WFSS are six-week school classes that meet on Wednesdays, Friday evenings, Saturdays, and Sundays. WFSS give students an opportunity to draw connections by personalizing, creating, and expanding their experiences through participation in a variety of artistic endeavors– a festival within a festival. Jams, digital media classes, salons, somatic practices, and weekly showings express multiple ways students might choose to connect and present work in alternate contexts.

CyberDance sat down with Pamela Pietro, director of the Bodypathway series in WFSS, to hear more about the importance of somatic work for dancers. No matter where dancers are in their career is important to take the time to rest, rejuvenate, and most of all discover new ways of integrating the heap of information they receive in technique classes.

The 2010 Balasaraswati/Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching will be given to the “mother of modern dance in China”, Yang Meiqi. This coveted award was established in 1991 and recognizes the dual role of teachers in passing on dance history and tradition and in guaranteeing the future creativity of the art form. With the unwavering support, enthusiasm, and encouragement from ADF Director Charles L. Reinhart, and the long-term financial support from the Asian Cultural Council (ACC), the Rockefeller Foundation, and the USIA, Yang Meiqi was given the opportunity to revolutionize dance in China. “The founding of China’s first modern dance company has been solemnly recognized as one of the major accomplishments in China’s history during the sixty years following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. … Since 1987, this movement to bring forth the rise and development of modern dance in China has been the product of the collaborative effort of artists from China and America, educators and cultural organizations who worked closely together on this journey.”– Yang Meiqi

The award ceremony will take place on July 18 at 7:30pm at the Griffith Theater at Duke University, and is free and open to the public. Also, acclaimed choreographer, Shen Wei, will speak at the ceremony about his former teacher Yang Meiqi, among others.

Over 400 students are here this summer and over half of them receive financial aid through donors’ contributions to the ADF Scholarship Fund. Some of these donors took a behind-the-scenes tour with ADF Director Charles Reinhart and Co-Director Jodee Nimerichter, visiting ADF students in classes and rehearsals.

Each Wednesday afternoon during the Festival, students have the opportunity to show their own choreography to their peers and faculty. These showings are a place where students can show works-in-progress, finished works, or even just a phrase or two they are thinking of expanding into a larger body of work. After showing, their peers and any faculty present are able to give constructive feedback, assisting the students to continue their creation process with new perspectives.

Each summer, the International Choreographers Residency and Open World programs help to enrich the ADF experience. Roughly 20 choreographers from around the globe come to study, make work and share ideas. CyberDance enjoyed spending time with two of this season’s participants.