South Georgia Ballet performs at Shands Hospital Dancers from South Georgia Ballet Company recently traveled to Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida, Saturday, November 22 to perform portions of The Nutcracker for patients. The visit was conceived by SGPA instructor Candice Howard, who as Miss Thomasville, supports the Children’s Miracle Network. Dancers worked on hand crafted ornaments which were presented to the patients along with t-shirts in recognition of the performance. Approximately 100 were able to enjoy the performance, including patients, hospital staff and 30 children. Notes Alison Bundrick, Artistic Director, “It was wonderful for our girls to appreciate all they have and enjoy giving this gift of a performance to children who will not be able to travel to see a ballet this season. It was a special day for all of us. We are so blessed to be able to give the joy of dance to those less fortunate.” SGB Dancers cast of “The Nutcracker at Shands” Shands patient with Clara and Sugar Plum Fairy Members of South Georgia Ballet at Shands Ballet Legend Suzanne Farrell Returns to Thomasville for Master Class World-renowned ballet legend Suzanne Farrell recently taught a master class for the senior company dancers of South Georgia Ballet. Since 2000, Ms. Farrell has held the Francis Eppes Chair of the Arts at Florida State University, where she is a tenured professor. Her appearance in Thomasville was sponsored by the Florida State University Department of Dance in cooperation with South Georgia Performing Arts and The Thomasville Cultural Center. Ms Farrell trained at the School of American Ballet and joined George Balanchine’s New York City Ballet in 1961. Her unique combination of musical, physical and dramatic gifts inspired Balanchine, who created over 30 ballets expressly for her. She danced for 28 years and symbolized an era in ballet and achievement in dance. Ms. Farrell is a repetiteaur for The George Balanchine Trust and has served in a variety of cultural and philanthropic organizations such as the New York State Council on the Arts, the Arthritis Foundation, the Professional Children’s School and the Princess Grace Foundation. Her autobiography Holding On to the Air was published in 1990 and is now in print by the University Press of Florida. A documentary on her life was nominated for an Academy Award in 1997 as Best Feature Length Documentary. She is the founder of The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, which made its debut in the fall of 2000 at the Kennedy Center. She is the recipient of honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, Notre Dame, Georgetown University and others. In November 2003, she was awarded the National Medal of the Arts; was presented the Nijinsky Award at the 2004 Monaco Dance Forum. In December 2005 she received the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor. Her role as an Eppes Professor at Florida State University results in her involvement in conducting dance classes and community outreach to encourage appreciation in dance. The Suzanne Farrell Master Class was funded by the South Georgia Ballet. The proceeds will be used to offer aspiring dancers scholarship opportunities in dance within Florida State University, including the annual Suzanne Farrell Workshop for Young Dancers. SGB Dancers with Suzanne Farrell and accompanist Ben Gunter Celebrating 11 Years of Magic . . . Look how we’ve grown! SGPA was established in 1998 by Artistic Director, Alison Bundrick, in Cairo with just 55 students. We now have nearly 250 students with studios in four cities: Bainbridge, Cairo, Moultrie and Thomasville. The ballet company started with just 17 dancers and now we have 51. We were the first regional youth ballet company in this area and the first to do The Nutcracker. This December will mark our 10^th Anniversary production of The Nutcracker by the ballet company. Over 13,000 area school students and nearly 35,000 people have seen a live performance of either The Nutcracker or one of our spring ballets. This year marks the sixth year we have offered drama classes with performances of Oliver, Into the Woods, & Annie to name few. Our faculty all hold degrees in their field, specializing in dance performance, dance pedagogy, theatre, musical theatre and arts administration. Miss La and Miss Alison also have advanced degrees in dance with a MA and MFA respectively. Professional training has been a trademark for SGPA with a variety of guest faculty and choreographers over the past ten years including: ¨ Suzanne Farrell, world renowned prima ballerina ¨ Jane Wood Smith, former principal dancer with Ballet West ¨ Kevin Martin, Nutmeg Ballet, ¨ Eran Bugge, Paul Taylor Dance Company ¨ Orialis Serrano, Fusion Dance Company ¨ Nicolas Pacaña, Festival Ballet Atlanta ¨ Pamela Robinson, Ballet Mistress, Ballet West ¨ Sonya Livingston, former Rockette This spring will mark the 10^th ballet created specifically for SGPA and our students. Our spring ballets include the classics like Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia, and Cinderella, along with 5 original ballets including: Alice in Wonderland, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White and last year’s The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Many of our students and graduates have continued their training and performing throughout the United States and Canada with: ¨ Brenau University, University of Georgia, University of Alabama, Georgia College and State University, North Carolina School of the Arts, Florida State University, Valdosta State University ¨ National Ballet of Canada, Boston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Miami City Ballet, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Austin Ballet, Orlando Ballet, Sarasota Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theatre, Atlanta Ballet, Festival Ballet, Gainesville Ballet, FireSpark. ¨ The Rockettes, West Side Story, Cats, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Copacabana. Paul Taylor Dance Company visits SGPA Eran Bugge, a dancer with the Paul Taylor Dance Company of New York City, taught a master class to the Apprentice and Senior company dancers of South Georgia Ballet. The master class was followed by a question and answer session with the dancers. Laura Keys, ballet mistress at South Georgia Performing Arts commented “the girls were enraptured by Eran and her class,” adding that Ms. Bugge “had them spellbound.” Ms. Bugge is a former student of Alison Bundrick, artistic director for South Georgia Performing Arts and South Georgia Ballet. Ms. Bundrick taught Eran while serving as the School Director for the Orlando Ballet School. According to Ms. Bundrick, “Eran was a very talented student who showed real promise even as a young dancer.” Ms. Bugge went on to study at the Hart School of the University of Hartford under the direction of Peggy Lyman, graduating Summa Cum Laude with a B.F.A. in ballet pedagogy in 2005. She joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company in the fall of 2005. The Paul Taylor Dance Company was in Tallahassee performing for Florida State University’s annual festival, Seven Days of Opening Nights. According to the Seven Days Festival, the New York Times celebrates Paul Taylor Dance as “one of the most exciting, innovative and delightful dance companies in the entire world.” The San Francisco Chronicle says, “The American spirit soars whenever Taylor’s dancers dance.” The company is known as one of the world’s most exquisite ensembles. Paul Taylor has received every important honor bestowed on artists by the United States and France. He is the recipient of three Guggenheim Fellowships and has received numerous honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degrees. Awards for lifetime achievement include a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, often called the “genius award,” and the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival award. South Georgia Ballet was founded in Cairo in 1998 by Alison Bundrick and is designed to provide additional training and challenging performing opportunities necessary for the serious dancer. Company dancers are given professional instruction and are exposed to classical repertoire. Company dancers receive further training with regional and national instructors, such as this master class with Ms. Bugge. Other famous guest instructors include the world renowned Suzanne Farrell, Jane Wood of Ballet West, Orialis Serrano from Cleo Parker-Robinson Dance Company, and Kevin Martin from Nutmeg Conservatory to name a few. Ms. Bundrick stated, “It is a thrill for me to be able to offer such incredible educational opportunities to my dancers. To have one of my students return as a working professional to share her talent with my dancers is equally exciting. The most rewarding aspects as a teacher are watching your students grow into successful professionals and role models.”