Yuriko Kajiya and Jared Matthews will perform as guest artists at the 7 p.m. program on Saturday, April 28, in the Norman L. Fagan West Virginia State Theater at the Cultural Center, State Capitol Complex, Charleston, when the West Virginia Division of Culture and History presents the 2007 West Virginia Dance Festival. This marks the 26th year of the event.
Kajiya was born in Nagoya, Japan, and began her ballet training at the Matsumoto Michiko Ballet. In 1997, at the age of 13, she won the Best Performance Award in the senior category at the Tao Li Bei National Ballet competition. In 1999, she became one of the youngest finalists at the Third International Ballet Competition in Nagoya and the following year, she won the Prix de Lausanne Scholarship and Public Prize which enabled her to study at the National Ballet School in Canada.
Recently Kajiya was invited to dance the leading role of Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Matsumoto Michiko Ballet in Japan. She has danced numerous performances of the Nutcracker with American regional ballet companies. In 2002, Kajiya joined the corps de ballet of the American Ballet Theatre (ABT). Her solo repertoire includes the waltz in Les Sylphides, the Pas de Trois in Swan Lake, flower girl in Don Quixote, Twyla Tharp’s The Upper Room and Jiri Kylians’ Petit Mort, among others.
Kajiya currently is being coached by David Howard, the world-renowned ballet master, and appears in his latest DVD, Jumps, Leaps and Bounds. She is a model for Capezio dancewear and appears in the 2007 calendar “Angel Corella and the Men and Women of American Ballet.”
Matthews was born in Houston and received his early ballet training there under the guidance of Victoria Vittum and Gilbert Rome. He was awarded scholarships to study at the North Carolina School of the Arts summer program and summer intensives at the Joffrey Ballet School and School of American Ballet. He joined the ABT as a member of the corps de ballet in 2003.
Matthews’ company repertoire includes Benvolio in Kenneth MacMillan’s production of Romeo and Juliet, Benno and Neapolitan Dance in Swan Lake, Peasant Pas de Deux in Giselle, The Head Wrangler in Rodeo, leading roles in Cinderella, Sechs Tanze, Petite Mort, Workwithinwork and featured roles in Gong, Clear, The Upper Room and Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes. As a guest artist, Matthews has performed with both the Noriko Hara Ballet, and the Kakamura Ballet Company in Japan. He also has danced with the Rochester City Ballet, Civic Ballet of Chicago and the Houston Repertoire Ballet.
Matthews has taught partnering classes for The David Howard Foundation’s “A Month of Sundays” program. He is a model for Capezio dancewear and appears in the 2007 calendar “Angel Corella and the Men and Women of American Ballet.” He also performs in Howard’s latest DVD, Jumps, Leaps and Bounds.
Two nights of performances, beginning on Friday, April 27, at 7 p.m., will showcase the talent of West Virginia dancers who come to perform and take classes from a nationally acclaimed festival faculty. The Friday night concert will feature performances by 17 West Virginia dance groups and Saturday night will showcase another 15 groups. In addition, the guest artists will perform two pieces on Saturday evening.
The evening performances are free and open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis; seating is limited. A schedule of both concerts is attached.
The West Virginia Dance Festival presents dance professionals leading workshops and classes, performance situations and a focus on dance as an art form. Thirty-seven dance groups consisting of more than 400 dancers will participate in this year’s festival. Classes begin on Friday, April 27, and continue throughout the three-day festival.
For more information about the 2007 West Virginia Dance Festival or other programs of the Division of Culture and History, call (304) 558-0162.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts, brings together the state’s past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. Its administrative offices are located at the Cultural Center in the State Capitol Complex in Charleston, which also houses the state archives and state museum. The Cultural Center is West Virginia’s official showcase for the arts. The agency also operates a network of museums and historic sites across the state. For more information about the Division’s programs, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
Friday, April 27, 2007 Performing Groups
(in order of appearance)
Charleston Ballet, Charleston
Kim Pauley, director
Capital High School, Charleston
A. Michelle Legg, director
Morgantown Dance Studio, Morgantown
Liz Finklea/Lauren Quattro, directors
School of River City Youth Ballet, Charleston
Michelle Raider, director
Inwood Dance Company, Inwood
Denna Smith, director
WV Wesleyan College Dance Company Group II
Buckhannon
Linwood Young, director
Pineville Dance Theatre, Beckley
Toneta Akers-Toler, director
Mid Ohio Valley Ballet Company, Parkersburg
Suzy Gunter, director
West Virginia Dance Company, Beckley
Toneta Akers-Toler/Donald Laney, directors
The Art Center School of Dance, Huntington
Ella Hay, director
River City Youth Ballet Ensemble, Charleston
Michelle Raider, director
Oglebay Institute School of Dance, Wheeling
Cheryl Pompeo, director
West Virginia Wesleyan College, Buckhannon
Clay Daniel, director
JADCO Contemporary Dance Company, Charleston
January Johnson Wolfe, director
Friends of Culture and History Scholarship Student
Jennifer Arnold, Charleston
Trillium Performing Youth, Lewisburg
Beth White/Carli Mareneck, directors
Beckley Jazz, Beckley
Brianne Barton, director
Saturday, April 28, 2007 Performing Groups
(in order of appearance)
West Virginia Dance Company, Charleston
Toneta Akers-Toler/Donald Laney, directors
West Virginia University Dance
Heather Ahern, director
Schrader Youth Ballet, Parkersburg
Velma Schrader, director
American Academy of Ballet, Charleston
Kim Pauley, director
Dance Underground, South Charleston
Kristen Pennington, director
Academy of Arts at January’s
January Johnson Wolfe/Jamie Anderson, directors
Huntington Dance Theatre
Jamie Turner, director
Momentum Center for the Arts, Clarksburg
Jamie Kinney Stutler, director
Guest Artists
Yuriko Kajika and Jared Matthews
Beckley Dance Theatre School
Jerry Rose, director
Trillium Performing Arts Collective, Lewisburg
Jo Weisbrod, director
Alchemy Dance Project
Angela Dennis, director
Guest Artists
Yuriko Kajika and Jared Matthews
Next Step Dance Ensemble, Lewisburg
Ginny Walls, director
Bridgeport High School Dance Ensemble, Bridgeport
Stephanie Morris, director
Princeton Dance Studio, Princeton
Janis Gunnoe, director
Beckley Dance Theater, Beckley
Jerry Rose, director
Heather Zickefoose, ballet mistress
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