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The highly acclaimed festival, presented by the McCallum Theatre Institute, in association with the city of Palm Desert and the College of the Desert, celebrates dance with competitions for choreographers working with professional and pre-professional dancers, as well as educational workshops open to the public. Since its inception, the competition has grown exponentially as well as internationally with submissions from choreographers based in Germany and France.
Kajsa Thuresson-Frary, Education Director at the Institute, oversees the event and is eagerly anticipating this year's competition. "The quality of submissions has increased as the Festival has grown in size, respect and support over the last ten years," says Thuresson-Frary. "The selection committee had a tough job over the summer and we now look forward to strong performances in each division."
From 145 submissions, the selection committee, comprised of award-winning choreographers, dancers and dance activists selected 12 Division I and 22 Division II finalists to compete for cash awards live at the McCallum Theatre in front of an audience and a panel of judges.
Division I finalists include past festival winners Greg Sample (2006 Grand Prize Winner), Viktor Kabaniaev and Jennifer Backhaus of Backhausdance as well as France based choreographer Abou Lagraa and German choreographer Leonardo Barbu. Local choreographers Kathleen Hartin of Dance Dimensions and Cynthia Kaye of CK Dance will present their choreography in Division II.
The Grand Prize in Division I is $5,000, with a $2,000 Grand Prize in Division II. Finalist placement cash awards will be presented to all finalists.
As part of the 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Festival, the McCallum Theatre Institute will partner with Toro Canyon Middle and Desert Mirage High Schools, placing award winning choreographers Jennifer Backhaus and William Lu in residence for a week. The residency will conclude with the students traveling to the theatre to perform their original choreography on the McCallum stage as part of the Festival performance on Sunday, November 11, 2007.
Tickets for the competition performances are on sale now. Tickets for the Division I performance Saturday, November 10, 7:00 p.m. are $30/25/15/10. -- www.mccallumtheatre.com
Posted October 16th, 2007 by ruzik_tuzik
