Happendance News Archives
- Winter Concert 2012: Exposed
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- Happendance Team Ready, Set, “To Go”
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- Happendance 2 in 2011-12
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- Happendance in New York City
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- Raising Dough With Pizza Sales
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- Winter Concert 2011: Connect
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- Notes from Newman
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- “GoodShop” is good for Happendance!
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- Thank You to Donors
Winter Concert 2012: Exposed
A typical stage production involves a lot of equipment, most of it invisible to the audience. In "Happendance . . . Exposed," a concert of contemporary dance on February 24-25 (8 pm), at Hannah Community Center's White Auditorium in East Lansing, you'll see something different. Missy Lilje, Artistic Director of Happendance Professional Company, is exposing the backstage areas, leaving the light booms in the wings (sides) in full view and as the only stage lighting in use. This technical simplicity provides a unique focus on the dances and the dancers.
The concert features two commissioned works by guest choreographers. Kimberly Karpanty, of Cleveland and Kent State University, created "Wake," a dance which incorporates images of good and bad dreams from the four dancers. It premiered in New York City in October, staged along with "chew it up/spit it out," a quirky work by NYC's Leanne Schmidt, and an audience favorite when premiered by Happendance in 2010. It returns to Lansing expanded to a work for six dancers.
Happendancers, past and present, provide the rest of the choreography. "Monkey Wrench," by Andrew Amos, tells a story of five office workers thwarting corporate culture. The solo "Falling Lessons," created by Lilje, deals with fear of mistakes, to music by Massive Attack. Lilje's second dance, "Together We Sway" (music by William Shatner and Ben Folds) began as a light-hearted trio, but expanded to include the high schoolers of Happendance 2 pre-professional company, and adds a surprise twist. Michael Place choreographed a duet which explores the dynamics of a romantic relationship.
Closing the concert is Tracy Holtzer's "Undulations," expressing the ebb and flow of energy, in three sections: Part 1, Smooth Waves, is a duet set to the ethereal music of Ireland's Sigur Ros; Part II, Noisy Echoes, builds energy with Company for String Orchestra, Movement II, by Philip Glass; Part 3, Reverberations, is a full-company finale, set to Palladio performed by Escala.
Performing in the concert are professional company members Andrew Amos, Michael Place, Danielle Selby and Patty Villanueva, with guest dancers Maddie Brogan, Sarah Dobson, Clara Martinez, and members of Happendance 2. Villanueva is also serving as Assistant Artistic Director.
Tickets are $15 general admission and $12 for students and senior citizens. Buy tickets here to pay by credit card. Tickets are available at the door by cash or check only. Consider also attending Preview Night, Thursday the 23rd at 8 pm, where admission is free with a suggested donation of $5.
TopHappendance 2 in 2011-12
JANUARY 2012 -- After summer auditions, the 14 middle and high school dancers accepted into the pre-professional company began many hours of intense training and rehearsal.
Their repertoire includes dances by some of the hottest jazz, hip-hop, lyrical and contemporary choreographers in the area, with works like: "Alien Invasion," by Amy Brooks, to music by Katy Perry; "The Substitute," by Jessicca Shank, to music by Diddy Dirty Money; "Evil," by Tracy Schrauben, to music by Matt Goss; "Breathe," by Jesse Powers, to music by Sia; "Black and Gold," by Laura Buck, to music by Sam Sparrow; "It's Gonna Be a Long Walk," by Michael Price, to music by Apparat. Each year they learn a world dance, and this year it's the Lebanese "Hizzy Scarf Dance," learned from Garnet Kepler, set to traditional music.
Happendance 2 performed on November 4 to an audience in Happendance Studios as part of the First Friday series, and at Holt High School Auditorium on February 2nd. They also performed at Heartwood School and for a private event, and have plans for a St. Johns concert in the spring. A highlight of the year is performing as guest dancers in the upcoming "Happendance . . . Exposed" professional concert, on February 24-25.
This year's dancers hail from East Lansing, Eaton Rapids, Haslett, Lansing, Mason and Okemos. They are:
High School Company: Lindsey Fedewa, Michaele Ford, Callie Harrison, Melanie Matchette, Lizzie Mullins, Alison Rhodes, Emily Scott and Mason Villanueva.
Middle School Company: Marie Adrian, Aiden Foster-Fishman, Gabby Jones, Roja Eghtedary Mullins, Averie Nim and Jennifer Ruth.
TopHappendance Team Ready, Set, “To Go”
JANUARY 2012 -- The 2012 Happendance To Go Team show is ready for bookings in schools and youth group settings, with director Missy Lilje leading performers Amy Brooks, Deanne Rivera, Danielle Selby and Patricia Villanueva. The 50-minute show includes pieces that explore a variety of dance styles, and a dance version of a book with true life lessons.
Flags a Flyin', choreographed by Jane Gamble to music by Aaron Copland, introduces the dancers with a western flare in the style of contemporary dance.
Molecules on the Move has great moves by Jessicca Shank, inspired by hot sounds of popular music. In contrast, Variation a la Ballet, a solo by Patty Villanueva, shows off classical ballet against a background of classical music. Surf City Swing was choreographed by Danielle Selby to music by the Beach Boys, and shows how to swing dance and do your own boogie!
Listen to the Wind is a dance drawn from a book of the same name by Greg Mortenson. It tells the true story of his time in a mountain village of Pakistan. After becoming lost in the wilderness, he stumbled into Korphe, a remote village. The residents took him in and nursed him back to health with kindness, friendship and love. In return he built a school for the children of Korphe. It is a heart-warming story of friendship and tolerance that crosses religious and cultural barriers. Choreographed by Missy Lilje to music by Karl Jenkins, with instrumental selections from Pakistan.
Students get free samples of dance styles in Dance Cafe choreographed by Amy Brooks to a mix of current pop music. When it's over, the question is, what's your favorite dance flavor?
If you know of a school or youth setting that has open danceable space and would welcome a performance by the Happendance To Go Team, put them in touch with the Happendance office for information on bookings. Movement classes are also available to selected classrooms. Grant funds have been secured to underwrite a large share of the costs of shows and teaching, but schools need to book soon while funds last.
TopHappendance in New York City
NOVEMBER 2011 -- Happendance spearheaded a tri-state collaboration which culminated Saturday evening, October 15, at New York Live Arts (219 West 19th Street, New York City) with a studio concert of works by Leanne Schmidt (New York) and Kimberly Karpanty (Ohio), performed by Happendance. Repertory for the evening included Karpanty's ’Wake’, commissioned for Happendance’s 2012 winter concert, evoking the edge between sleep and wakefulness; and the wry and witty ’chew it up, spit it out’ by Schmidt, which premiered at Happendance’s concert ’The Body’ in 2010. On October 14 Happendance also performed Schmidt's work, by invitation, at the Collaborations in Dance Festival at Triskelion Arts (118 North 11th Street, Brooklyn).
Dancing at the New York events from Happendance were Andrew Amos, Madeline Brogan, Clara Martinez, Michael Place, Danielle Selby, and Patricia Villanueva, under the direction of Missy Lilje.
Photo by Chrissie Brogan
TopRaising dough with pizza sales
NOVEMBER 2011 -- Families and friends of Happendance School made the 10th Annual Little Caesar's Pizza Fundraiser a success, bringing in $1,865.50 of profit through the delicious products they bought and donations in lieu of purchases. This year's goal was $2,500, dedicated to help hold the line on tuition and fees. Of course meeting or exceeding a goal is something we strive for, but given the tough realities of today's economic climate, the 75% success represents a very helpful achievement. Top sellers were: 1st place, Emily Brett, winning free tuition for one class. 2nd place, Lauren Edlin, winning 50% off tuition for one class. Congratulations to them, and thanks to all who support the school through this annual event!
Top35th Anniversary Concert Connected LSO with Happendance!
FEBRUARY 2011 -- One of the most exciting collaborations in Happendance history was timed perfectly to celebrate turning 35. Lansing Symphony Orchestra's Chamber Ensemble accompanied the Happendance Professional company on LCC's Dart Auditorium stage at the February 19-20, 2011 concert entitled, "CONNECT."
Complementing the artistic skills of the Happendancers were two guest choreographers. Cristina Perera has been a dance professional in Asia, Europe and the Americas, including a year in Brazil as artistic director of Cirque du Soleil’s “Alegria,” but in May of 2010 she was teaching in three Lansing dance centers, including Happendance School. A fringe benefit of that connection was her provision of a dance for the Connect concert: “Thoughts of Love and Loss,” an intense and rigorous duet performed by Matt Bebermeyer and Tracy Holtzer to the music “Fratres” by Arvo Part. University of Michigan professor of dance Bill DeYoung created a piece for all five professional dancers, set to the music of Aaron Copeland.
Co-directors Missy Lilje and Matt Bebermeyer each offered new works to take advantage of having Chamber Ensemble accompaniment. Lilje performed with Bebermeyer and Patty Villanueva in "Vertical Lament," set to Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings”. The trio explored the wishes of a vertically-challenged individual to reach as high as her taller counterparts. In Lilje’s second piece, the pre-professionals of the Happendance 2 company joined with the five professionals for an upbeat celebration danced to the music of Coldplay arranged for string quartet. Matt Bebermeyer created a three-part dance that used Bach’s famous “Suite for Cello #1 in G Major”. He also created four vignettes sprinkled throughout the show and set in silence. In addition, Happendancer Patty Villanueva performed a solo called "Duet," acknowledging the interactive role of the cellist accompanying the dance.
It was a thrilling and historic event, coupling exceptional live music by the Lansing Symphony Orchestra Chamber Group with thrilling dance from Michigan’s longest- running professional modern dance company.
TopNotes From Newman (2010-11)
FALL 2010-- As I watched the Happendance 2 concert at Happendance School last Friday night, I felt satisfied. Satisfied that in the 35 years since its founding, Happendance has grown beyond all expectations and has made such a significant contribution to the artistic fabric of its community, as evidenced by these 14 young dancers whirling, jumping, sweating, breathing, reveling in the joy of contemporary dance.
And I am proud too. Proud of our staying power, proud of our professionals, proud of our hard-working board and staff and faculty. It has rarely been easy but it has definitely been worth it.
We are in a season of change. Elections have passed, winter is coming. But Happendance School continues to harbor continuity, offering a safe place to learn and thrive in the pursuit of dance. During the past year we’ve added some nice amenities, including spruced-up boys and girls dressing rooms with new privacy curtains featuring our logo “Cosmo”, hand fashioned by our new Administrative Assistant, Kim Smith. In addition, local artist Geoff Gamble was commissioned to paint life-sized gesture drawings of dancers on the doors facing the lobby. Appreciative comments on these beautiful renderings are testimony to the ‘arty’ look of our environment. Soon to be added: navy blue acoustic panels in the large studio!
Other changes are also in evidence. Though Patty Villanueva, Kay Duryea, Missy Lilje, Tracy Shrauben and myself continue as school faculty, Angela Rich has taken maternity leave for this year and Amy Dobson will only be substitute teaching while finishing her degree at MSU. Callie David, who has been teaching at the school for 5 years, has moved to Florida where she is, of course, teaching dance! And though these teachers are missed, we have welcomed two new instructors: Amy Brooks and Sarah Dobson. Amy is teaching many levels of tap and jazz, and Sarah instructs ballet and pointe. Sadly, we wave goodbye to Jodi Jones, who has been Administrative Assistant for Happendance for the last ten years. She has decided to return to the full-time work force as priorities in her life change. We wish her well as she launches into this new adventure, taking comfort that we will still see her as she brings her daughter Gabrielle to her weekly lessons.
What else is new? Beyond the weekly schedule of 40 classes in a variety of dance forms, the School also continues to host major master class opportunities. On November 8, Jacob ben Widmar, dancer with “Mary Poppins,” now at the Wharton Center, taught excerpts from the show. Ballet Hispanico will be in residence on Valentine’s Day, February 14th, teaching an intermediate-advanced modern class from 3:15-4:30 pm. In between, a Holiday Workshop with Kimberly Karpanty (modern) and Larry Newman (ballet) is being planned for students who want to keep in shape during the two-week break (details to be confirmed).
Looking forward, the annual Happendance School Spring Concert has been set for Saturday, May 21st at Williamston High School's McGoff Theater. Dress rehearsals will occur the two preceding nights. Tickets for this event will be available through the website, www.happendance.org, at the office, and at the door. Mark your calendars!!
Diane Newman, Happendance School Manager
TopHappendance “To Go” Team (2010-11)
The 2010-2011 To Go Team show is ready for bookings in schools and youth group settings, with director Missy Lilje performing with team members Matt Bebermeyer, Jessicca Shank, Christopher Endsley and Amy Brooks. This year’s program includes some beloved dances from the Happendance past, but also new works that use movement/dance to address today’s thought-provoking issues from a different perspective.
The 50-minute show opens to the classical music of Barrier as the dancers reveal their identities in a playful dance choreographed by Matt Bebermeyer and Mary Jane Gamble.
Get Up and Play is an update of a long-time Happendance favorite, set to the music of Ray Lynch. It has the dancers moving with toys that require human power to play with, not electricity, computers or video games, showing the link between exercise and fun. Choreographed by Missy.
You Are What You Eat explores what it feels like to eat junk food, go through a sugar high, followed by a big sugar crash. Then it’s time to eat healthy food and celebrate feeling great for a long time on this better body fuel. Choreographed by Missy Lilje to music spanning from classical to Elvis Presley.
Bully Blues was choreographed by Jessica Shank to current pop music and depicts common bullying behavior and some ways to resolve conflicts. The dance is presented to stimulate discussion about one of the most serious, troubling and common topics in kids' lives today.
Listen to the Wind is a dance drawn from a book of the same name by Greg Mortenson. It tells the true story of his time in a mountain village of Pakistan. After becoming lost in the wilderness, he stumbled into Korphe, a remote village. The residents took him in and nursed him back to health with kindness, friendship and love. In return he built a school for the children of Korphe. It is a heart-warming story of friendship and tolerance that crosses religious and cultural barriers. Choreographed by Missy Lilje to music by Karl Jenkins, with instrumental selections from Pakistan.
The Way You Do The Things You Do is choreographed by Mary Jane Gamble and set to a classic tune by the Temptations. The dancers explore literal interpretations of the rhyming lyrics by using a little help from 3 (pre-selected) students from the audience. It’s an upbeat way of highlighting the symbolic relationship between the body, the dance movement and rhyme.
If you know of a school or youth setting that has open danceable space and would welcome a performance by the Happendance To Go Team, put them in touch with the Happendance office for information on bookings.
Top“GoodShop” is good for Happendance!
Happendance has for years benefited when you use Goodsearch.com as your browser and name us as your charity. Now there are additional and larger rewards available, both in savings for you as a purchaser, and the donations that flow through to Happendance, from your use of GoodShop.com. Here’s how it works:
- Go to (and bookmark) www.goodsearch.com/goodshop.aspx. Or, if in Goodsearch.com, on the home page, under the search window, click on “Shop Online … Support Your Cause”. Follow the 1-2-3 instruction block:
- To start, enter Happendance as your charity and click Verify. If already your default charity, just start shopping!
- Click on any of the dozens of popular stores listed below that, or use the search option above. Their donation percentage will be clearly shown, and be sure to note any coupon savings for you! You’ll find many places you already shop with, and making it a habit to access them through GoodShop will only add seconds to your shopping time.
- Once you have selected your store, click on “Shop Now” or one of the coupons listed below and it will take you to the company’s site. Select your items and add to shopping cart on the company’s website.
- When you pay, a percentage of that will automatically be donated to Happendance!
This program does not cost you anything – Goodsearch/GoodShop is connecting retailers to charities like us, and the donation comes from the business. If everyone associated with Happendance purchased their gifts and needs through GoodShop and it totaled roughly $10,000, even at a minimal retail contribution of 1% Happendance would receive $100, and many give higher than 1%. This can really add up to a win-win for you and us!
TopHappendance Donors in the Past 12 Months
| Angels ($1,000 and over) | |
| Elizabeth Anderson | Alfred Newman |
| Dance Workshop | Ruth Stump |
| Jim & Ruth Linnemann | Janet Welch & Ben Hare | Producer ($500-999) |
| Adams Outdoor Advertising | Alison Wagner |
| Morton & Sarah Charnley | |
| Benefactor ($250-499) | |
| Angela Rich | Kerri Waters- Pampered Chef |
| Patron ($100-249) | |
| Thomas & Lisa Whiting Dobson | M. Jean McManus |
| Tim & Patricia Donal | Michele Eaddy & Louis Nigg |
| Douglas J Spa & Salon | Mary McKinney Schmidt |
| Kobra Eghtedary | Tony & Florence Schrauben |
| Flowers By Mesung Lee | Sir Pizza |
| Heather Glidden | Snap Fitness |
| Rosy Goacher | Karen Sprecher |
| David & Monika Griffith | Allison Walacavage |
| Andrea & Michael Larkin | Michael Woodberry-Means |
| Sustaining($50-99) | |
| M.C. & R.E. Burke Bastow | Wendy Hart |
| Anna Bratta | Al & Trish Kochka |
| Kathleen Spencer Campbell | Erik & Kelly Larson |
| Nancy Dixon | Sara Lincoln |
| Dusty’s Cellar | Laura Panganis |
| Dennis & Amy Eagle | Maureen & Jim Price-Zalba |
| Events to Rent | Michael & Deborah Rogell |
| Kerry & Joseph Goodsir | Pam & Joe Ruth |
| Basic Support, Students/Seniors | |
| Dawn Autio | W. Spencer Parshall |
| Joanne Bass | Jim & Sue Powers |
| James & Susan Bence | Elischa Rensing-Zimmerman |
| Joyce & Jim Biscoff | Jessica Shank |
| Gordan C. Boardman | Sharon Sigler |
| Lori & Jim Comparoni | Bryan & Kathleen Smith |
| Jennifer Goosen | Sohn Linen |
| Beth Hand | The Coffee Barrel |
| Liz Hubert | The Mole Hole |
| Herbert & Mary Josephs | Susan Turney |
| Christy & Brad Marks | Julie Van Wagenen |
| Katherine McKinney | Marcus & Elizabeth Wasilevich |
| Linda Melaragni | Pamel Weil |
| Susanna Michaels | Angela Wilson |
| Sue & Bill Morris | Steve Esquith & Chris Worland |
| Diane Newman | Burton A. Zipser |
| Steve Panganis | |