When Valerie Guido decided to attend West Virginia University as a dance minor, she never thought that her training would lead her to dance on rooftops in Italy, overlooking the Tuscan Sea.
Guido, a senior exercise physiology major from Clarksburg, W.Va., was awarded the Division of Theatre & Dance’s Mary Kathryn Wiedebusch Scholarship following her final performance in the annual dance concert.
The scholarship is intended to help Guido get to the month-long Pro Danza Italia/USA summer program held in Tuscany, Italy.
“I’m extremely grateful, I had no idea I was getting it, and I saw people being sneaky about it backstage before they announced it after our closing night show,” Guido said. “They didn’t have to do that for me. It makes me feel really good that they wanted to help me out and that they believed in me enough to help send me to Italy.”
Dr. Yoav Kaddar, director of dance at WVU, said the dance program received additional donations this past year, and he wanted to use the opportunity to help an outstanding student expand their training through a summer program.
“Awarding the scholarship this year has helped us just as it has helped Valerie,” Kaddar said. “It has helped to set an example for other students to strive for it and make them aware that the dance program does have scholarship money.”
Kaddar said that Guido, who is a student in the Honors College, will also receive independent study credits for documenting her experiences on her trip through video interviews and testimonials.
Going overseas without knowing much of the Italian language and getting the diverse group experience is new and exciting, Guido said.
“I’m dancing with people from all over the world, which could be tough with communication, but we all have dance in common so it brings us together,” Guido said. “Working with people from places like Italy and China is such a learning experience for all of us, and we get to share something that we all love together, not to mention in one of the most beautiful places on earth.”
Guido is currently dancing seven hours a day along the Tuscan Sea and has been placed in an apartments in Tuscany with other dancers in the program. The program will end this week with a performance on a rooftop, overlooking the ocean at sunset.
Guido is studying the Jose Limon dance technique with Betty Jones and Fritz Ludin, who are professors that instructed Kaddar in the past. She is taking a variety of classes such as salsa and hip-hop to add some variety to her repertoire.
Kaddar, who accepted the position of dance director just last summer, is helping to reshape the face of dance at WVU. Many of the changes are going toward the program’s goal of offering dance as a major at WVU, a development that drew him to the University.
So far, Kaddar and other dance leaders have made plenty of progress.
“Just to name a few small changes, we’ve opened up more performance opportunities for our students, opened the program’s performance opportunities to all students on campus regardless of dance minor status, and taken students to regional conferences to make them better-rounded young artists and citizens,” Kaddar said. “Also, launching the first Mountaineer Summer Dance Camp was extremely successful, and the establishment of a Student Dance Association has taken the program to greater heights.”
Guido said the hiring of Kaddar has brought life to WVU’s dance program.
“You can tell that he really cares about dance, the students, the University, and building things up,” Guido said. “He only wants the best for everyone, and I really think that his knowledge and passion for the program and all of us is amazing. It’s refreshing to have that kind of leadership.”
Kaddar was recently elected to the National Board of Directors of the American College Dance Festival Association. Such an appointment speaks to the level of professionalism and respect that he brings to WVU’s dance program, further enhancing its presence on the national level of collegiate dance programs.
The program plans to continue growing and expanding on what’s already been established this past year, as well as introduce new courses in different styles, guest artists and collaborate with other programs in the College of Creative Arts.
WVU dance students have gone on to attend summer intensive programs around the country and internationally including the Paul Taylor Dance Company Summer Intensive, American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive, North Carolina Dance Theatre School and internships with Walt Disney World.
To learn more about the dance program, visit http://theatre.wvu.edu/future_students/undergraduate/dance. For details on the Pro Danza Italia/USA program, visit http://www.prodanzaitalia.com/.
-WVU-
mm/07/28/11
CONTACT: Yoav Kaddar, WVU Division of Theatre & Dance
304-293-8623, Yoav.Kaddar@mail.wvu.edu
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