Thursday, May 3, 2012

2012 DANCING ACROSS CULTURES™ at the Opera House

After a year away, Presidio Dance Theatre's return to the San Francisco Opera House was a rousing success. With two FREE performances with seating nearly at-capacity, PDT dancers brought a morning of dazzlement and delight to just under 6,000 SFUSD public school children.

In the audience were, SFUSD Superintendent Carlos A. Garcia; San Francisco's Director of Cultural Affairs, Tom De Caigny; SF Ethnic Dance Festival Artistic Director, Carlos Carvajal; Tyra Fennell of the SF Arts Commission; Bay Kids Founding Director Dave Spencer; representatives of SF Opera and SF Symphony; and many other SF artists, members of San Francisco's art community and patrons of the arts.

PDT Artists did an outstanding job on the opera house stage and for 45-minutes held their audiences of thousands of children completely mesmerized. The "Cossack tricks" drew applause, the Eskimo best friends caused riotous laughter, and hushed "oohs" and "ahhs" could be heard throughout the theatre.

2012 DANCING ACROSS CULTURES™ at the Opera House was one of PDT's most successful renditions of this program to date.

Not only was the performance an impressive return to the Opera House, but additionally, Presidio Dance Theatre's Artistic Director Sherene Melania was recognized by the SFUSD and Board of Education for incredible hard work and achievements in the arts. 

"The SAN FRANCISCO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT wishes to acknowledge Sherene Melania, Artistic Director of Presidio Dance Theatre and one of the creators of the award-winning DANCE OUT! Afterschool Outreach Program. She has achieved national recognition for her many years of outstanding work with uder-served students teaching cultural traditions and presenting transformative arts experiences for young audiences. Ms. Melania's artistic excellence, advocacy and dedication to providing accessibility to quality arts programming are very much appreciated throughout the SFUSD."

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

April 2012 Student of the Month


Congratulations to our first Student of the Month: Rose Gasser



Rose is a very enthusiastic and dedicated member of the Beginning Company. She is being honored for her great attitude in class and work ethic.


ROSE GASSER

Age: 9
Born: San Francisio
Goes to: Mt. Tamalpais School


Why do you like to dance?

It’s just really fun!

What is your favorite dance? Why?

Tap and Chinese because I’ve been learning Chinese for a long time and it’s fun to dance!

What excites you about the upcoming performance?

Being part of the show!


Is this your first performance?
No, my second [with PDT].


What do you like best about performing?

It’s fun to be in the costumes.


If you could choose 1 thing to do forever, what would it be?

Well, I like 3 things – I like to dance, read/write and hang out with my friends!


What is your favorite subject in school?

Language arts because there’s a lot of reading and writing, so I like it.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Childrens Day at the SF War Memorial Opera House

The Presidio Dance Theatre invites you to join us at the War Memorial Opera House for a presentation of PDT's signature show - DANCING ACROSS CULTURES™ on April 30th at 9:30am or 11:00am. The show is FREE for SFUSD public school students. Please join us for a unique and enriching experience.

Friday, January 27, 2012

NEW CLASS: Adult Beginner Ballet

Introducing our newest class and our newest faculty member:

Adult Beginner Ballet with Miriam Rowan

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Ballroom Dancing

Deck the Halls 2011 : A holiday celebration with the SF Symphony

Once again, the Presidio Dance Theatre Youth Company was invited to partake in the San Francisco Symphony's annual holiday celebration Deck the Hall. This year's concert conducted by Randall Craig Fleischer was a festive holiday treat for many bay area families, including some of our own: above Mia and Olivia pose with the Nutcracker himself! and below the Gingerbread Man and Rudolph pose with our Youth Company!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Photos from our Gala

Thanks to the many wonderful attendees at our 2011 Winter Benefit Gala who made it a great success.

The Blaine Family: Presidio Dance Theatre Board President Greg Blaine (second from right) with his wife Cheryl (far right) and his parents Terry and Marge. In recognition for his contribution to the organization, the main studio of our beautiful new home The Presidio Performing Arts Center has been named the Blaine Studio.
Many thanks to Hartmann Studios (event rental), Impact Lighting (lighting and sound) and the wonderful staff from Wolfgang Puck Catering, without whose help the benefit gala would not have been possible!

Monday, November 14, 2011

Presidio Performing Arts Center Benefit Gala


The Artistic Director, Board of Directors, and staff of Presidio Performing Arts Center are most happy to invite you to share an amazing wintery evening with us on the historical occasion of the OFFICIAL OPENING of our new center, home for Presidio Dance Theatre & School.

We are pleased to announce that Wolfgang Puck (our neighbor at Disney) will cater our opening Grand Gala Benefit Dinner and Show on Saturday, December 3.

If you would like to join us in celebrating please RSVP as soon as possible, as space is limited and tickets are going fast. Download an RSVP card and return it to our new offices at:

Presidio Performing Arts Center
386 Arguello Blvd at Moraga
Main Post, Presidio of San Francisco,
San Francisco, CA 94129

Please click to download an:
INVITATION
or
RSVP Card

Alternately please feel free to call us at (415) 561-3958 to make a reservation by telephone.

We look forward to sharing a wonderful evening of dining and dancing with you.

Click here for Driving Directions to our new location!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Ticket Sales Contest!


Announcing...

Click HERE for a ticket order form!

We will announce the winner the night of the show!

TICKET SALES CONTEST!

Please help us sell tickets to 2011 Dancing Across Cultures, June 3rd at the Palace of Fine Arts. There will be a grand prize for whoever sells the most tickets!

How to participate:

1. Download ticket order form(s).

2. Ask friends, neighbors, family to come see you in the show!

3. On each form you complete, add your name in parenthesis (so we know who to credit for the ticket sale)!

Grand Prize...

WEEKEND with MISS SHERENE

The GRAND PRIZE for most tickets sold is a weekend BBQ & Pool Party with Miss Sherene!

You and three friends will spend a fun-filled weekend with Miss Sherene at her country home in Turlock, CA for 2 days, 1 night!

Questions? Contact Allison, allison@presidiodance.org

415-561-3958


Winner (+3 Friends!) will leave Saturday morning and return Sunday night! Date TBD.

Monday, May 16, 2011

News & Events May 2011

MAY 2011

Look Who's Coming to Presidio Dance Theatre!


PPAF's Presidio Dance Theatre is moving. The new prominent location on the Presidio's historic Main Post, positions us to become a world model for performing arts collaboration. Our facility will be named, Presidio Performing Arts Center, consisting of a state-of-the art multi-use theatre for performance, production rehearsals and special events; Green Room/Studio B and Children's Rehearsal Studio C; Gift Shoppe; Artistic Offices; Business Offices, Library/Conference Room; and Costume Storage.

We are very excited about the opportunity to create a cultural impact within America's only urban National Park and beyond.

new building

Presidio Performing Arts Center

386 Arguello Blvd

at the Presidio Main Post


We invite you to facilitate

the move, by helping us raise capital funds. "Raising the Barre" Capital Campaign ($200,000) will cover the installation of dance flooring/marly, mirrors, barres, sound systems, theatrical lighting, media system and finishing. All Spring/Summer Season donors will be added to the "RAISING THE BARRE" plaque which will be prominently displayed in the new Presidio Performing Arts Center's lobby entrance. All donations $10,000 and above include naming opportunities. Click here to make a donation today!


Reminder! Rehearsal Schedule starts

stage shot 2011

Wednesday May 11th!

CLICK HERE for a detailed rehearsal schedule for 2011 Dancing Across Cultures(tm). Please note that this schedule is subject to change.

Regularly scheduled classes END Tuesday, May 10th for all students not participating in the performance. Performance participants will start the rehearsal schedule Wednesday May 11th.

Preschool Mini Camp

See you in the fall at our new Presidio Performing Arts Center!

Preschool

Parents!

Please note

CLASSES END

Tuesday May 17th.

For those students participating in the Spring Recital, rehearsals will be conducted during class time which will continue until May 20th.


Parent Volunteers

Needed for Recital!

TWO CHAPERONS PER CLASS

We would like to invite parents of students participating in the recital to volunteer as chaperones on stage during the performance, the best seat in the house! For more information or to volunteer for your child's class,

please contact Allison, allison@presidiodance.org.



Mesopotamian Nights IV DVD now available!

August 2010, Presidio Dance Theatre performed at the 4th Annual Mesopotamian Nights featuring international pop-icon, Walter Aziz. A DVD/CD collection of the performance is available for purchase.

Enjoy a sample of PDT's performance on the 4th Mesopotamian Night concert DVD. CLICK HERE TO WATCH!

To purchase a DVD, visit the Mesoptamian Night's Website here.