On July 22, 23, 24 and 29, 30, 31 at 8 P.M., The Windhover Dance Company in collaboration with Dušan Týnek Dance Theatre of New York City will present Illuminated Dances, an evening of dances based on the arts of painting and sculpture. What these performances will demonstrate is the invaluable interconnection between the arts—how one takes from and inspires the other—to the advantages of each, and how the arts are truly inseparable. The paintings and sculptures that Windhover Dancers will use for their inspiration are all based on Cape Ann artists, with a focus on the Lanesville section of Cape Ann—the men and women who worked here in the 20^th century and produced some of the greatest art in America—artists such as Walker Hancock, George Demetrios, Mary Maletskos, Paul Manship.

The music for the dances will be composed by Joe Mulholland, Berklee professor of music, who has been associated with Windhover for over twenty years, composing the music for “The Battle for Pigeon Cove Harbor”, “Dogtown Common”, and many other dance and dance/theater pieces that have been performed at Windhover since 1986. A brilliant jazz pianist, he and vocalist Didi Stewart have been presenting sold-out cabaret performances at Windhover for the past 15 years.

Dušan Týnek Dance Theatre will perform the critically acclaimed new work by the young, emerging choreographer, Dušan Týnek – “Camera Illuminata” – a work in five sections, inspired by the paintings of Egon Schiele, Hippolyte Flandrin, John Currin, Caravaggio and Degas. In a series of five duets and solos, Týnek captures the essence of each of the paintings, ending with Degas’ “Absinthe Drinker”, which prompted Jack Anderson, critic for the New York Times, to conclude his review: “The last episode brought the fascinating suite to a powerful conclusion.”

Windhover’s commitment to education in all the arts and to celebrating Cape Ann artists in particular will be realized in these events. Our aim is to entertain, and enlighten the public about the importance and the riches of the arts in our community, how and why it has attracted so many celebrated artists, and how these artists, in turn, have inspired and been inspired by the art of dance.

For the fifth year we will be sponsoring the intensive dance workshop: “Windhover Spreads Its Wings” during the week of July 17-23. As in the past we will hold scholarship auditions for this workshop and expect, as we did last year, to give fifteen full or part-time scholarships to the students in need, so they can attend. Our faculty are highly qualified dancers and instructors, including New York-based dancers from Dušan Týnek Dance Theatre as well as members of the Windhover Dance Company. Carol Burnham is the director of both the Company and the workshops. A graduate of Purchase who majored in dance, she has succeeded in making the workshop so successful that it fills early every year and has a waiting list. Many students return year after year and some are now going on to colleges as dance majors and to careers in dance. One of our former students, Eden Mazer, of Gloucester, is now a professional dancer in New York City and will be appearing with Dušan Týnek Dance Theatre as well as teaching during the workshop.

All performances are open to our students free of charge—and some students have appeared in our annual dance performances. Most recently, 12 year old  Nina Brindamour appeared as the central character, the Enfanta, in “Las Meninas Variations”, performed by the Windhover Dance Company during their March season at the West End Theater in Gloucester.

Ticket prices for these performances are very low ($15 for adults: $10 for seniors and children) to keep them affordable, and the cost of presenting them is high. So we need to raise funds to help support this project. So far, this year, we have raised over $8000 in unsolicited contributions! In the spring of 2005 we will actively solicit contributions.