE: NOVEMBER 2009-FEBRUARY 2010

Thursday, November 12, 2009 Dance College Panel Roundtable Part I
Moderator: Joan Finkelstein (Director of Dance Programs at the NYC Department of Education)
Panelists include to date: Cherylyn Lavagnino (NYU), Katie Langan & Anthony Ferro (Marymount Manhattan), Rosalind Newman (SUNY Purchase), Larry Rhodes & Katie Friis (Juilliard), Susan Van Pelt Petry (Ohio State University), Dana Hash-Campbell (Long Island University-Brooklyn Campus) The Irondale Center, 85 South Oxford Street, Fort Greene Brooklyn 6:30pm-8pm FREE

Wednesday, January 14, 2010 Live Internet Chat Session for College Questions
Moderator: Rosemarie Mazzone (College Placement/Educational Planner, Rosemarie Mazzone Consultants)
Time TBA

Sunday, January 31, 2010 Master Dance Classes with Department Professors
Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus, 1 University Place, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Time TBA FREE for festival participants, $10 per class

Saturday & Sunday, February 6 & 7, 2010 Kids Cafe Goes to College Performances
LIU's Kumble Theater, 1 University Place, Brooklyn, NY 11201
3pm performance $20 Adults, $12 Children (12 yrs & younger)

Thursday, February 11, 2010 Dance College Panel Roundtable Part II
Moderator: Michelle Burkhart (DanceNYC)
Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus, 1 University Place, Brooklyn, NY 11201
6:30pm-8pm FREE

Kids Cafe Goes to College is designed to provide a much needed service to the dance community by introducing interested high school students to college dance options and bringing new dancers into the dance field.

The festival’s College Dance Panel Roundtable feature panelists from The Juilliard School, Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, State University of New York Purchase College, and other leading dance departments (Thursday, November 12th and Thursday, February 11th). The November 12th and February 11th panels will cover topics such as: college and department requirements, auditions, department strengths, degrees, focus, faculty, and other areas of interest. In addition, the panels will discuss how their departments interact with the greater dance community; their track record of alumni achievements; and how their department helps graduates transition to the dance job market.

The festival performances will feature student choreography from participating dance departments, NYC high school dance groups and Dancewave’s three pre-professional dance companies: Dancewave Company, Dancewave Company II and the Young Movers Ensemble. The Dancewave Company will premiere Urban Bush Women’s Flashback/Flash Forward choreographed by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar and set by former and present Urban Bush Women company members. Astrid Von Ussar of Von Ussar Danceworks, will premiere a piece created on the Dancewave Company II. The Young Movers Ensemble is working with emerging NYC-based choreographer, Meghan McCoy, in performing an excerpt of Electric Warrior.

Free master classes on Sunday January 31, 2009 will be taught by dance department professors and provide an inside look into participating department’s faculty. The live internet chat session with Rosemarie Mazzone offers a casual and accessible opportunity for high school teens and their parents to pick Ms. Mazzone’s brain about the college application process.

SNAPSHOT BIOS
Joan Finkelstein (B.F.A, M.F.A., NYU Tisch School of the Arts) toured and taught nationally and internationally in the 1970s and 80s with the Cliff Keuter Dance Company, the Don Redlich Dance Company (where she worked with dance pioneer Hanya Holm), the Jean-Léon Destiné Afro-Haitian Dance Company, and the Manhattan Festival Ballet, among others. She was an original cast member of the Broadway show RAGS. From 1992-2004 she was Director of the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center, She serves on the board of the International Committee for the Dance Library of Israel; the advisory boards of Dance Teacher Magazine, Dancers Responding to AIDS, and the Emergency Fund for Student Dancers; and is a member of the New York Dance and Performance Awards (BESSIES) committee. Joan became Director of Dance Programs for the New York City Department of Education in June 2004, supervising the creation of the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Dance, PreK-12. Her ongoing work with the NYCDOE’s Office of Arts and Special Projects supports excellence in dance education in the 1,500 schools across NYC’s five boroughs.


Michelle N. Burkhart was appointed director for Dance/NYC in June 2008 after having worked in the capacity of Development Officer since 2006 and interim director as of October 2007. Prior to Dance/NYC, Michelle worked with Complexions Contemporary Ballet where she held the position of executive director. Previously, she worked as administrative director for Ballet Hispanico. Michelle has over 10 years experience in not-for-profit management, six years in for-profit corporations, and a 12 year career as a professional dancer. Additionally, Michelle is an adjunct professor at New York University where she teaches various courses in the Arts Administration Graduate Program and has designed curriculum for the program. She has served as a not-for-profit business consultant/advisor for various organizations across the country. She was named a Tenenbaum Leadership Institute Fellow at New School University in 2008. She holds a B.S. in Organizational Behavior from University of San Francisco as well as a J.D. with specialization in sports and entertainment law from Golden Gate University.


Rosemarie Mazzone (M.S. Education Counseling, M.A. School Administration) has over 22 years experience in NYC public schools as a guidance counselor and college advisor. She most recently served as Regional Specialist for Post Secondary Counseling and Student Activities at the NYC Department of Education. She also specializes in careers in the performing arts through her years of work at LaGuardia High School. She is a member of Membership in the National Association for College Admissions Counselors, New York State College Admission and the Association for School Counselors. She has personally visited over 200 university and college campuses throughout the United States and abroad in foreign countries.


ABOUT DANCEWAVE
Established in 1995, Dancewave’s mission is to ensure that New York City children and teens have access to the best dance training available. We accomplish this goal by bringing dance into the public schools, offering affordable dance classes, and giving kids and teens the opportunity to train with and perform the work of world-famous choreographers through our pre-professional performing companies. Dancewave serves Brooklyn youth through its many programs: Kids Cafe Festival, The Dancewave Company (formerly Kids Company), The Dancewave Company II (formerly Kids Company II), Young Movers Ensemble, Summer Dance Intensive, D-Wave in Motion, and The School at Dancewave.

For more information Dancewave’s programs, please call 718 522 4696 or visit www.dancewave.org.

FUNDING CREDITS
Dancewave’s programs are made possible in part through PUBLIC FUNDS from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs; the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development; New York State Council on the Arts (In Kings County the Decentralization Program is administered by the Brooklyn Arts Council, Inc.); Borough President Marty Markowitz; State Senator Velmanette Montgomery; New York City Council Member Sara Gonzalez; and State Assemblywoman Joan Millman. Dancewave gratefully acknowledges the PRIVATE SUPPORT of the Carnegie Corporation of New York; the New York Community Trust; the Surdna Foundation; the William T. Grant Foundation; Independence Community Foundation; the Brooklyn Arts Council; BRIC; the Harkness Foundation for Dance; Dance Theater Workshop Outer/Space (Outer/Space is a program of Dance Theater Workshop and is supported in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York City Council); Partners for Arts Education; the Nicholson Foundation; Doolittle Charitable Trust; Jewish Communal Fund; the Astoria Federal Savings Bank; Con Edison; JP Morgan; Target; Oppenheimer Funds Legacy Matching Gifts Program; Miriam Restaurant; Costco; local businesses, friends, and patrons.