News…

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Directors of dance companies and schools across West Virginia are invited to enroll students in the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History’s 2019 statewide dance festival.

Directors’, dancers’ and scholarship applications are due to the department no later than Friday, Jan. 11. Adjudication DVDs are due Feb. 15, and the adjudications will be held Feb. 22-24, 2019.

 Student applications are accepted only from directors affiliated with full-time dance establishments in West Virginia. Dancers must be at least 12 years old and have at least one year of training in classical ballet with two lessons per week. All performers must be enrolled for classes at the festival.

The West Virginia State Dance Festival, set for April 26-28, 2019, showcases the talents of West Virginia dancers who come to the Culture Center at the State Capitol Complex in Charleston each spring to perform and take classes from nationally acclaimed dance instructors. This will mark the event’s 37th year. The festival’s evening performances will take place Friday and Saturday, April 26-27.

Lorraine Elizabeth Graves, former principal dancer at the Dance Theatre of Harlem where she is on the master teacher faculty, will return as lead faculty and adjudicator for the festival. Other faculty members will be announced later.

Applications and guidelines, along with additional information about the festival, can be found on the department’s website at http://www.wvculture.org/dance/index.html.

For more information, contact Adam Jones at (304) 558-0220 or by email at Adam.C.Jones@wv.gov.

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