Bill Evans (dancer)
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James William Evans or Bill Evans (born 1931) is an American choreographer, performer, teacher, administrator, writer and movement analyst. More than 250 of Evans' works have been performed by professional and pre-professional ballet, modern dance and tap dance companies throughout the United States, including his own Bill Evans Dance Company, Ruth Page Chicago Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theatre, and many other companies. [multiple citations needed] He may also have created works for companies in Canada, Mexico and New Zealand.[multiple citations needed]
Childhood and education
[edit]A native of Lehi, Utah,[1] Evans began his performing career during childhood, appearing regularly on the Juvenile Jamboree, a Salt Lake City television program in the 1950s. [citation needed] He began studying ballet and character dance with Willam Christensen at age 15. [citation needed]
Evans was a scholarship student at the University of Utah, where he danced in Orchesis, directed by Shirley Ririe and Joan Woodbury and in the Utah Theatre Ballet. He received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) Degree in English and a BA-equivalent in ballet, from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City in 1963.[citations needed]
He moved to New York City, where he was a scholarship student at the Joffrey Ballet School. He returned to the University of Utah in 1967 and was awarded a master of fine arts degree in modern dance in 1970.[citations needed]
Evans has studied Laban Movement Analysis since 1976 [citation needed].
Dance career
[edit]Evans first danced professionally in 1966 with the Briansky Ballet in New York City.[citation needed] After dancing with the Lyric Opera of Chicago and touring nationally with Ruth Page's Chicago Ballet, he returned to Utah, where he joined the Repertory Dance Theatre in 1967.[citation needed]. He remained with the company working full-time as a dancer, choreographer and one of three artistic coordinators until 1974. [citation needed]
In 1970, he founded the Bill Evans Solo Dance Repertory. [citation needed]
In 1974, Evans formed his own professional ensemble, the Bill Evans Dance Company (BEDCO). [citation needed]
In 1976, he moved BEDCO to Seattle, Washington. [citation needed] He also became artistic director of Dance Theatre Seattle/Bill Evans Dance Company School.[2]
In 1977, he founded the Bill Evans Summer Institute of Dance in Seattle.
In 1983-1984, Evans was the artistic director, resident choreographer and company teacher of Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers, the oldest professional modern dance company in Canada.[3]
In 1986, Evans became associate professor and director of contemporary dance at Indiana University, where BEDCO was in residence.[citation needed]
In 1988, Evans joined the faculty at the University of New Mexico, Theatre and Dance Department as Full Professor and Head of Dance. His company was based in New Mexico for 16 years. [citations needed]
In 1992, he set up the Bill Evans Rhythm Tap Ensemble. He founded the New Mexico Tap Festival and Dance Tap Jam in 1999. [citations needed].
From 2004 through 2014, his company was based at The College at Brockport, State University of New York.[citation needed]
The Bill Evans Dance Company celebrated its 40th anniversary in April, 2014. [citation needed]
In 2014, Evans relocated to Providence, Rhode Island.[citation needed]
In 2017, He founded the Evans Somatic Dance Institute in 2017. [citation needed]
In 2018, Evans moved to Port Townsend, Washington. [citation needed]
Choreography
[edit]Evans has choreographed more than 250 works.[citations needed] Some of his pieces are: For Betty, Quartet for Jamie, Octet for Jacquie, Requiem for Janet, For Tim, The Legacy, Impressions of Willow Bay, Colony, Bach Dances, Tres Tangos, Jukebox, When Summoned, Tin-Tal, Five Songs in August, Yes Indeed, Los Ritmos Calientes, Velorio, Saintly Passion, Barefoot Boy With Marbles in His Toes, Climbing to the Moon, Albuquerque Love Song, Dreamweaver, Together Through Time, Rhythms of the Earth, Within Bounds, Hard Times, Craps, Naturescape Unfolding, Diverse Concerto, Multiple Margaret, Alternating Current, Prairie Fever, Doin' M' Best, Keep On Tryin', Remembering, Cuttin' A Rug, Field of Blue Children, Mixin' It Up, Double Bill Echoes of Autumn and Suite Benny. He has collaborated with jazz musicians, including Bill Evans the jazz pianist—with whom he created Double Bill and Mixin It Up, in 1978 and 1979. Other famous collaborators have included ballerinas Cynthia Gregory and Christine Sarry.[4]
Teaching career
[edit]Evans has been an assistant professor of Modern Dance at the University of Utah, [dates & citation needed] a visiting professor at the University of Washington [4] and an associate professor and coordinator of the Contemporary Dance Program at Indiana University. [dates & citation needed] He is Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Dance at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where he served as a full-time faculty member from 1988 to 2004.[citation needed] He is Visiting Professor Emeritus at The College at Brockport, State University of New York. [dates & citation needed] He served as a professor of dance or artist in residence at Dean College in Franklin, Massachusetts from 2014 through May 2018. [citation needed]
Method of Teaching Dance Technique
[edit]In 1976, Evans worked internationally in the field of somatics-based dance technique. [citation needed]
Since 1999, his summer programs have shared his pedagogy of dance technique with dance educators. [citation needed]
In 2002, he founded a Certification Program in the Evans Method of Teaching Dance Technique. [citation needed]
In 2003, Evans founded the annual Somatic Dance Conference and Performance Festival. [citation needed] Conferences/Festivals have taken place at the College of Brockport (2013-2014), Dean College (2015) and Hobart and William Smith Colleges (2016-2019). An additional conference called Dance Science and Pedagogy, took place at New Mexico State University in 2016. [multiple citations needed]
Publications and Organizations
[edit]His book, Reminiscences of a Dancing Man: A Photographic Essay of a Life in Dance was published by the National Dance Association in 2005. [citation needed] He wrote a monthly column, Tips for Modern Teachers, for Dance Studio Life 2011-2014. [citation needed]
Awards and recognition
[edit]Evans has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and thirteen fellowships and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. [dates & citations needed]
In 1997, he was selected as the National Dance Association Scholar/Artist. [citation needed] NDA published his keynote address, Teaching What I want to Learn. [date & citation needed]
In 2001, he received the New Mexico Governor's Award for Excellence and Achievement in the Arts. [citation needed]
In 2004, he was selected, along with Savion Glover and Brenda Bufalino, as one of three favourite world tap dance artists in the Dance Magazine Readers' Choice Poll. [citation needed]
In 2005, Evans received the National Dance Education Organization's Lifetime Achievement Award. [citation needed]
In 2009, he received the Dance Teacher Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award. [citation needed]
In 2010, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of Fine Arts by the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. [citation needed]
In 2011, he received the Outstanding Service Award from the National High School Dance Festival. [citation needed]
In 2013, he was also made an honorary member of the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science. [citation needed]
In 2014, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Dance Guild at the Ailey City group Theatre in New York City. [citation needed]
In 2015, he received the Choreography Fellowship from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts. [citation needed]
In 2017, the Bill Evans Dance Company received the Dorry Award for Providence's Best Dance Performance of the Year. [citation needed] Evans completed a Fulbright Specialist residency, at Universidad Nacional in Heredia, Costa Rica. [citation needed]
His choreographic works have been selected for gala performances at numerous regional conferences of the American College Dance Festival Association, and at three of the ACDFA National Festivals. [multiple dates & citations needed]
References
[edit]- ^ "Bill Evans | Department of Dance | University of Washington". dance.washington.edu. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
- ^ "William "Bill" Evans – Repertory Dance Theatre". Retrieved 2024-07-02.
- ^ Crabbe, Michael; Botaitis, James (March 4, 2015). "Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers". Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
- ^ a b "Bill Evans | Department of Dance | University of Washington". dance.washington.edu. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
Further reading
[edit]- Rochester City Newspaper article by Casey Carlsen, November 26, 2008 Archived December 16, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- The Dancer Within: Intimate Conversations with Great Dancers, by Rose Eichnbaum, published by Wesleyan University Press, 2008
- Seven Statements of Survival: Conversations with Dance Professionals (Carolyn Carlson, Bill Evans, Garth Fagan, Deborah Jowitt, Joann Keali’Nohomoku, Madeleine Nichols and Andrea Snyder), edited by Renata Chilchowska, published by Dance and Movement Press, 2007
- Will Modern Dance Survive? Lessons to be Learned from the Pioneers and Unsung Visionaries of Modern Dance, written by Beth Soll, published by the Edwin Mellon Press, 2002
External links
[edit]- Evans Somatic Dance
- Bill Evans Dance website
- Seattle Modern Dance: The Legacy of Bill Evans, symposium, September 30, 2007 Archived February 20, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
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