TDPS Choreography and Dance Performance Win Kennedy Center Invitation
UMD’s School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS) dancers and choreographers were honored with an invitation to perform the dance work, If only I knew at the Kennedy Center this June. The dance was chosen during the American College Dance Association's (ACDFA) Mid-Atlantic Regional College Dance Festival held recently at George Mason University, and is the only undergraduate work to be selected for this honor.
If only I knew was performed by Jonathan Hsu and Devin Seldon, both undergraduate dance majors in TDPS. It was one of three performances selected from forty-seven adjudicated performances for the National Festival Kennedy Center performance honors.
The National Festival highlights the outstanding quality of choreography and performance being created on university campuses on a national level. It showcases dances from approximately 30 universities and colleges. The dances being performed at the Kennedy Center are selected by adjudicators from each regional conferences based on their outstanding artistic excellence and merit.
If only I knew was choreographed by Bethany Disque, BA Dance '13 and Chelsea Boyd Brown, a junior dance and psychology double major. Bethany and Chelsea performed the duet at the 2013 Spring Maryland Dance Ensemble and also at Dance Bethesda and Brace Dance in New York City. Their performance was chosen for the Annual Choreographer’s Showcase in January 2014 at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, which previews the work of numerous artists who later become mainstays of the DC dance scene.
The performances will be held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC on June 5-7, 2014. Tickets will be available for purchase on April 21, 2014 through the Kennedy Center Box Office. Participating schools will be listed below as information becomes available.
Congratulations to the dancers, choreographers and everyone involved. TDPS and all of The Clarice are thrilled and proud!