FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 17, 2005

 

CONTACT: MONICA HASKELL
305-295-4369, 305-304-5635
Monica@keysarts.com


 

AUDITIONS FOR DANCE SCHOLARSHIP ANNOUNCED

 

The Florida Keys Council of the Arts announces auditions for a dance scholarship to the Burklyn Ballet summer program.

Auditions will be held 1:00 p.m. Sunday, March 6 in Key West at the Coffee Mill Dance and Yoga Studio, 916 Pohalski Lane, Key West. Audition will be an intermediate ballet class. Dancers planning to audition should arrive 30 minutes early to sign in and warm up. There is a $15 audition fee. Only Florida Keys residents are eligible. An upper keys audition may be scheduled on request.

The scholarship is for an intermediate student between the ages of 10 and college age to attend a two-week session beginning June 26, 2005.

Last year's winners were Devon Clarke of Marathon, Asiah Tolan of Key West and Arielle Kellogg of Summerland Key. Devon also won matching scholarships from Burklyn and the Marathon Community Theatre, allowing him to attend a full month..

Burklyn Ballet is in Vermont, on the campus of Johnson State College, 10 miles north of Stowe.

The scholarship covers tuition, room, board and assistance with transportation, and is valued at over $2,000. Partial scholarships may be awarded if more than one young dancer is eligible.

Burklyn Ballet Theatre, an intensive summer dance program, will be held in 2005 from June 26 - August 7. Two, three, four and six week sessions are available. Situated in the Green Mountains of Vermont, Burklyn Ballet Theatre offers dancers three programs: The main program, for professionally oriented dancers ages 12 and older; the Intermediate Program, for 10-11 year olds; and the Edinburgh Connection, which accepts 25 dancers who travel to and perform at Scotland's Edinburgh Festival Fringe from August 8 - 22. In 2001, Burklyn's production of "Cinderella and the Flower Fairies" was named by Fringe-goers as the Best Dance and Physical Theatre offering at the Festival.

Dancers at Burklyn Ballet Theatre take three classes and rehearse daily with internationally acclaimed master teachers including John Gardner and Amanda McKerrow of American Ballet Theatre, David Howard, Arthur Leeth of Boston Ballet and Louisville Ballet's Alun Jones and Helen Starr. All dancers perform weekly in the 450-seat Dibden Center for the Arts on the campus of Johnson State College, Johnson, Vermont.

Burklyn was founded in 1976 by Angela Whitehill, and affords dancers the opportunity to learn all aspects of dance and to perform ballets in an intense learning environment, as well as to enjoy the many experiences of the professional dance company life.

"The improvement in a child who attends Burklyn is enormous in all areas - technique, performing, and especially in instilling discipline and dedication to an art form which further carries into every phase of their school work and community participation, " says arts council advisory board member and dancer Joyce Stahl.

"Furthermore, a child who returns from Burklyn will be a leader in her dance level here in the Florida Keys and hopefully this will be something other talented children will want to try. One step at time, and one day the Keys will have another art form fully blooming in the community."


The Dance Scholarship is funded by the Arts in the Afternoon luncheon series and private donations. For more information, call Monica Haskell at 295-4369 or Joyce Stahl at 294-2943.

 
 



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