faculty in the news
Dana L.Lawton
Dana L. Lawton, professional dancer, choreographer, and professor in the performing arts department at St. Mary’s College, performed her solo Coasting, with music composed by David Karagianis, on March 8th. Her performance was part of the Vision Series at the Cowell Theater in San Francisco.
She will perform Coasting again on March 23rd at the Brava Theater in San Francisco as part of the Bay Area Isadora Duncan Awards for dance.
Lino Rivera
Professor and classical pianist Lino Rivera gave a piano recital at the University of Illinois, Chicago on February 17th. On February 27th, Lino was hosted at Western Washington University by the Department of Music for another successful piano recital.
Rebecca Engle
Rebecca Engle, Theatre Program Director, has been selected as one of seven awardees of the 2009 Kennedy Center National Teaching Artist Grant. In October, Rebecca was named a Region VIII Teaching Artist by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, given in “appreciation of her reputation and achievement as a teacher and artist.” That award came with the invitation to apply to the Kennedy Center for funds to support a specific creative proposal.
Rebecca's national Teaching Artist grant will fund a three-week residency next summer at Artists’ Repertory Theater, a professional company in Portland, OR. There, Rebecca will join an interdisciplinary collaborative team in the development of a new script, "The Hillsboro Story," as part of the theater’s PlayLab series.
Catherine Marie Davalos
Catherine Marie Davalos (with The Davalos Dance Company), performed the dance concert Six Questions on February 15th, at ODC Dance Commons. Six Questions was inspired by the music of New Music Composer, Martin Rokeach, of Composers Inc. The concert celebrates over ten years of collaboration between Rokeach and Davalos. The evening asks six questions about female space and place, partnerships, and aging. Dances included three premieres: Coda, Terrain, and Queen/Goddess/Witch; and three from the repertory: Sleepless Night, Storm, and Revised Dido, Clever Queen. The evening marked the first time the Davalos Dance Company performed to live accompaniment, with world class musicians. Six Questions was supported by a set designed and built by artist David Gaylord, twenty-two year partner of Catherine Marie Davalos.
Reid Davis
Actor, director and professor Reid Davis performed in the Shotgun Players' production of Macbeth at the Ashby Stage in Berkeley. The play, which ran from December 6th through February 1st, followed Shakespeare’s classic couple, transformed here into two young, wealthy, childless hipsters with exceedingly sharp tastes in clothing and insatiable appetites for more of everything.
