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18 | April 26, 2018 | The glencoe anchor school<br />
glencoeanchor.com<br />
Dance Theater New Trier works with guest artist for May concert<br />
Submitted by New Trier<br />
The Performing Arts<br />
Division at New Trier<br />
High School is proud to<br />
present Dance Theater<br />
New Trier, its student<br />
dance company, in concert<br />
Thursday-Friday,<br />
May 3-4, in the Northfield<br />
campus Cornog Auditorium.<br />
Tickets are $7 and<br />
available at the door and<br />
online at showclix.com.<br />
Dance Theater New<br />
Trier, or DTNT, provides<br />
an opportunity for sophomore<br />
through senior dancers,<br />
as well as select freshmen,<br />
to choreograph their<br />
own dances and collaborate<br />
with their peers. The<br />
performance will include<br />
eight original student<br />
works by Mulan Blum,<br />
Anna Caffarelli, Tori Edington,<br />
Elizabeth Johnson,<br />
Jenna Katlin, Katie<br />
Kelly, Ari Maalul, Ella<br />
Preston and Alli Sharifi.<br />
DTNT is also thrilled<br />
to present a one-of-akind,<br />
original work by<br />
professional guest artist<br />
Aaron-Raheim White,<br />
created especially for 10<br />
DTNT dancers. A Chicago<br />
native, White began<br />
his dance training in high<br />
school at age 14 with Deidre<br />
M. Dawson, a former<br />
member of Joseph<br />
Holmes Dance Theater,<br />
and soon intertwined with<br />
Pierre Locket of Forward<br />
Momentum Chicago. He<br />
is currently an ensemble<br />
member of Lucky Plush<br />
Productions, while maintaining<br />
his healing practice<br />
as the creative director<br />
of holistic health<br />
center Lax Energy Worx<br />
in Chicago’s South Loop.<br />
White desires to be a beacon<br />
of light to support others,<br />
illuminate fears and<br />
Dance Theater New Trier dancers practice with guest choreographer Aaron-Raheim White during rehearsal on<br />
April 11. The group will perform in concert Thursday-Friday, May 3-4, in the Northfield campus Cornog Auditorium.<br />
Photo Submitted<br />
facilitate healing through<br />
Reiki, dance, meditation<br />
and education, he said.<br />
This year, New Trier<br />
dance teachers Laura<br />
Deutsch and Johannah<br />
Wininsky share the artistic<br />
direction of the company<br />
and are extremely proud<br />
of the talent and artistry<br />
of this year’s company of<br />
more than 70 students.<br />
Above and beyond a fairy tale<br />
Spinning Dot brings<br />
a different type of<br />
children’s theater<br />
to NSCDS<br />
Submitted Content<br />
When most people think<br />
of children’s theater, they<br />
imagine sugary sweet<br />
fairy tales infused with<br />
carefree songs and silly<br />
dance moves, geared toward<br />
preschoolers or very<br />
young elementary school<br />
children. But in other parts<br />
of the world, children’s<br />
theater deals with serious,<br />
real-world issues and is<br />
aimed at young people as<br />
old as 25.<br />
This was the type of<br />
children’s theater that was<br />
introduced to North Shore<br />
when the Spinning Dot<br />
Theatre Company visited<br />
the campus for this year’s<br />
Franke Family Fund project,<br />
and while there were<br />
animals and music and<br />
dancing involved, the<br />
performances were much<br />
more than that.<br />
The troupe — founded<br />
by former NSCDS choreographer<br />
and French<br />
teacher Jenny Anne Koppera<br />
— is based in Ann<br />
Arbor, Mich., and its mission<br />
is to change the world<br />
through theater — one<br />
play at a time. Spinning<br />
Dot’s name grew out of<br />
the idea that the world is<br />
just a tiny, spinning dot in<br />
the universe, and by focusing<br />
solely on international<br />
works, they try to “make<br />
the world feel bigger and<br />
smaller at the same time,”<br />
Koppera said.<br />
“I saw all this work<br />
when I went abroad, that<br />
was kind of daring,” Koppera<br />
said. “They were<br />
dealing with topics that<br />
could never be brought out<br />
on stage here — maybe<br />
having violence or a gun,<br />
talking about death. Those<br />
aren’t usual things that<br />
are in children’s theater<br />
in the United States. But<br />
this work that I saw was so<br />
good. So I started to think,<br />
what could I do?”<br />
The group spent three<br />
days at NSCDS, and performed<br />
three different<br />
plays in addition to conducting<br />
a variety of handson<br />
workshops and guided<br />
discussions on important<br />
Spinning Dot Theatre company members (center) work with North Shore Country Day<br />
School third-graders to create shadow puppets. Photo Submitted<br />
issues, like cultural appropriation<br />
and playwriting.<br />
The Franke Family Fund<br />
was established in 2008 by<br />
Barbara, Richard, Katherine<br />
’77 and Jane Franke<br />
’80 to support programs<br />
that enhance students’<br />
experiences during the<br />
academic year. The fund<br />
encourages faculty to develop<br />
creative and unique<br />
ideas that are school-wide<br />
in scope, broad in interpretation<br />
and application,<br />
and significantly and positively<br />
impact the school<br />
community.
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