Seton Hill University’s Theatre and Dance Program will present “Dance Spectrum” April 26 to 29, 2018 at the Seton Hill University Performing Arts Center, William Granger Ryan Theatre. Join the cast and crew for a reception after the opening night performance on Thursday, April 26. There will be a talkback with choreographers and dancers following the Sunday afternoon performance. Tickets are $16, with student and group rates available.  Call the Seton Hill Performing Arts Center Box Office for tickets at 724-552-2929 or purchase tickets online at www.setonhill.edu/tickets.

Performances: Thursday, April 26, 8 p.m.; Friday, April 27, 8 p.m.; Saturday, April 28, 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 29, 2 p.m.

“Dance Spectrum” presents a variety of choreographic styles, from ballet to jazz, modern to tap with some surprises thrown in the mix. The various pieces represent the spectrum of dance and feature solo, duet and ensemble numbers.

The Seton Hill student company of “Dance Spectrum” includes dancers Madyson Baer of Lewisberry, Pa.; Victorious Collymore-Bey of Spring Valley, N.Y.; Jamie Corbett of Pittsburgh, Pa.; Angela Emanuele of Greensburg, Pa.; Alyssa Frank of New Brighton, Pa.; Michele Gala of McKeesport, Pa.; Jessica Hanson of Bethel Park, Pa.; Madison Harry of Greensburg, Pa.; Jessica Joos of Pittsburgh, Pa; Brooke Kelly of Elizabeth, Pa.; Adriana LaMantia of Blairsville, Pa.; Alexis Martin of Granville Summit, Pa.; Malcolm McGraw of Pittsburgh, Pa.; Jonathan Meilaender of Houghton, N.Y.; Heather Mirenzi of Pittsburgh, Pa; Sydney Molter of Jeannette, Pa; Alyssa Ranieri of Greensburg, Pa; Amber Riggin of Uniontown, Pa.; Kayla Sweigard of Erie, Pa.; Megan Vichich of Cranberry Township, Pa; Shelby Walsh of Coraopolis, Pa.; Haley Wilt of Cumberland, Md.; and Shane Wiseman of Elizabeth, Pa.; and voiceover artists Nicole Castelli of Canonsburg, Pa.; Tasha Matthews of Springdale, Pa.; Angela Mazzocco of Imperial, Pa.; Taylor Puc of North Huntingdon, Pa.; Adam Sarp of Latrobe, Pa.; James Scharer of Greensburg, Pa.; and Bobby Tramontina of South Park, Pa.

The Seton Hill student production and technical staff includes Ashley Blazczak of Saxonburg, Pa., costume shop crew; Kat Bowman of Monroeville, Pa., dresser; Elena Bravo of Pittsburgh, Pa., electrics crew; Cassawndra Brugos of West Newton, Pa., assistant stage manager; Molly Carbone of Allentown, Pa., master electrician and scene shop staff; Sarah Como of South Park, Pa., scene shop staff; Ian Denham of Bunola, Pa., assistant stage manager; Brittany Dilliot of Arnold, Pa., costume shop crew; Angela Emanuele of Greensburg, Pa., costume shop crew; Bridget Forsythe of Pittsburgh, Pa., dresser; Jordan Gilbert of West Newton, Pa., scene shop staff; Lauren Grasser of Johnstown, Pa., costume shop crew; Jena Grgurich of Pittsburgh, Pa.; stage manager; Liam Johnston of New Kensington, Pa., scene shop staff; Jessica Joos of Pittsburgh, Pa, assistant to the choreographer and assistant choreographer; Jessica Lami of Farmington, Conn., scene shop staff; Julie Lang of Pittsburgh, Pa., costume shop crew; Gwen Little of Mechanicsburg, Pa., costume shop crew; Layne Lueckert of Donegal, Pa. house manager; Maureen Kailhofer of Shorewood, Wisc., scene shop staff; Rebekah Kephart of New Kensington, Pa., costume shop crew; Colleen Malley of Trafford, Pa., light board operator and electrics crew; Jordan Mayers of New Park, Pa., scene shop staff; Kaitlyn Mayers of New Park, Pa., scene shop staff; Beth Miller of Pittsburgh, Pa., costume shop crew; Anna McClain of Belle Vernon, Pa., scene shop staff; Elaine Montgomery of Trafford, Pa., scene shop staff; Breanna O’Brien of North Huntingdon, Pa., scene shop staff; Halle Polechko of Harrison City, Pa., costume shop crew; Leah Prestogeorge of Pittsburgh, Pa., wardrobe, hair and makeup manager; Lili Real of Pittsburgh, Pa., dresser and costume shop crew; Amber Riggin of Uniontown, Pa., rehearsal assistant; James Scharer of Greensburg, Pa., electrics crew; Erin Slagle of Pittsburgh, Pa., scene shop staff; Riley Tate of Munhall, Pa., sound board operator and scene shop staff; Justin Taylor of Bronx, N.Y., scene shop staff; Noah Telford of Greensburg, Pa., scene shop staff; Jordyn Turner of Bethel Park, Pa., costume shop crew; Megan Vichich of Cranberry Township, Pa., assistant choreographer; Jacob Westwood of Irwin, Pa., costume shop crew and scene shop staff, and Shane Wiseman of Elizabeth, Pa., assistant to the choreographer.

“Dance Spectrum” is choreographed by TaMara Swank, assistant professor of dance; Stefan Zubal, assistant professor of dance; and adjunct faculty members Gerard Holt and Aubrey Worek.

The Seton Hill University technical staff for the production includes Patricia Barker, costume shop manager; Ken Clothier, assistant professor of theatre, sound coordination; Thomas K. Crowley, technical director; Susan O’Neill, theatre instructor, costume design and costume director; Andrew Ostrowski, adjunct instructor, theatre, lighting design.

About the Choreographers:

Gerard Holt began dancing at the school of the Hartford Ballet.  At 16, Mr. Holt was offered an apprenticeship with the Hartford Ballet Company where he performed soloist roles and began learning the Balanchine repertoire.  His professional training also includes The Dance Theatre of Harlem School, the School of American Ballet and the School of the San Francisco Ballet, all of which he attended as a scholarship and stipend student. Mr. Holt’s professional career includes the San Francisco Ballet, the Richmond Ballet, the State Ballet of Missouri (now Kansas City Ballet), Ballet Met in Columbus Ohio and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, which he joined in 1990. Mr. Holt taught ballet classes throughout the Greater Pittsburgh Area at such schools as the Laurel Ballet, Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, Ballet Baroque, Rodgers School for the Creative and Performing Arts and Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts.  Mr. Holt was on staff for three years at Point Park University and was ballet master for five years at the Western Pennsylvania Performing Arts Company in Vandergrift, Pa.  Mr. Holt became the Artistic Director of Dance of the La Roche College Dance Department in January 2001 until May 2010. Mr. Holt is currently the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Mid-Atlantic Contemporary Ballet Company, which he founded with colleague Miriam Scigliano in April of 2008. Mr. Holt was the Curriculum Director and Ballet Master for Impact Dance Center in Monroeville, Pa. Mr. Holt currently teaches ballet for Pennsylvania Academy of Dance in Sewickley Pa. Mr. Holt is also an adjunct ballet instructor at Point Park University and adjunct ballet instructor and choreographer for Seton Hill University Theatre and Dance Department.

TaMara Swank is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Seton Hill University where she teaches undergraduate courses in all styles of dance, as well as dance kinesiology, teaching of dance and dance for children with exceptional needs. As dance faculty she has choreographed more than 30 pieces. Her choreography has been selected to perform at the Baltimore Dance Invitational- Professional Dance Showcase in Baltimore, Md. and the 30th Annual Jazz & Tap Festival in Fairfax, Va. TaMara also has a list of original works including, The Seven Deadly Sins and EleMental Revolution, a dance theatre production, produced in collaboration with theatre colleagues. She has been teaching dance for over 25 years and served as the Artistic Director and founder of Studio 22 Performing Arts Center, is the founder of Seton Hill University Dance Academy and assisted in the development of the Seton Hill dance major. She has taught master classes for the Governor’s School for the Arts Regional High School dance Festival in Norfolk, VA. Her recent project, Collaborative Culture in Education, was presented with Seton Hill education faculty at ACRES National Conference, the Early Childhood Institute Annual Conference and the National Dance Education Organization. She holds a Master of Science Degree in Exercise Science from California University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Dance from Point Park University. 

Aubrey Worek is an adjunct professor for the Dance Ensemble course at Seton Hill.  She has a diverse dance background ranging from modern, hip-hop, ballet, jazz, and various aerial arts.  FitnessEnvi, her dance and fitness studio is her second home where she coaches adults.  Her mission is to help transform non-dancers into dancers and non-health nuts into the best version of themselves through holistic nutrition education and customized exercise prescription. Aubrey’s dance background evolved when she was awarded the “Outstanding Dance Minor of the Year” award at Slippery Rock University where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science with minors in Dance and Gerontology.  Upon graduation she has had the opportunity to dance for various entertainment companies, perform as a magician’s assistant, coach high school dance teams, and perform at various venues locally and across the U.S.   The main highlights of her career include:  founding a million-dollar corporate wellness company, Wellness Solutions at Work, winning the title of Fitness America 2015 in Las Vegas, and earning a position on the Pittsburgh Today Live morning talk show for KDKA as their Wellness Specialist.  

Stefan Zubal, a native of Forest Hill, Md., discovered dance while studying music in college.  He received his early training with County Ballet Studio, the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and the Washington School of Ballet. Performing with the Richmond Ballet for seven years he danced a variety of classical and contemporary works. Also with Fort Wayne Ballet for seven years he served as Assistant Artistic Director, Ballet Master and principle dancer for the company. Stefan has earned a BA in Theatre through Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne, giving him diverse theatre background, and he has choreographed theatre productions for Seton Hill, including Nine. Earning a MFA in Dance from Florida State University helped him develop a passion for dance and technology, leading Stefan to create several film projects and photo/video archiving for the Theatre and Dance program. His documentary about the filming of Tim Glenns’ Embodiments of Silence at Birdsong Nature Conservatory is still being shown internationally. His film The Question featured his own score and was part of Project Dance Awareness at Busboys and Poets in DC. An outdoorsmen and runner he has hiked large portions of the Appalachian Trail, is a two-time Steel Challenge finisher, and a three-time Ragnar Relay finisher. 

Seton Hill University’s Performing Arts Center is 73,000 square feet of everything a performing arts major needs to move from student to professional. The Center houses two dedicated, flexible performance spaces, the Carol Ann Reichgut Concert Hall and the William Granger Ryan Theatre. The Center also includes a performance studio, new classrooms, rehearsal rooms and technical areas that include the best equipment for learning and performing, from Steinway pianos to the latest in lighting, sound, video and acoustics.  The Center is located in downtown Greensburg, putting it squarely in the middle of the city’s cultural district yet still only minutes from Seton Hill’s main hilltop campus.

The Seton Hill University Theatre and Dance Program has a long history of educating performing arts majors for professional careers while playing a vital role in the educational life of the campus.  Seton Hill’s Theatre and Dance Program offers four full-length productions (as well as a number of shorter works) and one dance production each year that generate audiences of over 3,500 and speak to topics addressed in courses across Seton Hill’s curriculum.  For more information on the Theatre and Dance Program at Seton Hill, please visit www.setonhill.edu or call 724-552-2934.

Photo: Seton Hill University dancers Alyssa Frank, Michele Gala and Shelby Walsh rehearse a piece from “Dance Spectrum.”