Meet one of our 2017 Guest Artists for NJ SummerDance!
Guest Artists Master Classes are included in full registration or can be attended at a drop-in rate of $30/each. Email Janel Brown, jbrown@carolyndorfman.dance, with any questions. Click here to learn more about NJ SummerDance.
Erika Mero, Ballet Technique and Performance
Wednesday, August 16, 2017 at 9:30 to 11:00 a.m., 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
NJ SummerDance 2017 welcomes guest artist Erika Mero, ballet instructor at American Ballet Theatre’s Young Dancer Summer Workshop, Princeton Ballet School, The Lawrenceville School, and Mason Gross School of the Arts (Rutgers University). Erika’s ballet technique class involves working at both the barre and in the center. Intermediate and advanced students will have the opportunity to not only work on perfecting their technique, but to also work on the performance aspect of ballet technique and how to strengthen and improve these skills.
About Erika Mero
Erika Mero began her dance training at Princeton Ballet School. As a dancer in the Professional Training Program, she studied with Elisabeth Carroll, Septime Webre, Maria Youskevitch, Mary Pat Robertson and Douglas Martin. Ms. Mero was a member of Princeton Ballet II, a pre-professional company of the school, where she performed works by Sherry Alban and other members of the Princeton Ballet School staff. Later, as a dancer in American Repertory Ballet Workshop, Ms. Mero appeared in the premiere of Graham Lustig’s Standstill as well as the ballerina role of Swanhilda in Coppélia. During these years, she also attended The Juilliard School’s summer program for two years.
In 2006, Ms. Mero graduated Cum Laude with a BFA in Dance Performance from SUNY Purchase. While in attendance at SUNY, Ms. Mero began teaching at American Repertory Ballet’s Princeton Ballet School in 2003 and continues to do so as a ballet instructor. She is also a Dance Instructor with American Repertory Ballet’s DANCE POWER in New Brunswick and was named the Curriculum and Assessment Supervisor for the Program. Erika’s performance work includes two seasons with Stuart Loungway’s Terra Firma Dance Theatre, several opera productions with Opera New Jersey and as a featured dancer/choreographer in Capriccio at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. In May 2010, Erika graduated with an MA in Dance Education with a concentration in ABT Ballet Pedagogy from New York University.
Ms. Mero is an ABT® certified teacher who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 7 and Partnering of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. Erika has been on the faculty for ABT’s Young Dancer Summer Workshop since graduation from NYU and is currently an adjunct instructor at The Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, NJ as well as Rutgers University at Mason Gross School of the Arts.
NJ SummerDance 2017 welcomes guest artist, and former Carolyn Dorfman Dance company member, Jenna Riegel. This two hour workshop will delve into the techniques and mechanics of contemporary partnering focusing on anatomical efficiency and the coordinated efforts of both partners. We will utilize some of the foundational elements of contact improvisation such as gradation of weight sharing and giving, qualities of touch (low tone to high tone) and physical listening and alert responsiveness. We will examine and talk about the importance of the pelvic relationships between partners during any lift or maneuver. We will put theory to practice and learn codified lifts and maneuvers that highlight certain principles of partnering and also incorporate improvisational exercises centered around certain skill sets to help expand our partnering toolbox. The workshop will emphasize sensation, safety and economic execution over aesthetic or style.
NJ SummerDance 2017 welcomes guest artist Amit Shah, creator of AATMA Performing Arts, “an award-winning dance company that stands at the unique intersection of traditional Indian performance and modern movement.”
