US dance schools seek out TT talent

TWO major dance schools will visit Trinidad to hold auditions, scout for talent and offer opportunities for scholarships, as part of the Coco Dance Festival.

Florida State University (FSU) School of Dance will hold auditions for its MFA and MA graduate programmes on October 27 from 10 am-1 pm at the Academy for the Performing Arts at Napa, Port of Spain. The university will offer scholarship and in-state tuition opportunities for outstanding local talent.

In a media release, Dr LaToya Davis-Craig of the Specialised Faculty in community relations and special programmes, School of Dance said partnering with Coco Dance Festival solved one of the university’s growing concerns in attempting to remove barriers from international students to successfully applying for, and making it to, its on-site auditions in Tallahassee, Florida “We are excited to host our first off-site audition ever and for it to be in connection with Coco,” Davis-Craig said in a media release. The FSU auditions are free, but pre-registration is strongly recommended. For more info: dance.fsu.edu/programs-2/auditions/trinidad-auditions/

Also visiting in search of talent will be the Joffrey Ballet School of New York which will hold auditions for its Summer Intensives 2019 and dance classes on October 28, at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s.

Yusha-Marie Sorzano, master faculty member at Joffrey’s in New York, said, “Joffrey is thrilled to collaborate with COCO again. This relationship was born out of my desire to build a bridge to my TT roots — to connect with young local talent and provide them with opportunities to train in the US mecca for dance, New York City.”

Sorzano, who was born in Port of Spain, migrated to the US when she was eight years old. “I didn’t actually start training in ballet and modern until I’d moved to the States, but what Trini doesn’t dance from birth,” she said?

“This is now the third year that we have worked with the festival, and we are honoured to be a part of this year’s tenth anniversary.

Registration for the auditions is at 9 am and for jazz and contemporary at 10.30 am. The auditions will be held immediately after registration.

For more info: summer.joffreyballetschool.com

The main Coco Dance Festival, runs from October 26-28. For more info: cocodancett@gmail.com.