UNCG Professor, Dancers spend the summer at the American Dance Festival
School of Dance Professor Clarice Young spent this past summer as a member of the teaching faculty at the American Dance Festival’s 85th season at Duke University. ADF was founded to “encourage and support the creation and presentation of new modern dance work by both established and emerging choreographers, to preserve our modern dance heritage through continued presentation of classic works as well as through archival efforts, to build wider national and international audiences for modern dance, to enhance public understanding and appreciation of the art form and its cultural and historical significance, to provide a sound scientific and aesthetic base for professional education and training of young dancers, and to maintain a forum for integrating and disseminating information on dance education” (ADF website).
Prof. Young taught classes as well as a set repertory of her former company director Ronald K. Brown, who received the Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for lifetime achievement. UNCG Dance major Shaylin Watson served as Prof. Young’s assistant, and UNCG Dance majors Nia Sadler and Taylor Roberson were in the repertory.
Photo courtesy of Clarice Young, pictured back row, 2nd from left.
Dance Professor Announcement Retirement
Dr. Jill Green has announced her retirement in Spring 2019. Dr. Green is a widely published expert in the field of somatics and has been teaching somatics, body studies, and pedagogy to UNCG Dance majors since she joined the faculty in 1993. She will serve as the Interim Director of the School of Dance while current Director and Professor Janet Lilly is on research leave.
A celebration of Dr. Green’s service to the School of Dance is currently in the planning stages and will be announced soon.
Dance Commencement
The School of Dance celebrated its annual Commencement ceremony on May 3, 2018. Friends and family gathered to witness selected performances, the conferring of degrees, and the announcement of the Outstanding Teaching Assistant award, followed by a reception in the newly renovated lobby. Three M.F.A., eight B.F.A., and eight B.A. students who completed their degrees were recognized along with an M.A. in Dance Education, four B.F.A., and four B.A. students who graduated in December 2017. Celebrations continued the next morning with UNCG’s main commencement ceremony at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Copies of the School of Dance Commencement Speeches are here: Mary Evelyn Hunt commencement speech Francine Brantley Commencement Speech Lauren Watson Commencement Speech Aimee Butsch Commencement Speech
Congratulations to the class of 2018!
World Travelers: UNCG Choral Students Tour Europe
May 29, 2018 by
UNCG School of Music students have returned from Europe, where they performed in Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, and Strobl, a small town outside of Salzburg. Dr. Welborn E. Young was the main organizer of the tour.
Young said that he had two major goals when putting the tour and subsequently the concert repertoire together.
“The first goal was to provide an opportunity for UNCG singers to experience the breadth, beauty, and diversity of areas steeped in an amazing musical history.
“The second goal addresses my own personal beliefs. First, the belief that quality music, particularly vocal/choral music, performed beautifully has a transformative power that speaks beyond the brain to a more personal and heart/spirit-centered place where healing and understanding resides. Second, the belief that participation in the arts, particularly choral singing, should be a lifelong endeavor. So, I set out to build the ensemble not only with UNCG singers but with community singers who also celebrate the joy of singing.”
Thirty UNCG singers were joined by 12 community singers, the latter from First Presbyterian Church Chancel Choir, Bel Canto Company, retired choral music educators, and the Winston-Salem Chorale.
The repertoire was a slice of choral music from America and the British Isles. Examples of primitive nasal community singing, shape-note singing, folk-songs, gospel, hymn-tune arrangements and spirituals were woven together with motets influenced by the European masters of the Renaissance.
“Every concert was standing room only,” Young said. “The audiences were enthusiastic. Each concert ended with either a standing ovation or rhythmic applause – asking for an encore piece.”
Their full concerts:
May 7, St. Nicholas Church on the Square, Prague, Czech Republic
May 10, St. Peter’s Church, Vienna, Austria
May 12, St. Sigismund Church, Stroble, Austria (lake country outside of Salzburg)
Informal Half Concerts:
May 10, Melk Abbey outside of Vienna
May 12, The Dom Cathedral in Old Town Salzburg
Conductors and Guest Artists:
Welborn E. Young, Director of Choral Activities
Carole Ott Coelho, Associate Director of Choral Activities
Brett Nolker, Director of Choral Music Education
Jonathan Emmons, DMA Choral Conducting, candidate
Christian Albee, MM Choral Conducting (’18)
Tadeu Coelho, flute
Adam Ward, organ
(Christian and Jonathan also served as accompanists.)
View Article on Campus WeeklyCLASS OF 2018: BARAKA ONGERI
Read more at UNCGNowWith just nine days until May Commencement, you can feel the graduation jitters.
Spartans are putting last-minute touches on their cap designs, cramming for final exams and flocking to College Avenue to take photos in their graduation garb.
UNC Greensboro senior Baraka Ongeri is one of more than 2,700 Spartans set to graduate next Friday, and one of three seniors who will be highlighted on the UNCG website in the coming week.
He’s an acting student, a future New Yorker, a board game player and an amateur musician. You may recognize him from UNCG’s production of “Antigone” in the fall, or from Triad Stage’s rendition of “A Raisin in the Sun” just a couple months ago.
Ongeri recently shared about his experience in the UNCG School of Theatre and his plans for the future. Below are some highlights from the conversation.