Renowned artistic director, choreographer and dancer Stephen Petronio will teach and lecture dance students at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) from 9–20 July as part of the 2007 Simplot International Masterclass Series.
Stephen Petronio is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading and most progressive choreographers. His New York-based dance troupe, Stephen Petronio Company has performed to critical and popular acclaim in 25 countries throughout the world. Recent Australian performance seasons include The Gotham Suite in 2005, which featured at the Melbourne International Arts Festival and Sydney Theatre at Walsh Bay, and Underland in 2003, which was commissioned by the Sydney Dance Company and was inspired by the music of Nick Cave.
Petronio will be in Melbourne exclusively for the Simplot Masterclass Series at the VCA. He will conduct intensive workshops and repertoire classes with talented dance students across all year levels as well as alumni from VCA Dance.
Petronio will be the first guest artist to visit the VCA in 2007 as part of the Simplot International Masterclass Series. Sponsorship from Simplot Australia enables the VCA to invite world renowned artists, performers and directors to the campus to work with students. Previous visiting artists include: art director at Pixar Animation Studios Tia Kratter, French puppeteer Philippe Genty and UK percussion quartet ensemblebash.
STEPHEN PETRONIO was born in Newark, New Jersey, and received a B.A. from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, where he began dancing in 1974. Initially influenced by the works of Steve Paxton and Rudolf Nureyev, Petronio went on to become the first male dancer of the Trisha Brown Company, where he danced from 1979 to 1986. He founded Stephen Petronio Company in 1984. He has received international acclaim for his ground-breaking choreography and the company has toured extensively across the United States and in Canada, Mexico, Europe, South America, Australia, Korea and Russia
www.stephenpetronio.com
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