Chelsea Dumas once dreamed of becoming a backup dancer for Beyonce Knowles. Although she will always hold on to that dream, Dumas’ aspirations have shifted slightly since discovering ballet.
Dumas joins students from the School of Music and the School of Dance in a showcase at 8:15 p.m. tonight in the Amphitheater.
In the dancer’s lounge at the Carnahan-Jackson Dance Studio, photographs of legendary dancers and faculty members of Chautauqua Dance’s past and present line the walls. Maris Battaglia couldn’t help gravitating toward these pictures in a room filled with not only some of her idols, but also some of her greatest friends.
Chautauqua School of Dance students will show that they can do more than ballet at the season’s final Student Gala.
The performance at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the Amphitheater will be a culmination of the students’ summer work.
Apprentice, Festival and Workshop II dancers will show their versatility, performing everything from a George Balanchine work to hip-hop.
One came to George Balanchine a teenager and was transformed into a star of the New York City Ballet. The other came to Balanchine a star of the Paris Opera Ballet.
Both will forever work tirelessly to keep Balanchine’s legacy alive.
Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride will tell Chautauquans about their lives with Balanchine — as they refer to the American ballet master with respect and admiration.
The Chautauqua Dance Circle will host the lecture from the two Balanchine dancers at 3:30 p.m. today in the Hall of Christ.
Together, festival students from the School of Music and the School of Dance will “Serenade” audiences at 8:15 p.m. tonight in the Amphitheater.
Dancers will perform George Balanchine’s “Serenade,” restaged by répétiteur Patricia McBride, North Carolina Dance Theatre associate artistic director.
Musicians will accompany the ballet with Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings in C, lead by guest conductor Stilian Kirov.
North Carolina Dance Theatre dancer David Morse is a triple threat, but his second and third talents aren’t singing and acting.
The dancer, pianist and choreographer will present his ballet “Concerto Grosso” in the Chautauqua School of Dance’s Student Gala at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the Amphitheater.
It will be his first ballet performed at Chautauqua.
Morse, who grew up dancing at NCDT’s school in Charlotte, N.C., started dancing when he was five.
The Chautauquan Daily 