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International Choreographer Teaches At Summer Dance Workshop

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Credo Dance Academy is pleased to announce the engagement of Steve Rooks, Resident Choreographer and Associate Professor of Dance at Vassar College, as Guest Instructor at their Summer Workshop. The workshop will be held on June 7-13, 2008 with an evening performance on June 13 that is open to the public. Dancers aged 11 and up, and of all levels of skill, are encouraged to attend the workshop, which is designed to educate and enhance the dancer’s current level of training. The cost for the workshop is $105.00 for beginning/intermediate students and $150.00 for advanced students. Registration deadline for the workshop is June 2. Tuition payment is due at the time of registration. To register, call 496-9527 or send an email expressing interest to credodance@yahoo.com.

International choreographer and instructor, Steve Rooks, trained on scholarship at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in New York City. He joined the Martha Graham Dance company in the summer of 1981 and was a Principal dancer until 1991. He has served as guest instructor at the Alvin Ailey and Martha Graham Schools of Dance. Rooks is a founding faculty member of the Dance Dgree Program at Howard University. As a teacher, he has worked with the American Dance Theater, the Dallas Black Dance Theater, the Florida Dance Masters, the Masterworks Festival, the American Academy of Ballet, the Houston Ballet, and at the Symposium on Dance at Yale University. Internationally, he has taught at several dance festivals and with the Ballet Nacional de Mexico.

Joining Rooks is Kim Raymond, a Springfield native who most recently danced as a company member with Ballet Magnificat!. Raymond began her ballet training at the age of seven with the Ozark Dance Academy. She taught for six years with Ballet Magnificat! Omega and served as choreographer and instructor on tour in Holland and at the Prague Conservatory of Dance. After returning to Springfield last year, Raymond founded the Petra Ballet Company, where she serves as Artistic Director.

Credo Dance Academy, which opened in 2007, is hosting the workshop. Credo Dance Academy provides ballet training to children and adults of all skill levels. Housed at the Credo Arts Center, 931 South Kickapoo, the dance academy strives to restore the art of dance for the glory of God.