FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 12, 2014
Contact: Colleen Hooper 917-622-4751
colleenmhooper@gmail.com
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND ALUMNI
PERFORM NATIONAL WATER DANCE
Race Street Pier, Race Street and North Columbus Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA
Saturday, April 12th at 10 AM, FREE ADMISSION, Open to the Public
On Saturday April 12th, Temple University students, faculty, and alumni will take part in the National Water
Dance, an environmental performance designed to bring attention to the fragility of our waters. Dancers will
perform on the Race Street Pier framed by stunning views of the Delaware River and the Ben Franklin Bridge.
The National Water Dance is a celebration of arts in action designed to initiate a national "water ethic" in the
U.S. - one that can inform and inspire both participants and audience members to take responsibility for
conserving and protecting the water that they use and enjoy.
Choreographer Colleen Hooper directs a powerful cast of Temple dancers including award-winning Temple
faculty member Merían Soto. The dancers will perform Hooper’s choreography and a collaborative movement
choir accompanied by live music from the Jon Katz Trio. First conceived by Rudolf Laban, a movement choir is
a community of people dancing together for a common purpose. Performances often take place outdoors, in
celebration of the environment, and audience members are frequently invited to join the dance. The National
Water Dance directors, based in Florida, gathered movement phrases and gestures from participants in 30
states. The directors choreographed a collaborative movement choir phrase that is used by participants around
the country in their choreographic process.
Under the guidance of artistic director Dale Andree and producer Daniel Lewis, in less than three years the
National Water Dance has grown into a national event involving over 70 institutions in 30 states around the
country. Students at universities, private dance schools, colleges, elementary schools, and dance companies,
from the University of Alaska to Miami Dade College in Florida, from the Dance Engagements Company in
California to Bates College in Maine, will unite on April 12th in a simultaneous, site-specific dance at a river, a
bay, a lake, the ocean, or any water site near to them. National Water Dance began in 2011 as a local event,
initiated by the New World School of the Arts in Miami, Florida to bring attention to the power and fragility of
Florida's waterways. LISTINGS INFORMATION:
What: Temple University Dancers Perform National Water Dance
When: Saturday April 12th, 10 AM
Where: The Race Street Pier, Race Street and North Columbus Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tickets: FREE admission, open to the public
RACE STREET PIER MANAGED BY THE DELAWARE RIVER WATERFRONT CORPORATION:
The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation (DRWC) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation organized exclusively for
the benefit of the City of Philadelphia and its citizens. DRWC acts as the steward of the Delaware River
waterfront to provide a benefit to all of the citizens and visitors of the City.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
… about the National Water Dance, visit http://se.nationalwaterdance.org
National Water Dance Press Contact:
Audrey Ross
212.877.3399,
audreyrosspub@aol.com
… about Race Street Pier
Delaware River Waterfront Corporation, visit http://www.delawareriverwaterfront.com
… about Temple University, visit www.temple.edu
PHOTO INFORMATION:
Press Photo by Bill Hebert
From left to right: Emma MacDonald, Zoë Norris, Julee Mahon, Tiffany Williams, and Heather Dyer
BIOGRAPHIES
Colleen Hooper is a dancer, choreographer, and writer and she directs Colleen Hooper Performance Projects.
Her choreography has been presented since 2002 and New York venues include Dance Theater Workshop's
Fresh Tracks series, Danspace Project, Dance New Amsterdam, the Philadelphia Fringe Festival and
BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange. Colleen received a 2010 TOPAZ ARTS Dance Residency and she recently
performed for Katherine Kiefer Stark and Merían Soto. She graduated from The George Washington University
with a B.A. in Dance and English and she received her Dance M.F.A. from Temple University with a Certificate
in Community Arts. She is a Temple University Fellowship recipient and she is currently a Dance PhD candidate.
Director Dale Andree received her BFA from Boston Conservatory of Music and her Certification in Laban
Movement Analysis from the Laban Institute in NYC. During her years in NYC Dale was most strongly
influenced by Elaine Summers and May O'Donnell, assisting and dancing with the O'Donnell Company, and
teaching at her school. She has maintained a long relationship with Elaine Summers, dancing in her
improvisational structures and intermedia pieces and creating teaching methods for introducing film and dance
to students. Other teaching credits include LaGuardia H.S. in NYC, the Salle Pleyel in Paris, the School of the
Paris Opera Ballet, the U of Miami, and the New World School of the Arts, among others. Recipient of many
grants, Ms. Andree was a founding member of the Miami Dance Umbrella and her own company, the Mary
Street Dance Theatre, which toured the U.S. and South America. She is passionate about site-specific work,
making it a centerpiece of her composition classes and is creator and organizer of Florida Waterways Dance
Project, which has grown from the local 2011 event to the nationwide 2014 National Water Dance.
Producer Daniel Lewis is president of Miami Dance Futures, formed in 1988 to develop dance in South Florida,
and a consultant for the NY-based Limon Dance Foundation, having danced with the company from 1962 to
1974. Lewis created many roles in the Limon Dance Company and has staged Limon and Doris Humphrey
works for the Royal Swedish Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, American Ballet Theatre, and others.
After teaching for twenty years at the Juilliard School, Lewis moved to Miami and became founding Dean at
Miami's New World School of the Arts in 1987, holding that position until his retirement in 2011. The native
New Yorker, a graduate of the High School of Performing Arts and Juilliard, has been honored with numerous
awards, including the National Society of Arts and Letters, The Florida Arts Recognition Award, the Nancy Smith
Award, the National Dance Educators Award, and the Martha Hill Lifetime Achievement Award, to name a few.
NATIONAL WATER DANCE, PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS AS OF JANUARY 2014
Alaska
Mississippi
University of Alaska
University of Mississippi
Arkansas
University of Southern Mississippi
Henderson State College
Belhaven University
Hendrix College
Missouri
California
Webster University
Loyola Marymount University
Nebraska
Dance Engagements
The Moving Company, University of Nebraska
Crenshaw Yoga and Dance Omaha
Connecticut
University of Nebraska Lincoln
Wesleyan University
New Jersey
Florida
Georgian Court University
NOVA Southeastern University
New York
University of Florida
Briarcliff High School
College of Central Florida
University of Rochester
Northwest Florida State College
NDEO Brockport Student Chapter
Florida Gulf Coast University
Horace Mann School
Midway Elementary School of the Arts
North Carolina
New World School of the Arts
Elon University
Miami Dade College
Bradley Middle School
Kendall Campus/Jubilation Dance Ensemble
Ohio
Broward College
Kent State University
Palm Beach Atlantic University
Oklahoma
Earth Ethics Institute at Miami Dade College
University of Central Oklahoma
University of Tampa
Oregon
Pensacola State College
Southern Oregon University
South Miami Middle Community School
Pennsylvania
Karen Peterson and Dancers
DeSales University
Arthur & Polly Mays Conservatory of the Arts
Temple University
Florida Atlantic University
Muhlenberg College
RR Moton Elementary
Slippery Rock University
Florida State University
Rhode Island
Georgia
JMW High School for the Performing and Visual Arts
University of Georgia
South Carolina
Indiana
Lander University
Indiana University Bloomington
Tennessee
Iowa
Sewanee: The University of the South
Luther College
Chattanooga Dance Projects
Louisiana
Chattanooga Ballet
University of Louisiana at Monroe
Cleveland City Ballet
Southeastern Louisiana University Dance
Virginia
Performance Project
The Governors School for the Arts
Maine
Washington
Bates College
Cornish College of the Arts
Maryland
Wisconsin
Towson University
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Massachusetts
Kennedy Elementary School
The Yard
Dance Education Center Stevens Pt.
Wyoming
University of Wyoming