Dance Gallery Foundation Awarded $33,000 Grant

Ann Arbor, MI May 22, 2004 -– Dance Gallery Foundation, Ann Arbor’s only non-profit dance center, and the Peter Sparling Dance Company (PSDC), Michigan’s premiere modern dance company, www.dancegallerystudio.org, announced today a $33,000 grant award from The Whitney Fund. PSDC will use the grant to support PSDC dance residencies in Wayne, Oakland, Monroe, Livingston, and Washtenaw counties in Michigan during the 2004-2005 Season.

Recognizing their 10th anniversary this summer, PSDC will use the grant money for “The Peninsula Residency Project” which pays homage to unique Michigan people and places via live performances, video, workshops, master dance classes, lecture demonstrations, rehearsals, and more. The message of “Peninsula” will be conveyed via several community residencies and:

•Provide residents with opportunities to explore their history and create their own video and dance
•Have unique themes customized to meet the interests and needs of the host community
•Include local residents, volunteers and organizations as partners in the planning process
•Encourage people to work together creatively and build bridges between diverse
community-sectors
•Feature a live modern dance performance by six PSDC dancers which will:
oShow videotaped images of the dancers at various sites throughout the state projected on a larger-than-life screen behind them
oPresent new choreography by Peter Sparling that unfolds in three sections: Southeastern Michigan’s industrial heritage, the land and water above the 45th parallel, and looking back to the glaciers that formed the two peninsulas and created natural resources such as copper and iron
•Culminate with a showcase of the video/dance presentation created and performed by community members

“’Peninsula’ confronts issues concerning the environment and natural resources, shifting from an industrial economy, workforce development and cultural heritage,” states Peter Sparling, PSDC Artistic Director. “The communities which host a residency will have the opportunity to explore these issues as well as topics specific to their own sense of place.”

Currently, residency sponsors include The Canton Center for Performing Arts and Monroe’s River Raisin Center for the Arts. The “Peninsula Residency Project” premiers on June 23, 2004 at 8:00 p.m. at Ann Arbor’s Power Center. The local community can take part in a behind-the-scenes look of “Peninsula” at PSDC’s open rehearsal on June 3, 2004 from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at Dance Gallery Studio in Ann Arbor, MI.

About Dance Gallery Foundation/Peter Sparling Dance Company
Dance Gallery Foundation was established in 1984 and supports Dance Gallery Studio, the only non-profit dance center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The studio offers students of all ages high-quality training in a non-competitive, nurturing environment with performance opportunities and an intensive pre-professional training program. The mission of Dance Gallery is to produce, develop, and promote contemporary dance performance, and provide dance training and educational experiences of the highest artistic quality.

Founded in 1993, the Peter Sparling Dance Company (PSDC) is the third consecutive non-profit professional modern dance company to be supported by the umbrella 501©3 organization. Peter Sparling, a prolific and internationally-respected dancer and choreographer, serves as artistic director, creating, premiering and touring works off original choreography annually with his seven-member company. A former principal dancer with the legendary Martha Graham and José Limón companies, Sparling has over thirty years of professional dance and choreography experience. He is also a tenured professor of dance at the University of Michigan and a leader in the area’s arts and cultural community. For more information on Dance Gallery Foundation and PSDC, please see www.dancegallerystudio.org or call 734.747.8885




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