Penn State Altoona’s Ivyside Dance Ensemble will perform at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 11 and 12 in the Wolf Kuhn Theatre of the Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts. Tickets are $5 for Penn State Altoona students and $7 for general admission. Children younger than 12 are admitted free.
Guest artist Tamara Williams, of Tamara LaDonna Moving Spirits, has created two new pieces for the ensemble to perform. A native of Augusta, Georgia, Williams earned her bachelor of fine arts degreee in dance from Florida State University and is currently a candidate for her master of fine arts degree in dance from Hollins University in collaboration with The American Dance Festival, The Forsythe Company, and Frankfurt University. Her performing career includes work with various artists and companies in New York City and abroad while her choreography has been performed throughout the United States and across the globe. For the past five years, Williams has trained intensely in Brazil. Her awards include the 2012 Artist Residency Fellowship at the Dance & Performance Institute in Trinidad and Tobago, the 2013 Harlem Stage/Aaron Davis Hall Fund for New Work grant, and she is a 2014 Brooklyn Arts Council Community Arts Fund Grantee.
Guest choreographer Bethany Miller also has a new piece for the company. Miller received a bachelor of fine arts degree in integrative arts and completed a dance studies minor at Penn State. Miller has continued her dance training by studying under Finis Jhung at the Broadway Dance Center in New York City, under dance artist Marcia Dale Weary of the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and with faculty of Slippery Rock University’s dance program. Miller is pursuing a master of arts degree in dance/movement therapy and mental health counseling from Lesley University in Boston.
The program will also feature new and repertory work by KT Huckabee and Caitlin Osborne, associate professors of dance and integrative arts.
Tickets may be purchased at the box office from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday to Friday, and before and during all performances. For further information, call the Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts at 814-949-5452 or visit the Penn State Altoona website at www.altoona.psu.edu.