WINSTON-SALEM – A number of distinguished guest artists, including alumni, will teach at the North Carolina School of the Arts during “Intensive Arts,” which runs this week and next, through Dec. 9.  

“Intensive Arts,” a two-week period that follows Thanksgiving and precedes the winter break, is devoted to focused arts studies. Traditionally, workshops, master classes and interdisciplinary endeavors substitute for the regular class schedule.  

Among the special guest artists this year are:  

In the School of Dance:

·        NCSA alumna Kashanna Brown will teach hip hop. A 2004 graduate of NCSA in contemporary dance, Brown has pursued a professional career with Cleveland Contemporary Dance Theater, where she has performed works by Diane McIntyre, Gary Abbot and David Rouseve. Brown just finished her first season with the Open Dream Ensemble, an interdisciplinary performing group composed of NCSA alumni and a project of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts. 

• Alan Onickel will teach jazz dance. An internationally renowned teacher, performer, and choreographer, Onickel is on staff at the famous STEPS studio on Broadway, where he teaches tap and jazz (theatre dance). He teaches for Dance Masters of America, Dance Educators of America, New York City Dance Alliance, and internationally. As a performer, he has performed lead roles in “A Chorus Line,” “West Side Story,” “The Tap Dance Kid,” and others.

·        NCSA alumna Sharon Skepple Mayfield will teach Caribbean dance. Born in Antigua, W.I., she began her studies in St. Croix and continued with the Caribbean Dance Company before coming to NCSA, where she garnered a Nancy Reynolds Scholarship. She joined Garth Fagan Dance in 1988. She currently teaches classes for the company, both at home and on tour. She received a 1999 New York Performance Award ("Bessie") and has been featured in Fagan's major works, such as “Two Pieces of One: Green,” “Telling a Story,” and “Moth Dreams.”

 In the School of Design and Production:

·         NCSA alumnus Barclay Stiff will lead a session on becoming a New York stage manager. Stiff was the production stage manager for “Whoopi” on Broadway.

·         NCSA alumnus Michael Clark will teach a workshop on using projections as part of scenery. Clark’s projections were seen on Broadway in “Lennon.” He was the associate production stage manager at Playwrights Horizon.

·         NCSA alumnus Scott Poitras will detail the stage automation used in the Broadway hit “Spamalot,” where he works in automation.

·         NCSA alumna Sara Lucas will discuss being a stage manager for Cirque du Soleil. She currently is stage managing “La Nouba” for Cirque du Soleil in Orlando.
 

·         NCSA alumni Clay Benning and Michel Marrano will teach workshops on the job of the resident sound designer in regional theatre. Benning is currently sound designer at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta; Marrano, at PlayMakers Rep in Chapel Hill.

·         NCSA alumna Chastity Collins will teach a workshop on painting stage props. She has worked at Syracuse University and the University of Tennessee, as well as Santa Fe Opera.

 In the School of Drama:

·         Ray Vrazel Jr. will conduct a mime/improv workshop for high school drama students. His work with the students will culminate in a Mime Circus, a show that will include their original mime acts created during Intensive Arts. Vrazel is the theatre arts chair at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), which is temporarily closed because of Hurricane Katrina. NCSA has enrolled several NOCCA students.

·         NCSA alumnus Dikki Ellis will teach movement and circus techniques. A native of Mt. Airy, Ellis has worked with the Big Apple Circus in New York.

·         NCSA alumna Ashley Gates Jansen will teach a class on text analysis. A member of NCSA’s first directing class, Jansen has worked at the Old Globe in San Diego, the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland and San Francisco’s Encore Theatre.

·         Chuck Hudson will conduct period and style workshops. An actor, director, fight director and movement specialist, Hudson is one of only three Americans to have received a diploma from the Marcel Marceau International School of Mimedrama in Paris.

·         Laura Henry will be teaching acting workshops. Henry is one of the country’s leading instructors of the Meisner technique.

In the School of Filmmaking:

·         NCSA alumnus David LaChapelle, who studied in NCSA’s Visual Arts Program, will screen his critically acclaimed new film, RIZE, for students, and will teach a workshop on music videos and visual arts/photography. Here’s what Peter Travers of “Rolling Stone” said about RIZE: “David LaChapelle is best known as a photographer. Rize, a documentary like no other, reveals a born filmmaker. His subject is krumping, a hip-hop dance phenom so kinetic you'll swear that the frames of the film have been speeded up (they haven't). … There's no way to take your eyes off it.” In addition to his ground-breaking still photography, LaChapelle has directed music videos for artists including Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne, Moby, Macy Gray, Elton John and Christina Aguilera.

·         Feodor Pitcairn, president of Feodor Pitcairn Productions, which specializes in television and educational productions featuring marine life, will screen HUMPBACK WHALES for students and will teach a workshop in underwater cinematography. Pitcairn has traveled worldwide, filming and photographing underwater for “National Geographic” and many others. He has produced a five-part series, titled “Ocean Wilds,” which includes REALM OF THE KILLER WHALE. Laura Vagnone, vice president of development and production for Feodor Pitcairn Productions, will be joining Pitcairn for the screening of HUMPBACK WHALES. She also will be teaching a workshop on post-production and marketing.

·         Joan Darling, an actress and director with both Emmy and Directors Guild of America awards to her credit, will teach workshops for directing and screenwriting students. She has served as a creative adviser for the Sundance Film Lab for the last six years. Darling directed “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” episode titled “Chuckles,” which was chosen as the No. 1 television episode of all time by “TV Guide,” and was the original director of the ground-breaking show, “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.” Her directing credits also include Steven Spielberg's AMAZING STORIES series, RICH MAN POOR MAN, “Magnum P.I.” “Doogie Howser,” “MASH,” and “Rhoda.”

·         NCSA alumnus Angus MacLachlan, who studied in the School of Drama, and Phil Morrison, a Winston-Salem native, will screen their hit film, JUNEBUG, for students. MacLachlan, who wrote the film, also will teach a screenwriting seminar. MacLachlan’s awards include the Lois and Richard Rosenthal New Play Prize and the New Play Competition at Actor's Theatre of Santa Rosa, Calif. His play, “Stone,” starring Stacy Keach, was recently presented as part of the Mark Taper Forum’s New Work Festival. Morrison, who directed JUNEBUG, has directed an episode of “The Adventures of Pete and Pete” for Nickelodeon and a long-form Godard homage for X-Girl clothing, starring Chloe Sevigny. His music videos include clips for Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo, Superchunk, and The Feelies.

·         Michael Miller, a film editor, will screen his MILLER’S CROSSING for students. His other film credits include SOUL PLANE, BOYS ON THE SIDE, SWING KIDS, and RAISING ARIZONA.

In the School of Music:

·         Kara DeRaad Santos will give master classes for flute students. Santos, a former student of NCSA faculty member Tadeu Coelho at the University of Iowa and Leone Buyse at the University of Michigan, was a finalist in the 2002 Young Artists Competition of the National Flute Association. 

·         Susan Glaser, who teaches flute at Columbia University, will work with flute students on piccolo and Baroque flute. 

·         Jonathan Leathwood, a professor at the University of Northern Colorado, will perform music for guitar in a public concert at Watson Hall on Dec. 5, followed by a seminar for students on 10-string guitar literature the next morning.

·         Musician and author Angela Myles Beeching will visit the campus to talk about careers in music. She is the author of “Beyond Talent” and head of the Career Services department at the New England Conservatory.

For more information, or to schedule an interview, please contact Marla Carpenter at 336-770-3337 in the public relations office at NCSA.