GVSU dance program part of Grand Rapids Ballet Summer Dance Festival

Members of the Grand Valley dance program, including a new faculty member, are helping Grand Rapids Ballet continue its 50th anniversary celebration with special performances.

学生和教员 埃德加L. 佩奇，舞蹈助理教授, 将在 Grand Rapids Ballet's Summer Dance Festival, which will feature outdoor performances on Aug. 8月26日及8月. 27.

“我们正 excited to present an inclusive and community-centered showcase of the best dance artists and students in Grand Rapids,” said Glenn Del Vecchio, Grand Rapids Ballet executive director. “我们正 very proud to have been a part of the art and culture of Grand Rapids for the past 50 years and look forward to continuing to serve our region and Michigan into the next 50.”

As the Grand Rapids Ballet sought community partners for the event, the goal was to incorporate various styles of dance and feature artists from across the state, said Jessica Meldrum, marketing director.

"Grand Valley was a natural fit as its dance program presents high-caliber performers and includes the next generation of 天才，”梅尔德拉姆说.

"Grand Valley was a natural fit as its dance program presents high-caliber performers and includes the next generation of 天才，”梅尔德拉姆说.

Ten Grand Valley students will perform a contemporary modern piece 精心策划的 Hannah Seidel, associate professor of dance. 的 piece, "This Gentle Pressure," was designed to show the impact just a slight amount of human contact can have on people.

Seidel is glad for the opportunity to showcase the students to the community; they will perform both days. 除了这个重要的 exposure for the GVSU dancers, the outside venue is also a good challenge for the students, who will have different considerations than they would in a theater, such as the elements, Seidel said.

"It's exciting for them to have an audience beyond those who come out to the Allendale location," Seidel said. “这也是 an opportunity to test their performance chops a bit in a setting that 难道不是他们的家庭影院吗. 的y're going to be on a raised stage in a parking lot and not have a backstage where you can just disappear."

对佩奇来说，8月11日的演出. 就在他到达格兰德的时候 Valley from Denver also represents an opportunity to reset and reground himself in Michigan: he grew up in Detroit.

He said his piece, "Tenderly," is a contemporary modern dance work that is a "retrospective of my work coming from traditions in the African American aesthetic. 有一个放大 focus on authentic emotional connection and relating that to a full experience."

的 piece explores the feelings he experienced after taking some time away from performing and reemerging, realizing he was missing the joy 佩奇说. That also meant nurturing himself and 过滤掉消极的想法.

"的 theme that I kept giving myself is 'gentle,' which is why I came up with this title, 'Tenderly,' which is about how we can be so tender with how we are presenting strength, and how we love each other and also ourselves in a real and tender way without the harsh words or the harsh criticism of self," said Page, adding, "That's also one of my objectives with dance. 我认为舞蹈世界已经有了 historically been less than kind to many folks, using language or harsh practices that are really quite damaging in the long run."

As he looks toward his time at Grand Valley, Page said he is excited to pass along to students his knowledge from a robust career, from performance to artistic direction to stage management. 

"I am also very clear about who I am as an educator and making sure I am bringing and giving what I also hope to receive – this gentleness, this grace, but also a lot of passion and definitely fun."