Dance Break - Department of Dance - Wayne State University

75th Anniversary
(continued from page 1)
Dance alumni and friends joined for a pre-performance reception at the Bonstelle
Theatre before attending the Diamond Celebration Alumni Dance Concert.
Harriet Berg (’54) chaired
the 75th Anniversary
Alumni Weekend
Planning Committee and
served as curator for the
photography exhibit, “75
Years of Dance at WSU.”
outstanding student work,
as well as the moving All
the Dances Danced: A
Retrospective, a film tribute
documenting the WSU Dance
Company’s past seven and a
half decades of continuous
work.
Festivities continued on
Sunday with a special Diamond
Celebration Alumni Dance
Concert planned specifically for
the department’s anniversary
weekend with choreography by
distinguished alumni including
Connie Aiken Moore, Gay
Delanghe, Paula Kramer, Alvin
Mayes, Michelle Moscone,
Barbara Selinger, Kay Rediers,
and Mme. Cadillac Dance
Theatre, directed by Harriet
Berg.
After the concert, a 75th
Anniversary Benefit Dinner
was held at the Gem Century
Club and included tributes to long-time Detroit
philanthropist and dance supporter Maggie
Allesee; Harriet Berg, Chair, 75th Anniversary
Alumni Weekend Planning Committee
& Archive Curator; Tom Kramer for
his many years of dance department
photography; and planning committee
members: Kathy Ellis, Lousie Jefferson,
Eva Powers, Pat Reese, and Linda
Simmons. The benefit dinner and raffle,
sponsored by the Choreographers, the
donor support group for dance, and
the WSU Dance Alumni Association,
helped to raise over $2000 in dance
scholarship funds.
Six senior dance majors presented
their important choreographic theses
in April’s Profiles: Senior Capstone
Dance Concert, while the Dance
Matters Lecture Series concluded
later in April with an evocative lecture
demonstration and masterclass by renowned
Isadora Duncan scholar and dancer, Dr. Jeanne Bresciani,
Artistic Director of the Isadora Duncan International
Institute.
Alumni and friends raised over $2000 for dance scholarships at the 75th Benefit
Dinner which included a lively ticket raffle and tributes to honored guests.
Following Sunday Afternoon’s Alumni Dance Concert, a 75th
Anniversary Benefit Dinner was hosted by the Dance Alumni Association
and the Choreographers, the donor support group for WSU dance at the
Gem Century Club.
As a most fitting close to the year-long diamond
celebration, our dancers were once again invited to
perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC in
June, as one of 30 premiere dance institutions across
the US for the 11th Annual National College Dance
Festival honoring the best in
outstanding dance in higher
education throughout the nation.
For those of you who joined
us throughout this past year, we
know you share our excitement
for the bright promise the
department holds and hope that
you will continue to support us
as you have so generously and
graciously in the past. If you
didn’t have the opportunity to
share in our celebration festivities,
please join us this year as we move
forward from a place of strength,
stability, and new vision as we
launch the new Maggie Allesee
Studio Concert Series. What a
year it has been! db
75th Anniversary Fund
Please accept my donation to the 75th Anniversary Fund.
I prefer my complimentary copy of the 75th Anniversary
Tribute video in
DVD or VHS
Name ____________________________________________________
Address __________________________________________________
City ______________________________________________________
State ______________ Zip _____________________
Phone Number ____________________________________________
Email Address _____________________________________________
Enclosed is my check in the amount of:
________ $125 (minimum donation)
________ Other Amount: $__________
Please make checks payable to:
Maggie Allesee Department of Dance
Send this form along with your check to:
Maggie Allesee Dept of Dance
4841 Cass Avenue
3226 Old Main
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI 48202
dancebreak is distributed in
summer and winter each year to the
alumni, friends, and students of the
Maggie Allesee Department of Dance
Chair: Doug Risner
Editor and Designer: Jon Anderson
Photographers: Kelly Gottesman
and Jon Anderson
Wayne State University
4841 Cass Avenue
Detroit, MI 48202
NONPROFIT ORG
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DETROIT MI
PERMIT NO. 3844
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