Virginia Johnson, Former Prima Ballerina of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, to Open 2002-2003 On Dance Series, Sponsored by Barnard College Department of Dance

New York, NY, October 2, 2002 - Virginia Johnson, former prima ballerina of the Dance Theatre of Harlem and editor of Pointe magazine, will be featured at the first event in the 2002-2003 ON DANCE: CONVERSATIONS, FILMS, LECTURES series on Monday, October 21, at 7:30 p.m. This Monday-evening series is sponsored by the Barnard College Department of Dance.

In "A Ballerina Looks Back," a conversation with ON DANCE curator Lynn Garafola, Johnson will reflect on her remarkable twenty-year career as a performer and her transition to a career in journalism. Videotape will accompany the interview.

A native of Washington, D.C., Johnson began her training with Therrell Smith before receiving a scholarship to attend the Washington School of Ballet, where she studied under Mary Day. Upon graduation, she briefly attended the School of the Arts at New York University. She was a charter member of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, joining the fledgling company at its incorporation in 1969.

During her long association with the Dance Theater of Harlem, Johnson performed a wide range of principal roles. Her repertory included neoclassical ballets such as Bronislava Nijinska's "Les Biches" and George Balanchine's "Concerto Barocco," "Agon," and "Allegro Brillante"; dramatic works such as Valerie Bettis' "A Streetcar Named Desire" and Agnes de Mille's "Fall River Legend"; and nineteenth-century works such as "Swan Lake" and the company's acclaimed "Creole Giselle." Johnson retired from the Dance Theatre of Harlem in 1997 and joined the staff of Pointe magazine in 1999.

On Monday, November 11, "Making Music for Dance" brings together composers and musicians to talk about their collaborations with dancers and choreographers. Members of the panel include Gilles Obermayer, Music Coordinator of Barnard's Department of Dance, Robert "Tigger" Benford, who teaches at the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, and the composer/performer David Van Tieghem.

Musician/composer Gilles Obermayer has been working in the dance field for twenty years. He has toured extensively throughout Europe and Africa, released five CDs, and composed more than twenty scores for European and American dance companies.

"Tigger" Benford is a percussionist, composer, and improvisor, specializing in hand drumming and music for modern dance. He has created scores for Sean Curran, Septime Weber, and other choreographers. In 1997 he released Noise of Choice, a solo CD of music for marimba and percussion, and three years later a collaborative CD with pianist Peter Jones titled The Metal Garden.

A free-lance drummer/percussionist, David Van Tieghem has worked with Steve Reich, Laurie Anderson, Brian Eno, and numerous dancers and choreographers, including Merce Cunningham, Yoshiko Chuma, Bill T. Jones, and Graciela Daniele. As a composer, he has created original commissioned scores for Twyla Tharp, Elisa Monte, Molissa Fenley, Wendy Perron, Jennifer Muller, the Boston Ballet, and the Montreal-based company La La La Human Steps.

ON DANCE resumes after the winter break on Monday, March 10, 2003, with "Antony Tudor's Dark Elegies: Bringing a Classic to Life." Guests will include Donald Mahler, an authority on reconstructing Tudor's work; Carla Maxwell, artistic director of the Limon Dance Company; Limon company dancers Roxane D'Orleans Juste and Jonathan Reidel; and Elizabeth Sawyer, Tudor's long-time accompanist and musical consultant.

One of the century's foremost ballet choreographers, Antony Tudor (1909- 1987) created his earliest choreography for Marie Rambert's Ballet Club. He was a founding member of American Ballet Theatre, and enjoyed a long association with both the Juilliard School and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School. His major works include "Lilac Garden" (1936), "Dark Elegies" (1937), "Pillar of Fire" (1942), "Romeo and Juliet" (1943), "Offenbach in the Underworld" (1954), "Echoing of Trumpets" (1963), and "The Leaves are Fading" (1975). In recent years the Tudor repertory, with its emphasis on gesture and emotional expression rather than virtuosity, has suffered an eclipse.

Donald Mahler was trained at the Metropolitan Ballet School by Margaret Craske and Antony Tudor. He joined the National Ballet of Canada in 1956, dancing principal roles in Tudor ballets, and five years later joined the Metropolitan Opera Ballet company, where he became a soloist. After a stint at the Zurich Opera House, he returned to the Met in 1979, choreographing dances for operas in addition to choreographing ballets for companies such as Ballet West and the New York Theatre Ballet. In recent years he has specialized in stage Tudor works, including "Lilac Garden," "Dark Elegies," "Echoing of Trumpets," and "Offenbach in the Underworld."

Carla Maxwell joined the Limon Dance Company in 1965. A dancer of emotional and dramatic power, she soon became a principal dancer under Limon's direction and in 1978 was appointed the company's artistic director. Under her direction the company has developed into one of the finest repertory dance ensembles in the world. Maxwell has staged Limon's works for many major companies and is also responsible for many of the Limon reconstructions.

Roxane d'Orleans Juste was born in Montreal and began her performing career with the Eleo Pomare Dance Company in New York. She joined the Limon Dance Company in 1983 and in 1995 became a reconstructor of Jose Limon's choreography.

Jonathan Reidel graduated from the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College, where he danced in works by Limon, Paul Taylor, and Mark Morris. He has been a member of the Limon company since 1996 and has reconstructed Limon works for college ensembles.

Elizabeth Sawyer knew Tudor from 1951 until his death in 1987. During the first eighteen years she was his accompanist for classes at the Juilliard School and at the old Met, and for rehearsals of the ballets he presented at Juilliard. After abandoning a composing career, she taught music in the Juilliard Dance Division and wrote "Dance with the Music" (1985). She has lectured abroad and in the United States, published several articles on music and dance, and is writing a memoir-study of Tudor and his work. Since 1984 she has taught music for dancers at SUNY-Purchase.

ON DANCE concludes on Monday, April 7, with "The Critic's Mind," in which dance critics Joan Acocella, Jack Anderson, and Elizabeth Zimmer talk with Lynn Garafola about their work.

Joan Acocella is the dance critic of The New Yorker, where she also writes on literature. She is the editor of "The Diary of Vaslav Nijinsky" and the author of "Mark Morris" and "Willa Cather and the Politics of Criticism," which recently appeared in Vintage paperback.

Jack Anderson, a poet and dance writer, is the author of nine books of poetry and seven books of dance criticism and history. His dance books include "Ballet and Modern Dance: A Concise History," "Art Without Boundaries: The World of Modern Dance," and "Choreography Observed." He is a dance critic for The New York Times, New York correspondent for The Dancing Times, and co-editor of Dance Chronicle.

Elizabeth Zimmer is a senior editor at the Village Voice, and writes about dance, theatre, and film there and at the Philadelphia Inquirer. A graduate of Bennington College and SUNY-Stony Brook, she has been writing about the arts for thirty years in a variety of media, and has taught writing and dance history at universities and colleges across the continent. She is the author of "Body Against Body: The Dance and Other Collaborations of Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane" and "Dance: A Social Study," a dance history curriculum for middle school teachers. She recently completed editing "Envisioning Dance on Film and Video."

ON DANCE events begin promptly at 7:30 p.m. and take place in the Julius Held Auditorium, 304 Barnard Hall. Barnard College is located at 3009 Broadway at 117th Street, New York City. All events are free and open to the public.

ON DANCE is curated by Adjunct Professor of Dance Lynn Garafola.. For more information, please call the Department of Dance at 212-854-2995.

Contact: Lynn Garafola, Department of Dance, 212-854-2995
Petra Tuomi, Office of Public Affairs, 212-854-7907