Getting Up Close to Dance In “Masters of Dance” Series


DANCE MASTERS: Choreographer Stephen Petronio, left, is among the “Masters of Dance” leading rehearsals and lecture demonstrations open to the public at Princeton University. Mr. Petronio will appear Thursday; others in the series include ballerina Misty Copeland, and dancers Damian Woetzel and Lil Buck. (Photo Courtesy of Princeton University)
Princeton University students cannot declare dance as a major. But the school’s Program in Dance, part of the Lewis Center for the Arts, offers a level of study that brings major artists of many disciplines into its classrooms and studios. These dancers, choreographers, and performance artists also appear in lecture/demonstrations and talks that are often open to the community at no charge.
The “Masters of Dance” series brings former New York City Ballet principal dancer Damian Woetzel and Memphis jookin star Lil Buck; choreographer Stephen Petronio and visual artist Janine Antoni; and American Ballet Theatre star Misty Copeland to the campus this winter. The first event is a master class today, January 14 at 1:30 p.m. in the Hagan Dance Studio at 185 Nassau Street, followed by a lecture/demonstration in the Frist Center at 4:30 p.m. Mr. Woetzel, who is also the director of the Aspen Institute Arts Program and the Vail International Dance Festival, will appear with Lil Buck.
“All of these artists are so interesting and compelling for such different reasons,” said choreographer Rebecca Lazier, a senior lecturer in the program for the past 11 years. “All three are participating in different cultural conversations about their work and the role of art. They all have personal stories.”
Lil Buck’s given name is Charles Riley. His style of street dance, called jookin, gained notoriety after director Spike Jonze used his cell phone to record an interpretive performance of “The Dying Swan” by the dancer and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who were paired by Mr. Wotezel. The video was uploaded to YouTube. Lil Buck has since become a frequent collaborator of Mr. Woetzel’s and an artist in residence at the Vail festival.
Princeton’s dance program is adding its first-ever course in hip hop dance forms to the curriculum, according to Ms. Lazier. “It will be co-taught by a practitioner and a scholar,” she said. “It’s inaugurating growth in our program in terms of diversity of dance forms. That’s an exciting shift in our profile.”
Dance students have been working with Stephen Petronio on one of his works, which they plan to perform at the Program’s annual Spring Dance Festival. On Thursday, January 15, an open rehearsal will be held at 6:30 p.m., followed by a talk with Mr. Petronio and collaborator Janine Antoni at 8 p.m. The choreographer will sign copies of his recent memoir, Confessions of a Motion Addict.
“He is one of the masters of contemporary dance. I think you can credit him for giving movement phenomenal velocity,” Ms. Lazier said. “It will be exciting for people to watch him in rehearsal. And it’s great for the students, because they get it right from the source. The piece is about 20 years old. Some of the students weren’t even born then.”
The final event of the series is a conversation between ballerina Misty Copeland and dance faculty member Tina Fehlandt, on Monday, February 16 at 4:30 p.m. in McCosh 50, followed by a signing of Ms. Copeland’s book Life and Motion. The book details her struggles as an African American ballerina who started ballet late (at age 13) and overcame a difficult background.
“She’s a superstar who will galvanize the students,” Ms. Lazier said. “She’s a one of a kind, on so many levels. Tina has known her for a long time. She’ll talk about working with different choreographers, and what it’s like to be an African American ballerina.”
The goal of “Masters of Dance” is “not to bring in big productions,” said Ms. Lazier. “It’s things like this, where students get to take a class and ask questions. And for the public, there’s this wonderful, insider glimpse.”01