Now things are starting up again, I thought it would be fun to ask the dancers what they got up to this summer. In their own words (mostly), here they are…
Kyle Mathew Johnson says, “This summer I did a project with New York-based choreographer Bennyroyce Royon at Velocity Dance Center, during which we spent a week at the Mineral School in Mineral, Washington, which is an “in the works” multi-disciplinary artist residency and events space. I also started developing my curriculum for the classes I will be teaching this fall at The Studios, Center for the Arts, an all-inclusive training center and studio rental facility, opening this fall downtown Seattle. Besides that, just my enjoyed my day job at Mud Bay, playing with adorable puppies.”
He’s also been rehearsing for Ballet Bellevue‘s new Firebird, to premiere this fall at Meydenbauer Center. On the same program will be a reprise of Whim W’Him artistic director Olivier Wevers‘s last season hit Les Sylphides.
Jim Kent too has been involved with a Velocity Dance Center project.
He’s been working on a piece entitled Worth My Salt by Jody Kuehner aka Cherdonna Shinatra, Oct 17-19 + Oct 24-26, 2014
Tory Peil had a mellow summer, which, like Kyle’s, involved adorable dogs. “I adopted a 3-year old miniature poodle and spent the summer traveling around the country, visiting friends and family.
“Sam (the dog) was a hit everywhere we went. Now I’m back to real life rehearsing for a few Lily Verlaine productions at the triple door and premiering some new acts at the Can Can. Real life isn’t so bad ;)”
Thomas Phelan did some traveling too. “I flew out to Anchorage right after our spring show. I got a chance to teach some dancing up there while visiting friends and family. Then I went to West Virginia for a few weeks and taught some master classes there as well before coming back to Seattle in time for Whim work again.” Here’s a picture of him with some of the students at Alaska Dance Theatre.
Mia Monteabaro says, “This summer I continued to work towards my Pilates certification and rehabbing a shoulder injury. The best part of my summer was that I got to spend more time than ever before with my boyfriend and celebrated 10 years together.
As forLara Seefeldt, “I decided to stop sitting on my butt thinking about starting my own business and start my own business. Custom knitwear for dancers. Cinétique Knitwear. I have been busily filling out business license applications, learning html to build a website, reading up on how to start up a business (so I don’t screw it up too much) and of course knitting.”
Finally, meet Whim W’Him’s newest dancer. Joining the company this fall is Justin Reiter.
“This summer,” he writes, “I got a job working at Lululemon downtown. I also became a 200-hour Yoga Alliance certified Yoga Instructor! I also travelled to Portland and NYC!” In a couple of weeks, when I’m back in Seattle, look for a proper profile post on Justin.
Next time: Whim W’Him begins rehearsing for the new season