[318] AMERICAN COLLEGE DANCE FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE COMES TO MTSU CAMPUS MARCH 7-10; CONCERTS OPEN TO PUBLIC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Feb. 24, 2009
CONTACT: Kim Neal Nofsinger, (615) 494-7904 or nofsinge@mtsu.edu

AMERICAN COLLEGE DANCE FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE COMES TO MTSU CAMPUS MARCH 7-10; CONCERTS OPEN TO PUBLIC

(MURFREESBORO)—The dance program at MTSU will serve as host for the Southeastern Conference of the American College Dance Festival Association, with its “Exploring Diversity through Dance” theme, March 7-10.
During the three-day conference, representatives from 30-plus colleges and universities from across the U.S. will visit the MTSU campus, bringing an anticipated 600 participants to the event, said Kim Neal Nofsinger, artistic director of the MTSU dance program.
“The conference is a great opportunity for students to experience master classes and gain performance skills outside of their usual academic setting,” Nofsinger said. “MTSU’s conference will have over 100 master classes, including courses in salsa, hip-hop, modern, ballet, Pilates (and) choreography, to name a few.”
According to the ACDFA Web site, the annual conference is a nationally acclaimed dance conference that encourages talent and creativity within the academic system. ACDFA has been held annually since 1973 and has become the largest dance conference on a collegiate level in the nation.
Nofsinger said highlights of this year’s conference will include two featured concerts, one on March 8 and one on March 9, both of which will begin at 8 p.m. in MTSU’s Tucker Theatre. Each concert is open to the public.
“These concerts will contain choreography and performances by 12 nationally and internationally known artists, many of whom have been guest artists in the Minority Guest Artist in Dance Program at MTSU,” he shared. Specifically, the concerts will include Travis Gatling, Erica Wilson-Perkins, Teena Custer, Elina Mooney, Sally Wallace, Ursula Payne, Chung-Fu Chang and Sara Semonis.
Also, Nofsinger added, the event will feature two award-winning dances by Stefanie Bland, the current artist-in-residence with MTSU’s dance program. A native of New York, Bland resides and works as a dancer in Paris. Among her many accomplishments, she performed for several seasons with for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, as well as for Lar Lubovitch, Kraig Patterson, Douglass Dunn, Pina Bausch,Georges Momboye, Project Linga, Pal Frénak and Angelin Preljocaj.
In addition to the featured concerts on March 8 and 9, Nofsinger said adjudication concerts and the Gala Concert also will be open to the public.
“In the adjudication concerts, schools present their choreography before a panel of three internationally known adjudicators, who offer feedback on their work,” he explained. “This year’s panel includes Mark Borchelt, a ballet instructor and former dancer with Ballet West; Ursula Payne, an internationally known choreographer and performer; and Dr. Maura Keefe, a dance historian and critic, who is the Scholar in Residence at Jacob’s Pillow.
The Gala Concert, the final performance of the three-day conference, will be held at 8 p.m. March 10. This concert will showcase dances selected by the adjudicators demonstrating the range of work happening at the collegiate level.
• TICKETS: Tickets for the adjudications are $5 per person. Admission to the Gala Concert and the featured concerts is $10 per performance. All performances will occur in Tucker Theatre in the Boutwell Dramatic Arts Building at MTSU.
For more information on the conference or the dance program at MTSU, please contact Nofsinger at nofsinge@mtsu.edu. A schedule of conference activities and all concert times may be accessed online at http://www.mtsu.edu/dance/specialevents.shtml.
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