Nazareth College’s 2012 Dance Festival will include the world renowned Martha Graham Dance Company and two time Bessie Award winner Beth Gill.
Daan Braveman, president of Nazareth College, says this is the first time a Bessie Award winner is performing here in Rochester, “The long term goal is to position our dance festival as one of the major summer dance festivals in the northeast."
The Bessie is the informal name of the New York Dance and Performance Award. It’s named for dance pioneer Bessie Schonberg.
Nazareth is also partnering with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra featuring principal pop conductor Jeff Tyzik on opening night.
RPO CEO Charles Owens says e's excited about the collaboration which is in part about sharing artist resources in a tough financial times, “What we're doing is taking a challenging economic situation and creating something new out of it, and adding a dimension of live music makes dance that much more special.”
Owens says taking part in this year's Dance Festival at Nazareth College is in line with the organizations’ mission of increasing its involvement in the community.
The dance festival begins on July 12th and runs until the 22nd.