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Choreoplan 2000 at Central Pennsylvania
Youth Ballet
by Greta Greene
“Just the fact that it’s taking
place here is a big thing,” says Alan Hineline, resident
choreographer for Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (CPYB) and director of
Choreoplan 2000, the workshop for emerging choreographers now in progress
at the Carlisle studios. Hineline knows the difficulty dancemakers face
finding any venue and even dancers who are technically qualified to bring
a dance to life as they conceive it. “You are only as good as your
last work, so you must constantly look for exposure. New works of this
caliber are rarely found in a community this size.”
Four choreographers were chosen from a field of 20 by Hineline and
CPYB Artistic Director Marcia Dale Weary. “Music and, hence,
choreography is very structured, so we looked for good  basic
knowledge of this,” says Hineline. They also looked at how they moved
people around the stage (at which Hineline says those chosen were “quite brilliant”), musicality, and experience in smaller
venues.
“I would like to dance forever, but I can’t do the
pain,” says Leigh-Ann Cohen, choreographer from Edmonds, Washington. “I enjoy seeing dancers do pieces I could have done.” Cohen
was trained in ballet and Spanish dance in South Africa before moving to
Toronto where she continued her study at George Brown College. She then
danced professionally with Ballet British Columbia at Vancouver. At 14,
she toured Scotland and Israel, an experience that ultimately influenced
her to choose a smaller company that would tour for the remainder of her
career.
Her first venture into choreography came through a workshop at
college of which she was “the only girl”. The piece, “Decisions,” is set on three dancers and was designed to bring
out the conflict of emotion that Cohen felt while deciding upon the
direction to take next in her career.
Says Cohen, “I am very excited to have male dancers to work with
at Choreoplan 2000. This will enable me to incorporate pas de deux
[partnering] into this dance.” She describes her style as strong,
sharp, and yet romantically neo-classicist, visualizing movement while
listening to music. Russian composer Vassily Kalinnikov’s Symphony
No. 1, Second Movement, is the piece she will set at the workshop. William
Forsyth, Glen Tetley, John Butler, and Fredric Ashton have inspired and
influenced her style, and she feels privileged to have worked with some of
them.
Melissa Davis, of Provo, Utah says she has been absorbing music
since before birth. Her father teaches band and orchestra and both parents
play in the symphony. Five hours a day, six days a week for twelve years
was the rigorous training schedule Davis entered into with Jacquelline
Colledge that earned her a Soloist status with the Utah Regional Ballet.
“A quick but cute personality attracts me to a piece of music
… I do a lot of petit allegro,” says Davis. She, too, visualizes
movement while listening and works in a contemporary/neoclassical style. “I love Alan Hineline’s work, he inspires me,” she says.
The Concerto No. 2 for Violin and Orchestra in D Minor by Henryk
Wieniawski, a classical piece from the late 19th century, is her choice
for the workshop.
Says Davis, “I am so thrilled to be working with a different
company for the first time … I’ve heard so much about how good they
are. I would love to continue doing this as a career.”
Classical with “a tweak” is the approach Diana Howard of
Richland, Washington plans to develop under the influence of a Vivaldi
cello concerto. Already a teacher for nine years and trained by Debra
Pearse Rogo for twelve, Howard crafted her first dance with the help of
Rogo and later a contemporary piece on point called “Short Ride”
to minimalist music by John Adams for Pacific Regional Dance America.
“I listen to a lot of music … modern, classical, neoclassical
… for changes in tempo and layering of orchestration to enable me to
layer the movement,” says Howard. Her process starts with visual
impressions that she then takes into the studio, working out individual
movements on her own body, then blocking out the complete concept for more
dancers.
“Privileged … and a little nervous,” is how Howard
describes her emotions on being chosen for the workshop. “It’s a
great opportunity,” she adds. Howard plans to continue to
choreograph in addition to her teaching career.
“I goofed off,” admits Danielle Martinelli of Berkeley,
California, “so when I asked Ron (Cunningham) for a chance to make a
dance, he was dubious.” Even after training daily with Ron and
Carrine Cunningham for 15 years, she had to persuade them, but was finally
given the OK at age 16.
“I start with an idea … a major focus that drives the piece
to speak to the audience,” says Martinelli. Personal, emotional,
intimate, and contemporary are all terms she uses when discussing her
style. This outlet of self expression and the attempt to make sense of the
world through this art form have also landed her in the categories of
philosophy and politics.
Twentieth century composer Arvo Parts, whose style is “somewhere between Bartok and Glass,” answered her search for
music.
“I love working with kids, they are so excited about new
things,” says Martinelli about the workshop. Her future holds the
choice between the careers of director or artistic director in
film-making.
“It’s wonderful for the students to be exposed to the diverse
styles of other choreographers,” confirms Weary, “and it’s
good preparation for the demands of the work required if they wish to go
on to professional companies.”
Audrey Stern, a dancer at CPYB, says, “It’s a challenge to
learn an entire piece in one week, but it’s lots of fun.”
“It’s a tribute to Marcia,” concludes Hineline. “She gets all the credit for following through on such a big dream
for such a small town. How lucky this audience is to have four new works
seen here for the first time.”
A presentation of the new pieces will take place at the Helen F.
Whitaker Performance Gallery Studio at CPYB in Carlisle on January 22 at 4
p.m. For more information on attending this event, call 245-1183.
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