KRON 4's "Best of the Bay" Nominated Presidio Dance Theatre "Best Dance Studio in the Bay Area"

Presidio Dance Theater has been nominated by KRON 4's Best of the Bay TV as one of the "Best Dance Studios In the Bay Area"

Presidio Dance Theatre was mentioned on ABC 7's "What's Hot" segment for the Children's Day performance at the SF War Memorial Opera House

Presidio Dance Theatre's "Children's Day" at the SF War Memorial Opera House was featured on this week's "What's Hot" segment on ABC 7. Presidio Performing Arts Foundation (PPAF) sponsors 6,000 students to attend our signature performance DANCING ACROSS CULTURES for FREE! Bringing the World of Dance Into the Lives of Children

ABC 7 entertainment guide: "What's Hot" in the Bay Area this weekend - 4/30/09 - San Francisco News - abc7news.com

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=6788409

Sherene Melania is featured in The Turkish Cultural Days of Montreal as well as our guest choreographer/artist Ahmet Luleci

The Collage Dance Ensemble
http://www.quartierdesspectacles.com/en/calendrier/fichespectacle.asp?id=5506

Turkish Cultural Days of Montreal

Ahmet Lüleci and The Collage Dance Ensemble

The Turkish Cultural Days of Montreal and the Pierre Péladeau Centre welcomes Ahmet Lüleci, well-known choreographer and dancer and the troupe The Collage Dance Ensemble on May 31st at the Salle Pierre-Mercure for an exceptional dance show.

Native of Turkey, Ahmet Lüleci and his dance troupe The Collage Dance Ensemble are not new to the Montreal scene since he has been putting on many shows and organizing dance workshops in Montreal for a long time, and now resides in Boston. The Collage Dance Ensemble is back for a dance show that is as folkloric as it is modern from the Balkan region, Caucasia and the Middle East, but also Anatolia (Turkey), which sits at the cultural crossroads of all the surrounding regions.

Lauded internationally, the troupe The Collage Dance Ensemble is an excellent example of multicultural expression and is pursuing the goal of bringing harmony to people of different cultures via dance and music, integrating the folkloric disciples of Eastern Europe, Caucasia and Anatolia along with modern and western technique.

When Ahmet Lüleci established himself in Boston at the end of the 80s, he founded the traditional Turkish dance group « Kemençe ». When the group became more experimental and professional, he added non-Turkish material and changed the name to 'Collage Dance Ensemble'.

Today the troupe Collage Dance Ensemble is composed of more than twenty dancers and puts on shows in the US, Canada as well as Turkey.

We invite all Montrealers to join us for this exceptional dance show that will have us jumping out of our seats to join in this passionate and energetic dance that bears witness to the cultural crossroads where it was conceived...

Salle Pierre-Mercure (Centre Pierre-Péladeau) UQAM

Sunday 31.05.2009 to Sunday 31.05.2009
Hours: 7:00 p.m.
Cost: $20 - 35

Reservation / Information
Phone: (514) 987-6919
Order online

Presidio Dance Theatre Guest Artist/Choreographer NOEMI ARAXI

NOEMI ARAXI Armenian Dance

Identified at a young age for her talent and passion for dance, Ms. Araxi was invited to attend the Armenian Choreographic Institute in Yerevan. Her teachers were the most in fluential in the field of ballet from throughout the former Soviet Union. Upon graduation, Ms. Araxi joined the National Opera and Ballet of Armenia (formerly the U.S.S.R. Opera and Ballet of Armenia), and rapidly advanced to become one of its principal dancers. Her choreographers and coaches included the legendary Dudinskaya and her husband, Sergeyev, who both said that Madame Araxi was "graceful, talented, and exotic," Balabina, Re- garovich , Grigorovich, Vinogradov, Preabrajinsky, Uri Kamaledenov, Martirosian and many other great teachers. Madame Araxi performed on tours with the Kirov Ballet and also with the Bolshoi Ballet, who presented her their prestigious "GRAMMATA AWARD" for leading roles in performances. Today, Madame Araxi is the Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer for one of America's most popular Armenian Dance Company, ARAX, based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Presidio Dance Theatre Guest Artist/Choreographer Wan-Chao Chang

WAN-CHAO CHANG, Chinese Dance
Wan-Chao Chang, a dancer and choreographer, brings to her work a wealth of diverse training and experience. Her works are a blend of many virtuoso dance disciplines, giving them a unique character. Born in Taiwan of Indonesian Chinese parents, she received extensive classical training in both Western and Eastern dance and music, and taught ballroom, ballet, modern, and folk dance locally and internationally. Since arriving in the U.S. in 1995, she has performed with such critically acclaimed companies as Ballet Afsaneh, Gamelan Sekar Jaya, Gadung Katuri Balinese Dance and Music, Westwind International Folk Ensemble, Harsanari Indonesian Dance Company, and Chinese Folk Dance Association. Chang holds a B.A. in Management from FengChia University in Taiwan, and a B.A. in Dance Ethnology as well as a M.A. in Interdisciplinary Arts from San Francisco State University. She currently performs as a principal dancer with Ballet Afsaneh and Gadung Kasturi, and acts as guest choreographer with Ballet Afsaneh, Presidio Dance Theatre, and Westwind, which she directed in 2001-2002. Out of many choreographers who applied, she was recently selected to debut her piece "There" at the Westwave Dance Festival in San Francisco. Wan-Chao will perform as a soloist in the SF Ethnic Dance Festival this June.

Presidio Dance Theatre Guest Artist/Choreographer Mohammad Nejad

M. Nejad, Resident Composer and Master Instrumentalist
Mohammad Nejad, a Persian-born master multi-instrumentalist, was born to a musical family in Tehran, Iran. As a young child, Persian classical music was passed dow n to him from his father. In Tehran he attended a special high school for musicians, later graduating from Fine Arts Academy in 1976, and in 1990 received a Bachelors of Fine Arts Musicianship and Performance from Tehran University, proficient in both the Western and Persian musical systems. While studying toward the completion of his degree, he was blessed with having master teachers of Persian classical music including Ostad Roushanravan, Ostad Sinaki, Ostad Jankook, Ostad Paayvar, Ostad Tavakol, Ostad Tahmasebiyan, Ostad Moosavi, Ostad Khoshdel and Ostad Baharlou. In the early 1990s he began recording for the Iranian motion picture industry. He composed for and performed with many music and dance ensembles in Iran.

Nejad came to the United States in 1995, he now resides in the San Francisco Bay Area. Nejad plays a large number of instruments, including ney, zurna, Western flute, santur, kanun, oud, setar, dotar, tar, kemanche, violin, daf, dumbek, zarb, accordion and keyboards. He effectively uses Persian instruments to add a Persian influence to Western classical, jazz, blues, new age, and flamenco. He also performs traditional Persian classical music. He performs regularly with the acclaimed Bay area Central Asian dance company Ballet Afsaneh. He collaborates with many other musicians and ensembles. He has performed throughout Asia, Europe, and the United States, including most campuses of the University of California, the Palace of Fine Arts and the Ethnic Dance Festival in San Francisco, and the San Jose Center for t he Performing Arts. He teaches privately and through workshops.

Presidio Dance Theatre Guest Artist/Choreographer Ahmet Lüleci

Ahmet Lüleci Turkish Dances from the Black Sea
A native of Turkey, is an accomplished folkdance teacher, performer, choreographer, and musician, as well as a researcher of Anatolian folk culture. Since his arrival in North America in 1985, he has been promoting the Turkish folklore all over the world, to amateur as well as professional groups. Ahmet has been performing Turkish folk dancing and music since the age of eight. At the age of 15, he became a dance instructor. He taught several ensembles in Ankara, Istanbul, Eskisehir, and Bursa.

Between 1973 and 1985, he participated in international dance festivals and competions throughout western and eastern Europe. In addition, he taught ensembles that appeared in more than 60 programs broadcast nationally in Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Turkey. Ahmet also served as Director of Dances for HOY-TUR, long considered one of Turkey's leading folk dance associations.

In 1985, Ahmet's research on "The Culture in Southern Anatolia" won the first prize at the national competition held by "Youth Sport and Education Ministry." Since 1985 he has continued his work in the United States and Canada, Asia, Europe, and South America. In 1988, Ahmet became director of the Boston-based Kemençe Dance Ensemble. In 2001, as the Artistic Director of Collage International Dance Ensemble (formerly20Kemençe), Ahmet received the Dance Umbrella Boston Moves 2001 Award, a commission to create a world-premiere work for Boston audiences. Ahmet choreographed a dance suite for the Brigham Young University International Folk Dance Ensemble and had the troupe's costumes specially made and shipped from Turkey. Some of the other notable perofrming ensembles with which he has worked include the famed AMAN Folk Ensemble of Los Angeles (in 1991, Ahmet joined AMAN's artistic staff as resident choreographer), Mandala of Boston, Les Sortileges of Montreal, Vinok of Edmonton, Gehem of Ankara, Butfod of Bursa, and Folktur of İstanbul.

Baglama and davul are the folk instruments Ahmet most enjoys playing. Indeed, his college major was music, with specialization in voice. Ahmet's love of folksongs and fascination with folk dance led him to conduct scholarly research into the historical, social, and cultural background of the costumes and spoon dances from Turkey's Mediterranean coast. In 1997, Ahmet completed a second degree in Fine Arts, specializing in Graphic Design. Ahmet has taught a the major folk dance camps in the United States and Canada, including the San Francisco Kolo Festival and the Stockton Folk Dance Camp in California, and continues to teach workshops throughout the United States from his home-base in Boston, Massachusetts. Ahmet is co-founder and co-director of the annual World Music & Dance Camp at Cape Cod, Massachussetts.

Among Ahmet's publications are an exhaustive, 400-page folklore study on the folkdances of Turkey for which he was awarded First Place in the 1985 national competition in research on the folk dances by the Turkish Ministry of Youth, Sports, and Education.

Dances Ahmet has taught include Agir Govenk, Agir Halay, Arzu İle Kamber (Silivri) (Garaguna), Basso, Bablekhan, Çimençiçek, Delile, Drida, Enzele Reksi, Felek, Galamatia, Goltepe, Güvercin, İspanyol Kasabı, Kara Uzum, Karadeniz, Karşilama, Kelekvan, Kerekes Héjsza, Kina, Livan Öy, Mendil, Oğuzlu, Papatya, Rakkas, Roman, Samatya, Sevda Horonu, Siksara, Teşi-Düz-Halay, Uzun Kavak, Uzundere (Sahlan), and Yeni Hamam.

Presidio Dance Theatre Guest Artist/Choreographer Avtandil Kurashvili

Avtandil Kurashvili, Georgian Dances
A native of the Republic of Georgia, started dance training at the Georgian State Choreographic School of Sukhisvili-Ramishvili, from which he graduated with great honors in 1987. By age ten, he became a solo dancer of the Tsaktubo national Ensemble and made stage appearances all around Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia and Lithuania.

Avtandil won the Gold Medal at the prestigious Kremlin Folk Dance Competition in 1989 (Moscow). In 1996, Avtandil joined the KUTAISI National Dance troupe and soon was promoted to Soloist, touring Greece, France, Turkey and Israel. From 1998-2004, Avtandil was a principal dancer with the National Ensemble MAMULI with whole he toured extensively around the world. In 1999, together with the lead choreographer of MAMULI, Zaur Papiashvili, established a children's dance studio where he served as rehearsal director while the children toured in Italy, Greece, and Turkey.

His unique artistic talent and superlative performing skills were noted by dance authorities and he was invited to join the Georgian National Ballet Sukhishvili, known for the world's greatest dancers. Avtandil was recognized as one of the the company's most talented and creative solo dancers, whose innovations were elaborated in his marvelous, artistic solos. He received rave reviews for his solo performances in many countries. During his years with this company, he had over 100 performances around the world and in 30 states of the USA.

From 2004-2007, Avtandil held the lead choreographer position in the Georgian State Children's Ensemble LASHQARI. He received numerous awards as a recognized solo dancer and choreographer by the State of Georgia.

Sherene Melania Artistic Director & Principal Choreographer of Presidio Dance Theatre

Trained in classical dance by San Francisco Ballet and Kirov Academy of Ballet, Washington, DC, Sherene Melania performed principal youth roles with both San Francisco Ballet and Kirov Ballet (on its US national tour), and at 16, participated in the Prix de Lausanne international dance competition, one of twelve to represent the USA. Concurrently, she studied character and international folk dance in the style of Igor Moiseyev. After spending two years in Russia as the student of Kirov Ballet Mistress, Gabriella Komleva, Sherene performed as a guest artist with ballet and folk companies in Russia, France, Germany, Sweden, Brazil, and Switzerland.
Sherene recently performed with Les Ballets Persans in Stockholm and London; Iranian New Year's, New York City; and Magic of Persia, London. This year, she performs in Robert de Warren's "Celebration in London," Ahmet Luleci's "Collage" in Boston and Montreal at the Salle Pierre-Mercure Centre Pierre-Peladeau, "Near Eastern Summer Arts Festival" at the Gallo Center for the Performing Arts, and in the South of France.

Sherene Melania is Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer of Presidio Dance Theatre & Academy, the only performing arts facility based in a National Park, except for Wolf Trap in Virginia. She holds a B.A. in Performing Arts and Social Justice and University of San Francisco's Dean Medal for Excellence in the Arts; a Certificate for Ballet Direction Specialty and Choreography from the prestigious Saint Petersburg State Conservatory, Russia; and was selected by Mayor Gavin Newsom to serve on the San Francisco Arts Commission, representing the field of dance since 2007.

Sherene is a member of the SF Community Arts, Education, and Cultural Equity Committee, SF Arts Providers Alliance, California Arts Advocates, and International Dance Council UNESCO. She designed and directs DANCE OUT! Presidio Performing Arts Foundation's free citywide education program offered in the public schools, funded by the California Arts Council and National Endowment for the Arts, which was nominated by the Presidio Trust to receive the President's Commission for Arts & Humanities, Coming Up Taller Award.

As a Choreographer, she has set pieces for dance companies at home and abroad, and presented for the United Nations, International Red Cross, and PBS. She annually presents Winter and Spring Seasons for Presidio Dance Theatre. 2008 live audiences exceeded 40,000 at major venues and festivals including the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House, Marin Center, Palace of Fine Arts, Herbst Theater, Davies Symphony Hall, SF City Hall; Saint Petersburg's famed White Nights Festival at the Catherine Palace; and the 300th Anniversary of Tsarskoye Selo International Festival. Her work has been recognized by the press nationally in Dance Magazine, Dance Teacher, and internationally broadcast. In 2008, Sherene received a national award from Nickelodeon Television for "Best Artsy Program" in the SF Bay Area.

Sherene Melania uses her passion for dance to encourage not only an appreciation for the arts and artistic excellence, but also the value of developing "complete artists" who utilize academic and dance education, as a tool for promoting cultural awareness and understanding, leading to a deep compassion for humanity.

PRESIDIO DANCE THEATRE
PERFORMANCES:
Presidio Dance Theatre was awarded the distinction to perform in the OPENING WEEKEND of the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival this June. In 2008, the live audiences of Presidio Dance Theatre exceeded 40,000! 10,000 were underserved children offered free performances at: SF War Memorial Opera House (6000); Youth in Arts at the Marin Center (4000); and SF Symphony's Deck the Halls (2000) at the Davies Symphony Hall. 20,000 were international tourists and Russians at the White Nights Festival of Saint Petersburg; and 10,000 were SF Bay Area residents at our self-produced performances at the Palace of Fine Arts, Herbst Theater, and around California.

EDUCATION AND OUTREACH:
Presidio Dance Theatre Academy offers 27 classes/rehearsals per week with 320 attending. 12 performing artists and international ensembles/choreographers utilize the facility in the evenings/weekends in co-production with Presidio Dance Theatre. PPAF's Choreographer's International Dance Workshops are offered to the public quarterly. PPAF's DANCE OUT! outreach (11th year) offers free dance classes to SFUSD students at their schools, based in Sunset, Richmond, and Panhandle consortiums. Annually, 150 students participate in this program and the most promising are identified and recruited under scholarship to the Presidio Dance Theatre Academy.

Presidio Dance Theatre Guest Artist/Choreographer Robert de Warren

ROBERT de WARREN in Spring Season residence with Presidio Dance Theatre of San Francisco. Mr. de Warren is available for interviews April 25-May 24, please call to arrange (415-561-3958 ask for Bryan or email bryan@presidiodance.org). Robert de Warren will be creating “Dance of the Qajar Court” for SF Artist Sherene Melania, who will perform at Presidio Dance Theatre’s 2009 Dancing Across Cultures™ international dance mosaic at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre on May 22, 7pm.

Robert de Warren of Iran-Das Foundation, an international Artistic Director of Ballet, Opera, and Musical Theater will be in San Francisco during Presidio Dance Theatre’s 2009 Spring Season. He is best known for choreography in multiple styles and as Master Teacher to the stars (including Nureyev). He is classical, contemporary, mystical or pure theatre, and brings together such disparate experiences and blends them to produce true and original works of art. In the most prestigious venues throughout the world, Mr. de Warren is also known for creating original theater set and costume designs.

Distinguished amongst ballet directors for his high professionalism, backed by specialized study and over four decades of experience, Robert de Warren brings unique achievements to the companies he has directed and/or choreographed for, including Royal Ballet of London; Iranian National Ballet & Mahali Dancers of Iran under the patronage of His Imperial Majesty the Shah of Iran and Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress Farah; La Scala Theatre of Italy; and Sarasota Ballet of Florida.

BACKGROUND:
Robert de Warren
Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, of British/Italian parents, Robert de Waren is a citizen of the World. From an early age he developed a great love of music and dance. At 12 years old he founded a MILONGA in the town of Chacabuco, in Argentina where he lived. He learned the TANGO and PASO DOBLE and the Argentine National Dance EL PERICON at that early age. After completing high school in Montevideo, where he also studied ballet with Vera Dalton and later Boris Kniasef, he travelled to England at 17. His invitation to the Arts Educational Schools and later The Royal Ballet launched his career, as Dame Ninette de Valois (founder of the Royal Ballet), saw in the young dancer the gifts for directing and choreographing and encouraged his development from the outset. De Warren readily admits having learned his trade from this great lady. As a dancer with the Royal Ballet he soon learned the entire productions of the great classical repertoire and can, today, reproduce them in the most authentic versions. He has also created many original works performed around the world.

At La Scala, Milan, where he was appointed by recommendation of Rudolf Nureyev. He was the first director to bring American Choreographers to present full evenings of their works, such as Alvin Ailey and Paul Taylor. He also brought "Fall River Legend" by Agness DeMille for the legendary Carla Fracci who previewed the performance at the Metropolitan Opera House with ABT in New York. De Warren's own creations at La Scala include an enlarged "A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM" which was the best selling ballet that season, COPPELIA, LA BOUTIQUE FANTASQUE, SOIREES MUSICALES and A YOUNG PERSONS GUIDE TO THE ORCHESTRA. He also collabotated with many international personalities first of which was Rudolf Nureyev, Riccardo Mutti, Andrea Gavazzeni who invited him to choreograph the dances in ADRIANA LECOUVREUR which La Scala inaugurated at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Franco Zeffirelli, Gianni Versace, Pavarotti, Mirella Frenni, have all shared the stage with his creations , as designers and performers. De Warren also insured the most notable Ballet Stars guested with his company. http://www.euroarts.com/script/whatsnew.php

His arrival at La Scala had been preceded by eleven years at the head of the Northern Ballet Theatre (who owe their name to him). This fledgling company became the major touring ballet in Britain and presented smaller versions of the classics as well as an eclectic repertoire that became its trade mark and basis of its enormous success. De Warren obtained the royal patronage of the Princess Margaret and Rudolf Nureyev, who had worked often with de Warren and frequently danced with the company, became ARTIST LAUREATE, a distinction no other organization has ever enjoyed. NBT performed over 200 shows a season all over the country and in London at the Sadler's Wells Theatre. Many international choreographers contributed to their reprtoire, notably: Birgit Cullberg, Fleming Flindt, Michael Corder, Geoffrey Cauley, and Gillian Lynne (Cats). Dame Alicia Markova assisted in coaching Giselle and Les Sylphides. De Warren himself choreographed many original works that had hundreds of performances all over Britain and Ireland and were later produced by companies in France, Italy, Hong Kong and USA. www.northernballettheatre.co.uk/history1976.html

Not happy to run a company with such commitments, de Warren, in his quest for new talent helped found the Northern Ballet School now in its 30th year. He also founded the National Ballet Academy in Montevideo, the Pre-Professional College Course at la Scala in association with the Cathoilic University, The National Folklore Society and College in Iran. Dancers and choreographers de Warren has mentored are now themselves sought after directors and choreographers which gives this dedicated man a sense of fulfillment.

It was on a visit to New York to discuss production details with Agness DeMille that Robert was invited to Sarasota by Danish dance critic Bent Schoenberg and his wife. Bent introduced him to the founder of Sarasota Ballet and he was asked to meet the Board of Directors to advise on a search for a new Artistic Director. The meeting ended with him being offered the post! Having another three years contract in Milan Robert did not think this would happen. However, he was so impressed by Sarasota, a small resort city with already an opera, symphony, ballet and six theatre groups, so he actually considered leaving La Scala with its constant strikes and political turmoil. I recall meeting Robert in Milan excited with what he thought was a city to become the Montecarlo of USA! In hindsight he was absolutely right!

Much has been written about the eleven years Robert and his wife Jacqueline spent in Iran from 1965 to 1976 when dame Ninette de Valois sent him to become ballet master and his wife his assistant, to the National Ballet of Iran at the behest of the Shah. They found a very basic setup with a school and some dancers at semi professional level. The Shah had ordered the construction of a new opera house, the Rudaki hall, which would open the year of his coronation. De Warren was asked to advise on final details. I was in Iran as representative of the United nations, and this is where we first met.

True to character, Robert brought the ballet to a high standard so that for the inauguration of the opera house they performed for the Shah and Empress Farah. Through his brother in law, the Shah instructed Robert to research all mystic, tribal and ceremonial dance in the country.

Thus they founded the National Folklore Society of Iran and the Mahalli Dancers of Iran who became ambassadors of Iranian culture and toured the world. Robert freely travelled the country with his assistants, cameraman and sound technician recording everything he found. The theatrical performances were based on this research. He laso created the national archives for all this material. I saw all their presentations in Teheran, London and Washington where they performed for President and Mrs. Ford for the Bicentennial Ceremonies. In this capacity the de Warrens attended many state and court occasions and prepared numerous performances for the Shah's guests. On their third tour of USA for the Bicentennial they performed at Bovary Theatre at UCLA where de Warren was assaulted on stage by anti-shah demonstrators. Pandemonium broke out and it took American security some time to restore order. This was a warning signal Robert and Jacqueline did not ignore, so on their return to Iran they stopped in London and discussed the latest happenings. Colleagues from The Royal Ballet insisted they not return to Iran, but Robert, loyal to those who had given them such welcome, did return. However he had been offered the direction of Northern Dance Theatre with a free hand to develop and grow that organization. This is how Northern Ballet Theatre was born.

Robert had already experienced much animosity being organized towards the Shah, which made it obvious peace would not last. A year later the Shah invited Robert to create a special performance for a celebration at the summer palace. The Empress greeted Robert warmly and soon the Shah arrived. It was obvious he was a sick man. Violent manifestations were already apparent in the sprawling city. As it resulted, this was the last court ceremony before the Imperial family had to leave in exile.

Following work with Northern Ballet Theatre, Mr. de Warren became Artistic Director of Sarasota Ballet in Florida, recently retiring to work on his Iran-Das organization.