David Sullivan is a theater educator, stage director and producer. He has served as Associate Professor & the director of the Theatre Program at Lehman College – City University of New York in the Bronx and as Chair of the Department of Theatre & Dance at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ. Since 2004 David has directed the Off Broadway premieres of The Atheist, The Blowin of Baile Gall, and Swansong and staged the site-specific “Bloomsday in Bryant Park, NYC” and a “Tribute to Friel” for the Irish Arts Center. He has directed at Origin Theater Company, Irish Repertory Theatre, Irish Arts Center, the Williamstown Theater Festival Act One Company, the Huntington Theatre Company’s Breaking Ground Reading Festival, the Gloucester Stage Company, the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Boston Playwrights Theatre, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In 2012 he co-founded Fat Violet Theater, a new play development company, with playwright Ronan Noone and has directed Brendan and The Compass Rose for the 1^st Irish Theater Festival (2013 Best Director nomination) for the NYC-based company. David earned an MFA in Directing from Boston University, in residence at the Huntington Theater Company, and holds a Master of Arts in Teaching from Boston University, a Master of Arts in Theatre from Brown University, and a BA in Theatre from Providence College.

The Dancers Connect program is hosting a final Dancers Connect KIDS CREATE performance on Sunday, April 13 at the Studio Theater located in the Health and Human Performance (HHP) Building at 1408 Walker Avenue Greensboro, NC 27402. Shows at 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm – Tickets are $7 per person.

UNCG Dancers Connect a free creative dance class for students age 7 to 18. The Dancers Connect dance classes focus on creativity, self-expression, and imagination, and promote critical thinking and creative problem solving skills and celebrate dance as a unique medium for expression and communication of ideas. This spring 75 young dance students have had the opportunity to learn from master dance educators be mentored by a dynamic group of twelve undergraduate dance education students and to collaborate with other Guilford County elementary, middle and high school students.

The KIDS CREATE performance is $7 and open to the public and will be held at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro located at 1408 Walker Avenue, Greensboro.

The performance starts at 2:00pm and 4:00pm; tickets: $7.00

Tickets can be purchased from the dance department box office on the day of the show. Box office doors open at 12:00. Seating is limited.

For more information about the program email Dr. Mila Parrish – Dancers Connect Director [email protected] or call Jeff Aguiar – Administrative Associate Department of Dance (336.334.5570) or visit the Dancers Connect web page at https://vpa.uncg.edu/dancers-connect/

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The School of Music, Theatre and Dance is pleased to welcome Ana Paula Höfling to the Department of Dance.

Ana Paula is an interdisciplinary scholar, dancer, and capoeirista. Her research bridges the disciplines of dance studies, Latin American studies, cultural studies, and critical tourism studies. She holds an MA in Dance and a PhD in Culture and Performance from the University of California at Los Angeles, an MFA in Dance from the University of Hawai`i, and a BA in Linguistics from the University of California at Berkeley. She is currently an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Latin American Studies at the Center for the Americas at Wesleyan University (2012-2014). She has taught at Wesleyan University, the University of Wyoming, and at the Academia Superior de Artes de Bogotá in Colombia as a Fulbright scholar. Her book Staging Capoeira/Dancing Brazil (Wesleyan University Press, forthcoming), analyzes the role of capoeira and capoeiristas in the process of staging Brazilian “national culture” between the 1920s and the 1970s, focusing on issues of race, class, and authorship. Her new research interests include representations of mestiçagem in early twentieth-century ballet in Rio de Janeiro, and the choreographic production of Eros Volúsia, Mercedes Baptista, and Felicitas Barreto. She is thrilled to be joining the Dance faculty at UNCG as Assistant Professor in the Fall of 2014.

For over 50 years now, UNCG’s The North Carolina Theatre for Young People has been instrumental in facilitating theatrical productions and educational programming for the youth community statewide. As it is in many cases, such experiences often serve as an introduction to the theatre for local children with limited artistic exposure. Therefore, the productions are always highly entertaining, and handled with creative thoughtfulness. Currently, The Ugly Duckling is no exception to the program’s long lineage of performance achievements…[t]he modest cast of three, consisting of Rebecca Joan Woodrum as the young girl, and the two puppeteers, Sophie Larin and Liam Yates, all used the human body along with one-dimensional translucent cutouts projected onto a screen to propel the story without the use of any dialogue, only instrumental underscoring. The meticulous execution of the images aligning and interacting convincingly with one another, as well as with the silhouetted actress, is a testament to Campbell’s innovative eye for theatrical direction, and the diligence of her three cast members.

Excerpt from Brandon C. Jones‘s review (CVNC)

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GREENSBORO, NC – Percussionist Eric Willie has joined the UNCG School of Music, Theatre and Dance as Director of Percussion Studies & Assistant Professor of Percussion. Described as a “true musical talent and professional” (Ivan Trevino, Composer), Eric Willie has a varied career as a solo performer, chamber musician, orchestral player, arranger, and teacher. He has performed in Carnegie Hall, at several Percussive Arts Society International Conventions, and on regional live broadcasts, such as Nashville’s NPR Station “Live in Studio C.”

Dr. Willie regularly performs with the Nief-Norf Project and the Eclectic Chamber

Players. He has performed at the Big Ears Music Festival, the Nashville Symphony’s OnStage Series, seven Percussive Arts Society International Conventions (PASIC), multiple Eastern Trombone Workshops, the Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival, the World Saxophone Congress, and the Music for All National Percussion Festival. As an orchestral musician, Dr. Willie has performed as a percussionist with the Nashville Symphony , Nashville Ballet Orchestra, Lexington Philharmonic, Murfreesboro Symphony, Bryan Symphony, and the Beloit/Janesville Symphony.

An avid promoter of new music for percussion, Dr. Willie recently commissioned and performed the world premiere of “Flow,” by Ivan Trevino at the 2013 Percussive Arts Society’s International Convention. Prior, Dr. Willie performed the world premiere of John Mackey’s “Drum Music” (2011), a concerto for solo percussion and wind ensemble. In addition, Eric has commissioned and/or premiered works by Christopher Adler, Doug Bristol, Greg Danner, Christopher Deane, Paul Lansky, Marc Mellits, Leroy Osmon, John Psathas, D.J. Sparr, Blake Tyson, Alejandro Viñao, Matt Walker, and James Wood.

Active within the Percussive Arts Society (PAS), Eric currently serves as Chair of the International Percussion Ensemble Committee. In addition, he has served as President and Vice-President for the Tennessee Chapter of PAS, and as a New Literature and Recordings Reviewer for Percussive Notes journal.

In addition to his talents as a classical percussionist, Dr. Willie is known for his marching percussion arranging and teaching experience. He has served as a Percussion Consultant with the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps, and instructor and/or arranger for the Spirit, Southwind, Carolina Crown, and the Madison Scouts drum and bugle corps. The University of North Texas, University of Kentucky, and the Murray State University Drum Lines have performed his marching percussion arrangements. He has also instructed for the University of North Texas “A” Line, Music City Mystique, and as Faculty for the Music for All World Percussion Symposium.

As a clinician, Dr. Willie has appeared at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, IL, several “Days of Percussion,” as well as several state music educators

conventions throughout the midwest and southeastern United States. His educational articles have appeared in The Instrumentalist and Percussive Notes, and he has

contributed educational resources to Innovative Percussion, Inc., Sabian Cymbals, Evans Drumheads, and Black Swamp Percussion. His music has been published by Innovative Percussion and TapSpace publications.

Prior to his appointment at UNCG, Dr. Willie served for nine years as Director of Percussion Studies at Tennessee Tech University (TTU) in Cookeville, TN. In this time, his ensembles performed at the Percussive Arts Society’s International Convention, the National Association for Future Music Educators In-Service Conference, regional & community events, and at several Tennessee days of percussion. His percussion students were named winners in the American Protégé International Concerto Competition; multiple PASIC Solo Competitions; the Nashville Philharmonic Orchestra Competition; the TTU Derryberry Concerto Competition; as well as the Tennessee PAS Soloist Competition. On campus, the TTU Percussion Ensemble was recognized as a leading student organization, and a TTU percussionist was named the TTU Department of Music Outstanding Music Major for four consecutive years.

Eric holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of North Texas, a Master of Music from the University of Kentucky, and a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Austin Peay State University. Eric and his wife, Rebecca (a violinist with the Nashville Symphony), will be moving to Greensboro, NC prior to the start of the fall semester with their son and daughter.