NEW WORK: First Full Performances of "Secrets on the Way" in April 2013

The Danse Lumière company, recognized for adapting great works of literature to the stage through a fusion of dance, music, and theater, will present the first full performances of Secrets on the Way, inspired by the poetry of Nobel Prize winner Tomas Tranströmer, and choreographed by Kathryn Roszak.

Secrets on the Way will be performed by Blythe Berg, Ramzi Jneid, Nitipat Pholchai, Lissa Resnick, and Linnea Snyderman, with readings by actor Earll Kingston.

Edgy, urban choreography combines with dances traveling through the numinous landscape of Tranströmer's poetry, on a journey into the wild within nature and ourselves.

See the Mercury News.com article posted on March 28 about the new work and the company.

The work is supported in part by a grant from the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation.

Our fifth annual Summer Dance Camp for Children and Teens (ages 4-13+) will take place for two weeks, July 15-19 and July 22-26, 2013, Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm. You may register for one week or both. This is a very popular program that includes Creative Movement, Ballet, and Tap (Flamenco, Jazz, and Dance/Science workshops may also be included). Afternoon camp is also available to 3:00 pm (ages 6-13+). You may inquire about early sign-up (by 3/18) and sibling discounts.

Contact and Registration: 510-233-5550 or 510-439-7518 • kdance@sonic.net

This year our camp will be located in a beautiful neighborhood and setting, at Studio Haba Na Haba, 1936 Thousand Oaks Blvd., in Berkeley, just down from Arlington and near the top of Solano Ave. This is a spacious dance studio, with a park-like outdoor deck area for art. We offer a wonderful performing arts experience; children work on new shows each week, for a family open-house performance on each Friday.

Kathryn is teaching Moving Pictures: Dance and Film for the Spring 2013 term at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at UC Berkeley. This is Kathryn's fifth year as an instructor at OLLI, and her dance-oriented courses have proved popular (the current course is full, with an open wait list). Films to be discussed and analyzed include The Red Shoes, Pina, White Nights, La Danse, Ballet Russes, and Black Swan. There will be notable guest speakers. The course runs on Fridays from April 5 to May 10.

On Saturday, March 23, 2013 the Aveda Fourth Street Shops, located at 1846 Fourth Street in Berkeley, generously held a benefit in support of Danse Lumière programs (scholarships and performances), as well as the Clean Water Fund.

There was a donation menu (PDF) of their services and treatments, for what was billed as an evening of Dance, Beauty, and Wellness. Danse Lumière company dancers engaged in impromptu sidewalk performances along Fourth Street, to the delight and/or mystification of passers-by, some of whom happily joined in.

This was our second annual benefit there, and we thank the Aveda Fourth Street Shops.

Our successful, high-quality Dance Program for Children & Teens is in its 12th year of providing classes for girls and boys in Creative Movement as well as Beginning and Intermediate Ballet. We've been recommended in Berkeley Parents Network, and have been listed as one of the Best Dance Studios in the Bay Area by CBS5 (KPIX-TV) "Eye on the Bay".

In Fall 2012 the program moved to 2055 Center Street, in the heart of Downtown Berkeley's Arts District. We use Studio B in the new Berkeley Central (formerly Arpeggio) building, just a half block down from Shattuck Ave. and the Downtown Berkeley BART station. Join us as we DANCE ON CENTER ^SM.

Spring 2013 classes are now finishing, with our end-of-session studio recitals coming up in May. Registration for Fall 2013 classes will be announced soon.

Contact and Registration:
510-233-5550 or 510-439-7518 • kdance@sonic.net

Students from Kathryn Roszak's Dance Program for Children and Teens performed their annual chamber recital version of "The Nutcracker" on Saturday, December 1, 2012 at the Osher Studio in Downtown Berkeley. This is always a fun and inventive performance, and our students were joined by members of the Danse Lumière company, some of whom could share with the kids their own professional experiences performing the full ballet. The event was a great success, and very well attended. Before the performance the audience was entertained by live klezmer renditions of Tchaikovsky's famous music.

As the Cal Performances dance specialist, Kathryn Roszak hosts selected "Sightlines" pre-curtain talks. In October 2012 the Mariinsky Ballet and Orchestra performed Swan Lake at Zellerbach Hall. Many will remember the legendary Saint Petersburg-based Russian company by its former name, Leningrad-Kirov Ballet (from which emerged equally-legendary names in dance, including Balanchine, Ulanova, Nureyev, Makarova, and Baryshnikov). Kathryn was invited to the final dress rehearsal, where she met and discussed with Ballet Director Yury Fateev the company and its fascinating history.

Other notable interviews in 2012 included choreographer Bill T. Jones, Alvin Ailey Artistic Director Robert Battle, and choreographer Lucinda Childs for the re-staging of Einstein on the Beach.

"Sightlines" pre-curtain talks are open to ticket holders for that night's performance. Kathryn's other scheduled talks and guests during the current Cal Performances season include Joffrey Ballet Artistic Director Ashley Wheater; Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Artistic Director Glenn Edgerton with Alonzo King; and Boris Eifman (Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg, Russia).

In March 2013 Ms. Roszak also led a private pre-performance talk, "Perspectives on Trisha Brown Dance Company", in the Zellerbach Lounge.

Kathryn Roszak was grateful to have been honored with a Proclamation by Mayor Tom Bates and the City of Berkeley, in September 2012, for her artistic and educational contributions, as well as for "broadening and enlarging our knowledge of the realities of other people's lives".

The process of updating and expanding the Danse Lumière website continues, so please bear with us if you encounter any inactive links or other temporary weirdness.

Current development includes a new Company and Performances section highlighting recent major works.