Dance festival classes at YSUSFlb

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown State University’s 12th annual Dance Festival, presented by the YSU Dance Ensemble, will take place Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Beeghly Physical Education Center, on campus.

The festival is a series of master classes geared to anyone age 13 through adult, and will conclude with an informal dance concert by participants and guest artists. The cost is $40 per person or a half-day for $25.

Participants may choose from a combination of classes, including improvisation, breaking, contemporary dance, house dance, classic theater jazz and conditioning for dancers.

A series of classes in ballet, jazz technique, hip-hop and contemporary/modern technique for people age 9 to 12 will be taught by YSU dance majors for $7 per class or $25 for all four classes.

Guest artists include:

Teena Marie Custer, urban dance artist from Pittsburgh.

Hayley Platt, YSU graduate, dance artist and educator in Columbus.

John Scacchetti, Broadway dance artist.

Heather Taylor-Martin, dancer, teacher, choreographer and fitness instructor from Pittsburgh.

Scacchetti has performed on Broadway in the 2001 revival of “42nd Street” and the 2008 revival of “Gypsy.” National tour credits include “42nd Street” and “My Fair Lady.”

His class will focus on the theater jazz stylings reminiscent of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly.

Taylor-Martin spent much of her dance career performing with the West Virginia Dance Company, where she is now a choreographer.

Her class will focus on conditioning for dancers and will aim to supply dancers with ways to balance out the repetitive demands of dance training. She will work to promote physical and mental wholeness for fullness of movement through strength exercises.

Participants are advised to bring a bag lunch or money to purchase lunch from nearby restaurants or vending machines.

Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. in the front (south) lobby of Beeghly Center, accessed from Fifth Avenue. Parking is available in the M70 surface lot on Fifth Avenue for a $5 fee payable in cash only.

Information is available by calling Christine Cobb at 330-941-1896 or emailing her at ccobb@ysu.edu.

The deadline to register in advance is Tuesday.