Dances by Young Artists

Dances at MuCCC 2018

Week 1: Featured Artists and Groups

Dances at MuCCC 2018

Thursday June 14 @ 8 PM

Dances by Young Artists, including alumni and students of Rochester’s School of the Arts. Coordinated by Ethan Beckwith-Cohen, SOTA 2018

Ethan Beckwith-Cohen is a Senior Dance Major at School of the Arts. This is his third year choreographing for Dances at MuCCC and sharing his work with the dance community. This has been a unique experience, and during his final year at SOTA he wanted to open up the floor for more young artists. Ethan thanks all of his dancers, choreographers, and of course Laurie and Ruben for this amazing opportunity. He is a member of Borinquen Dance Theatre, a participant of Garth Fagan’s Summer Movement Institute, a past student at Bates Dance Festival. He is the Co-creator of Commonplace Dance Project (along with Neyda Colon-DiMaria) which was performed in the Fringe Fest 2017. He will be attending University of the Arts this fall as a Dance Major. (photo by Annette Dragon)

Tori Breen is currently a student at the University of Minnesota, seeking a B.F.A. in Dance. She is trained in modern, contemporary, ballet, and jazz styles, and is a skilled thinker, analyst, and writer. In her dancing and creating, she aims to be relevant, precise, eloquent, and challenging. She sees choreography as one expression of her curiosity, as both the means of exploration and the question itself. Tori is thrilled to be collaborating with her good friend Ethan on this show, and thanks all of the dancers involved for their work.

Amya Brice is a seventeen year old college freshman, who danced competitively from the age of nine to sixteen. During middle school she went to SOTA where she studied dance. Then she went to Wheatland Chili. There she participated in two of their school musicals, “Once Upon a Mattress” and “Hairspray”. This past summer she participated in a dance piece at MuCCC choreographed by Ethan Beckwith-Cohen as well as a piece for the Fringe Festival also choreographed by Ethan Beckwith-Cohen and Neyda Colon-DiMaria. Earlier this school year she was in a piece for the MAD (Movement and Dance) artists showcase choreographed by Hettie Barnhill, the guest artist at Nazareth this year.

Shawndel Lamar Lewis Jr has danced with Borinquen Dance Theatre since 2008, and graduated from School of the Arts in 2013. He went to Monroe Community College and Brockport for the dual program with Dance and Psychology. He plans to return to college at Nazareth to finish his Bachelors with a double major in Dance and Psychology.

Casimer (Caz) Lopata-Linn is a sophomore dance major at Nazareth College. He is a graduate from School of the Arts in Rochester. He has previously performed at MUCCC and often choreographs pieces at Nazareth. Caz would like to thank his parents and sister for their undying support and Lexi Davis for his inspiration.

Riane Parés-Kane is 19 years old and grew up in Rochester. She is now attending Binghamton University. An alum of Borinquén Dance Theatre and dancer all her life, she has been using dance as a form of creative expression and way to feel closer to her Hispanic culture.

Claire Spenard is a junior dance major at SOTA and tremendously invested in her future as a dancer. She has been in the Dance Concert production the past two years and also part of the dance ensemble for SOTA’s Productions of The Addams Family (2015) and In The Heights (2017). Claire takes classes at the Garth Fagan Dance School, and also studies human anatomy and genetics which she believes enriches her artistry. This past summer Claire attended the NYS Summer School of the Arts and will attend again in 2018; this experience was transformative and was the inspiration for this piece. Claire would like to thank her amazing Rochester dance community and Ethan for encouraging her.

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