NewDANCEfest

July 7-20, 2024
Maggie Allesee Studios for Dance & Arts Innovation
450 Enterprise Ct. Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302

Tuition: $1000

Ages 15-25

Acceptance to NewDANCEfest is by audition only. Please click HERE to submit your audition materials.

A multidimensional festival bringing artists together from a variety of different stages of development within the profession, NewDANCEfest provides daily technique classes in a variety of styles, choreography seminars, discussion forums, critique sessions, mentorship opportunities, informal showings and performances. NDF offers a space and opportunities for all; dancers and emerging choreographers alike! 

Dancers will be split into groups according to age and ability.


DANCE OR CREATE

The choice is yours - read more on these distinct divisions below.

DANCE
Ages 14+

An intense summer DANCE experience, this division of NewDANCEfest focuses on development in technique, choreography and performance. With daily classes in Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, and Repertory, the faculty provide a caring and inclusive environment with emphasis on technical and artistic growth. Experience the creative process by working with Emerging and Master Choreographers in the creation of original works set during the intensive and performed at the NDF Gala.

CREATE
Ages 16+

Focusing on craft and the choreographic process, this division of NewDANCEfest provides participants, ages 16 and older, with daily technique classes (ballet and contemporary among others) and lessons in composition from master choreographers. As part of NewDANCEfest, four artists will be adjudicated as Emerging Choreographers.  Selected artists will receive an individualized and mentored creative experience lead by master choreographers.  Each emerging artist will work with a cast of dancers and receive space to CREATE an original work.  The completed works will be presented on the NDF Gala program.

MEET OUR NewDANCEfest GUEST ARTISTS

Our NDF Guest Artists are master choreographers in the field of dance. Both artists will create new works for our festival participants which premiere at our NDF Gala performances. They also will teach technique classes, providing invaluable experience to festival dancers to learn from renowned artists in the dance field.

  • Madison Hicks holds a BFA in Dance from The Juilliard School and an MFA in Choreography from California Institute of the Arts. Madison is a freelance creator, performer, and educator. In 2022, she received the Orsolina28 “Call for Creation” residency for her project, “Corrupt(ed)”. Madison was one of eight choreographers chosen for The Jacobs Pillow Ann and Weston Hicks Choreographic Fellowship in 2021. In 2022 and 2023, Madison was commissioned by Loyola Marymount, The Fordham Ailey BFA program, Peabody University, Vitacca Ballet, and Wayne State University, along with being chosen as a choreographer for DanceLabNY and a choreographer in residence at Chez Bushwick. She was also a guest choreographer at The Juilliard School’s Summer Intensive, UNCSA Professional Studies, and MoveNYC in 2023. In the upcoming months Madison will be collaborating with Tony Yazbeck as Associate Choreographer for the Children of Eden premiere in Lincoln Center in 2024. She was the choreographer for “The Elixir of Love” Opera at Curtis Institute of Music. Madison is a company artist with Sidra Bell Dance New York. She is the Director and Founder of Moving Forward, an innovative Non-Profit Organization for young artists and founded The Moving Forward Collective in 2022, a group of collaborators that present original work across the country. They will be premiering their evening length work in June 2024. Madison has been commissioned by companies such as Ballet Arkansas, Avant Chamber Ballet, Mash-Up Contemporary Dance company, Ballet Project OC, and Water Street Dance Milwaukee. She has presented work at Arts on Site, Boston Dance Festival, LA Dance Festival, Palm Desert Choreography Festival, and others. She has been a guest choreographer for Orange County School of the Performing Arts, Lindenwood University, Booker T. Washington HSPVA Rep II Ensemble, The University of Texas at Austin, Center of Creative Arts, Houston MET Too, San Diego Civic Center, and The Windward School along with rigorously teaching artists of all ages. Madison is a faculty member at Steps on Broadway and School of American Ballet. She joined the 24Seven Break The Floor faculty in 2022.

    She was full-time company member with LA Dance Project under the direction of Benjamin Millepied for the 2018/2019 season. Since then, Madison has been a lead dancer in both Noosa Yoghurt and Lexus Commercials along with choreographing music videos for Eleanor Kingston and the Handsome Ghost. She was a 2013 YoungArts winner for modern dance, 2014 US Presidential Scholar in the Arts Nominee and a guest artist in the 2014 YoungArts Presidential Scholar Gala under the direction of Bill T. Jones. In January of 2017, she performed as a distinguished guest alumnus in the YoungArts annual Backyard Ball under the direction of Tony Yazbeck. She received a choreography award from YAGP in 2014 and had three choreographic works chosen to perform in The Choreographic Honors show at The Juilliard School. Madison was awarded the Gene Kelly Legacy Scholarship for her choreography and jazz technique in 2016. She has performed works by Nacho Duato, Jiri Kylian, Emily Molnar, Kyle Abraham, Ohad Naharin, Peter Chu, Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham, Aszure Barton, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, Benjamin Millepied, and Pam Tanowitz.

    www.madisonhicks.com

  • Jake Tribus (he/him) is a 2020 graduate of USC’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance under the direction of Jodie Gates. He currently dances for Gibney Company, and joined in 2020. Tribus’ past training includes intensives with Netherlands Dance Theater, Batsheva Gaga Technique, The Juilliard School, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Additionally he has performed repertoire from choreographers William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite, Jîrí Kylián, Twyla Tharp, Johan Inger, Sharon Eyal, Paul Taylor, Victor Quijada, Aszure Barton, Sonya Tayeh, and Dwight Rhoden. Jake has performed on stages including The Joyce Theatre (with Gibney Company and the Glorya Kaufman School of Dance), The Shed (with A Quiet Evening of Dance by William Forsythe), the Kampnagel International Summer Festival (premiering Where There’s Form by Aszure Barton), and in 2022 the Fire Island Dance Festival (choreography by Akira Uchida and Micaela Taylor). He has also performed in music videos and on stage for artists including Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Lorde, Backstreet Boys, and Janet Jackson, among others. He most recently was a featured dancer in a fragrance campaign for fashion brand Carolina Herrera under the direction of Stephen Galloway. Jake is the recipient of a 2022 Princess Grace Award in Dance. Jake was a lead actor and dancer in “Daytripper,” a film directed and choreographed by James Whiteside in partnership with All Arts (a program of PBS). He is originally from Raleigh, North Carolina, where he began his training at CC & Company Dance Complex. He also trained at Next Generation Ballet in Tampa, Florida, under the direction of Peter Stark.


NDF EMERGING CHOREOGRAPHERS

Get to know our 2024 Emerging Choreographers below.

These selected artists will receive an individualized and mentored creative experience lead by master choreographers.  Each emerging artist will work with a cast of dancers and receive space to CREATE an original work.  The completed works will be presented on the NDF Gala program.

ALEXIS DIGGS

Alexis Diggs (she/her) is a 24-year-old independent artist from Dayton, Ohio. She is a 2023 Black Midwest Initiative fellow, a Culture Works Artist Opportunity Grantee, and an Allegro Grant recipient. A former Doug Varone Devices choreographer and Sarasota Contemporary Dance Company Rising Choreographer, Lex has created and presented works in Cleveland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York City, Florida, and the greater Dayton area. She is a part of the Jacob’s Pillow 2023-2024 Curriculum In Motion Institute Cohort. She has been on the teaching faculty for Ohio University Summer Dance, Ohio Dance Festival, Miami Valley Ballet Theater, and Jeraldyne’s School of Dance, as well as a classroom instructor for Dayton Contemporary Dance Company’s Education Outreach program. Her central artistic mission is to create and be a part of work that provokes thought, feeds the soul, and ignites a desire to learn, love, and share with the collective.

NATHAN CREWE-KLUGE

Nathan Crewe-Kluge (he/him) grew up in La Grange IL. He trained in Chicago under Claire Bataille in Lou Conte Dance Studio’s Scholarship Program, and in programs with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Giordano Dance Chicago, DanceWorks Chicago, and River North Dance Chicago. While training, he also performed as an apprentice with Chicago Repertory Ballet and Winifred Haun & Dancers. In 2019, Nathan had the privilege of studying classical ballet abroad at Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts. In 2022, he graduated summa cum laude from SUNY Purchase College with a BFA in Dance Performance, concentrating in Composition. Nathan currently dances and creates with Mareck Dance (formerly Missouri Contemporary Ballet). He is excited to grow and continue exploring his creativity at NDF this summer!

MADDIE MCKNIGHT

Maddie McKnight (she/her) is a native of Beaufort, South Carolina where she began her dance training competitively. McKnight is an alumni of Douglas Anderson School of the Arts (Jacksonville, FL) and is currently pursuing her BFA in Dance at Montclair State University with a Minor in Business. At Montclair State University, she has performed in works by Cameron McKinney, Andre Tyson, Christian Von Howard, Hollis Bartlett and Nattie Trogdon, Jessie DiMauro Marks, among others. McKnight is currently in the process of developing choreographic repertoire and finding her voice as a young creator. Currently her choreographic exploration looks at contemporary and postmodern aesthetics and how they relate to dramatically driven movement. She has recently premiered her own choreographic work, "Nodus Tollens” in April of 2024, as well as multimedia work at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 2023.

JUNE WALLACE

June Wallace (they/he) is born and raised in Michigan, and is a current student at Oakland University. They are entering their second year as a double major in Dance (BFA) and Psychology (BA). They plan to attend graduate school in order to receive a Dance/Movement Therapy Degree after graduating college. June has been able to combine their passion for dance and mental health awareness into their future. They have had the opportunity to work with choreographers Neda Ebrahimi, Lauren Anderson, Ali Woerner and The Take Root Dancers, Wade Schaaf, Stephanie Pizzo, Brandon Harneck, Stephen Sanford, Ella Dorman, Duncan Cooper, Laura Berman, and Carley Klebba. Lastly, June has collaborated with choreographer Ari Mokdad of Embodied Arts Collective and performed with Ari Mokdad, Elizabeth Schmuhl in Water Studies, and Justin Koertgen in The Nutcracker.


NewDANCEfest Lodging

We are delighted to offer lodging at the Auburn Hills/Pontiac Residence Inn for NewDANCEfest 2024.

Available July 7-20

$1,260.00

Auburn Hills/Pontiac Residence Inn: 3333 Centerpoint Parkway Pontiac, MI

$90/night for 14 nights

Suites: Each contain a queen bed and full bathroom. Shared full kitchen, living and dining room. Complimentary Wifi and Breakfast *Dancers will either be assigned a roommate or can request a roommate.


QUESTIONS ABOUT NewDANCEfest?

Email EDD Director of Operations, Lindsay Chirio-Humenay, for more information or questions regarding our summer intensives.