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Access to Art, Inc.
417 E. Pacific Ave.
Cape May Court House, N.J. 08210
Nov. 1, 2007
Press Release/for immediate release
From: Barbara J. Beitel
Access to Art, Inc.
Telephone: (609) 465-3963
Access
to Art Recipient of American Masterpieces:
Three Centuries of Artistic Genius Grant
from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation
Supporting May 17th Performance
of Philadanco!
Cape May Court
House. Access to Art announces an award
of $4800. from the Mid-Atlantic Arts
Foundation towards support and
participation in the American Masterpieces:
Three Centuries of Artistic Genius Artistry
& Influence tour initiated in 2005 by the
National Endowment for the Arts. Access to
Art will use the grant to present
Joan Myers Brown’s company
Philadanco! on April 14 in lecture
demonstrations and master classes and on
May l7th, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. in full
performance at the Middle Township
Performing Arts Center. “ Joan Myers Brown
has been chosen as an extraordinary American
artist, and we are pleased that she hails
from nearby Philadelphia where so many of
our local dancers study.” Paul Somers,
President of Access to Art, said.
“Joan Myers Brown had
an extremely difficult row to hoe; she
wanted to be a dancer, but was not chosen
for auditions because she was black. She
decided to create her own school, which she
did in l960, to train her own students, and
she turned lemons into lemonade. She took
her ballet technique, learned from a member
of the Catherine Littlefield ballet company,
in Philadelphia, Virginia Lingenfelder.
Lingenfelder was her gym teacher, since
there were no dance programs in schools, and
most dancers were PE teachers. After school
she held a ballet club, for interested
students which Joan joined. William Dollar,
also a member of the Littlefield company,
choreographed for Joan Myers Brown and
taught for her. William Dollar was the
leading male dancer for George Balanchine in
the l930’s/40’s.
Joan applied the
methodology of her teachers to her students
and she didn’t take no for an answer. Today
her company appears at the Kennedy Center,
at the Travis Center in W. Palm Beach, at
Lincoln Center, at the Joyce in New York
Last year they toured Europe. The company
has also performed in Asia, and in the
Caribbean. From humble beginnings in the
back of a recreation department truck in
Philadelphia where they danced, Philadanco
is now on major stages across the world.”
Barbara Beitel, Access to Art, Director,
said. “Tenacity and talent are a powerful
combination, and also the ability to hold
onto your own ideals when the world would
define you and limit your aspirations. Joan
Myers Brown is a lovely lady, but she has a
steely strength of character that rises to
the occasion.” Beitel said.
In 2005, the National
Endowment for the Arts launched American
Masterpieces: Three Centuries of
Artistic Genius to build greater
awareness of the nation’s rich cultural
heritage. A partner in this major
initiative, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation’s
Artistry & Influence tour celebrates three
extraordinary American artists: Joan Myers
Brown, the founder of the Philadelphia-based
dance troupe PHILADANCO;
Martha Graham, the dancer and choreographer
behind the New York City-based company that
bears her name; and Bernice Johnson Reagon,
the founder of the Washington, DC- based a
capella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock.
All women have deep roots in the
mid-Atlantic region and each of them founded
seminal performing arts companies whose
influence on their respective art forms
resonate to this day.
“We are pleased to be
able to present Philadanco!
for a second time to the area, and having
had them once in 2004, are not at all
surprised that they should be chosen by the
NEA and the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation to
represent the best of what our region has to
offer. Philadanco’s artistry
and energy are superb and we are pleased to
bring them back after a four year hiatus.’
said Barbara Beitel, Access to Art, Inc.
Director. “They do a fascinating lecture
demonstration, and skillful master classes
and we are looking forward to sharing their
genius with area students. We have also
presented Martha Graham Dance Company in
2000, so we have presented two out of the
three choices of the Mid-Atlantic Arts
Foundation already.
Born on Christmas Day
in l931, Joan Myers Brown started as a
dancer and ended up a showgirl.
Growing up in
middle-class black Philadelphia in the 40’s,
she was thoroughly grounded in ballet
technique, but when she left the nest,
things grew harder. “At many schools I got
stopped at the door,” Brown says, echoing
the experience of Talley Beatty, the noted
African-American dancer and choreographer.
Beatty’s l947 work Southern Landscape is one
of the “American Masterpieces” being
revisited this season by Brown’s
Philadelphia Dance Company, better known as
Philadanco!
Tickets are available
at the Middle Township Performing Arts
Center for the Spring event and will be on
sale in time for Christmas presents
beginning in early November.
Access to Art is
presenting their 11th dance
weekend for the region. Call them at (609)
465-3963 if you would like to inquire about
the master classes or lecture
demonstrations.
Master classes are
limited to 30 students. The event is funded,
in part, by the Mid-Atlantic Arts
Foundation. Seventeen other presenters
across the mid-Atlantic region will present
Philadanco! under the auspices of
the grant.
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