USC Takes Honors at 2008
American College Dance Festival Regionals

Only three years since the inception of the dance degree program, the University of South Carolina Dance program has earned the honor of performing at the National College Dance Festival, June 4-6 in New York City.

The head of the program, Susan Anderson, along with faculty member Stacey Calvert and dancers from the program competed for the honor March 8 through March 11, 2008 at the American College Dance Festival Southeast Regional Conference, held at the University of Florida, and returned with the prestigious national honor. USC competed with a number of larger schools in our region with much more established dance programs, including Florida State, University of Southern Mississippi and the host school, University of Florida. Only three pieces were chosen to move on to the national festival.

USC will be one of approximately 30 schools nationwide who will be selected to perform in the event, scheduled June 4 - 6, 2008 at Columbia University in New York City. Out of 400 pieces entered nationally, only 29 were selected to perform at the National conference.

This year, Anderson, Calvert and company brought the ballet piece Twist, by Alan Hineline, to the Southeastern conference. As the conference limits performances to twelve minutes, only two movements of the ballet were presented; the piece in its entirety was performed at the “Evening of Dance Masterpieces” concert in February 2008.

Twist was created and originally performed at Juilliard, and was notably performed by the Alabama Ballet. Choreographer Alan Hineline was recently named Artistic Director of Ballet Philippines.

In addition to the team honor, one of our dancers was also singled-out during the competition.

Bonnie Boiter-Jolley was nominated during the festival for the ACDFA/Dance Magazine Award for Outstanding Student Performer. Each regional competition selects one dancer for the prestigious award; the ten nominees nationwide will be further judged at the National conference, with only one emerging with the $1000 award.

Anderson says, “This would not have happened without Stacey Calvert, from gaining access to this amazing piece to accomplishing such a great honor through this competition. We chose to enter a ballet work, the difficulty of which required rehearsal after rehearsal. There’s no faking it with ballet. Thanks to the dedication of Stacey and our incredible students, we’ve reached an achievement that now puts us in a position of national prominence after only three years of having a dance major."

Dianne DeFries, Executive Director of the ACDFA, praised our dance program for its high level of professionalism, adding "It is wonderful to have such a strong and innovative ballet piece presented."

The ACDF Southeast Conference is one of ten held nationwide each Spring, and acts in part as a competition-based entryway to the National College Dance Festival. The conference also offers master classes, workshops and networking opportunities, in addition to showcasing the work of college dance programs throughout the Southeast.

Tickets for the National College Dance Festival performance are available to the public through the ACDFA website.