Thursday, September 19, 2013

Stages-Folsom Dance Arts Opens Its 15th Season

Folsom Dance Arts begins its new season with the announcement of two new Artistic Directors and  world premiere ballet!

Stages is Folsom’s premiere youth dance company and includes: Ballet Folsom, Sound Out Tap Company and iMPACT Contemporary Dance.

Stages is a non-profit organization — its sister company is Hawkins School of Performing Arts, which has been in the Folsom area for over 25 years.

The new season at Stages offers a number of exciting opportunities for dancers and patrons alike!

Stages is pleased to announce that Shannon Mahoney will head up iMPACT Contemporary Dance. Shannon comes to Stages with an extensive resume in dance and acting. She is also the Co-Managing Director of Sacramento’s Big Idea Theatre. Shannon started her dance career at 12 when she was accepted into the Colorado Ballet pre-professional dance program.  Two years later, she moved up to their professional program and did her first tour of The Nutcracker Suite. She has been dancing and acting professionally since that time throughout the United States. She recently received her Master of Fine Arts from California State University Fullerton. As a graduate student at Fullerton she began seriously exploring and experimenting with fusing modern dance, ballet and the emotional movement exercises from her MFA acting classes.

Stages is also please to announce the placement of Beverly Stewart as the new Artistic Director for Sound Out Tap Company. Beverly started dancing as a child in her mother’s studio. She is skilled in many dance disciplines and is an exceptional tap instructor. She’s been teaching tap at Hawkins School of Performing Arts for ten years and now takes the helm at Stages. Under Beverly’s instruction the dance program will include tap as well as more musical theatre opportunities.

The season opens with a holiday extravaganza presented by Sound Out Tap Company entitled Tis’ the Season for Dance, taking place December 7th and 8th, with evening and matinee performances. Sound Out Artistic Director, Beverly Stewart, offers this perennial favorite with a new focus and several guest artists. All three dance companies will perform in the concert, and there will also be actors and singing from local choirs. More details on this holiday production will be released in the coming months.

Following the season opener, iMPACT Contemporary Dance will stage an original production by Artistic Director Shannon Mahoney entitled A Celebration of Dance, taking place February 23rd, 2014 at 2 p.m.  The concert will highlight some of the great choreographers of our time and the dance styles they made famous. The concert will feature, contemporary dance, tap and ballet.

To close the season, Ballet Folsom presents a world premiere ballet that will delight audience members of all ages—I Want Candy, April 12th and 13th. While the title is decidedly youthful, the ballet story, costumes and sets will entertain all who attend. This original ballet is the work of Ballet Folsom Artistic Director Deirdre Hawkins and Joy Victor. The collaboration and original production is the first of its kind for Stages dancers. It presents a wonderful opportunity for the dancers and audience members to witness the creation of a new ballet.

For more information or for tickets for the Stages concerts, please visit stages-folsom.org or by calling the office at (916) 355-8080.

Blog Post information and picture courtesy of Hawkins School of Performing Arts & Stages.


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