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.

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.

CyberDance talked with a few ADF faculty members about what it’s like to teach in such a multi-faceted environment. Ranging in styles from hip hop to modern and ballet, the ADF Faculty come from all over the world. They share their ideas, energy and most importantly their passion for the dance with their students, and for this we are grateful.

The ADF Faculty Concert is July 9 at 8 pm and July 10 at 2 pm and is free for ADF subscribers! The concert will be held at Duke University’s Reynolds Industries Theater.

ADF faculty member Sherone Price shares some of his experiences as an ADF student with CyberDance.

With an enrollment of over 400 students, the ADF School is looking forward to a banner 2010 season. CyberDance visited the Six Week School check-in on Duke’s East Campus to ask a few newcomers what they are most looking forward to this summer. Like sponges, these students are eager to absorb all things dance for the next six weeks.