For Rochester Raas, the University’s traditional Indian dance team, victory in their final competition of the year brought more than glory. Raas’ first place finish at Nasha 2013 was crowned by a shiny gold trophy and $1,250 in prize money.

Hosted by the American India Foundation of Purdue University, Nasha 2013 was a brand-new competition featuring Bollywood/Fusion and Garba/Raas divisions, and offering a sizeable cash prize for the top finishers. Rochester Raas beat out teams from Northwestern, Tufts, and UNC to take first place in the Garba/Raas division. To see Rochester’s winning set from Nasha 2013, check out this video posted by Raas:

Though their competitive season is over, the group will continue to perform in the community and prepare for next year.

The active members of Rochester Raas include: Minti Patel ‘13, Maryann Hong ‘13, Maral Arjomandi ‘13, Ki Cheng ‘13, Paul Vergara ‘13, Phil Cohen ‘14, Lauren Sava ‘14, Sydney Robinson ‘14, Rohini Rege ‘14, Priyanka Patel ‘15, Shakira Banhan ‘15, Marika Azoff ‘15, Shiv Patel ‘15, Sameer Shamsie ‘15, Sam Benham ‘15, Taylor Sargent ‘15, Sukanya Roy ‘16, Kim Rouse ‘16.

On Friday, Nov. 16, students from the Dare to Dance outreach program lit up the stage at “Shake It Out,” the Ballet Performance Group’s annual fall show. Opening after intermission, the children, second and third grade students at Francis Parker School No. 23, performed a simple routine to “Good Time” by Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen. The children’s energy radiated to the audience, resulting in an enthusiastic round of applause.

“The kids were just so cute.  Everyone in the audience loved their performance. I kept hearing rave reviews. The audience members couldn’t stop talking about how wonderful they were,” said junior Alyson Manning.

The Dare to Dance outreach program began in fall 2011, when BPG was looking to branch out and get involved within the Rochester community. The purpose of the program is to provide after school instruction in dance and creative movement. The program met weekly on Friday afternoons for eight weeks of instruction. This year, students were exposed to a variety of dance styles including ballet, jazz, contemporary, and creative movement. With 20 students participating in the program, things could get a little hectic sometimes, according to junior Lauren Sava.

“As much as I enjoyed working with the children, there were definitely challenges. Second and third graders can be very rambunctious, so finding constructive ways for the students to release their energy requires a lot of creative thinking,” said Sava.

Despite these challenges, the program was extremely rewarding for students. According to junior Marissa Abbott, students greeted her with bountiful energy and bubbling smiles every Friday afternoon. Abbott, who is a member of the executive board for BPG and serves as the Outreach Coordinator, is in charge of coordinating the Dare to Dance program. Along with a committee of five to six members, Abbott prepared lesson plans for each week, coordinated with the school staff and parents, and choreographed a routine for the students to perform in BPG’s fall show.

“I am so proud of these kids. They exceeded my expectations, bringing bright smiles and incredible energy to the stage, while remembering their routine very well,” said Abbott.  “This was an incredible experience, from which I learned a lot. To see the kids up on stage having a good time, that’s all that really matters to me. I’m glad that BPG is able to provide this program and that we can share our love for dance with the Rochester community. I can’t wait until next semester.”

A native of Arkansas, Futterer graduated from Northwestern University in 2007, majoring in horn performance, and went abroad for her masters, studying at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, Norway. While there, she impressively combined her master’s studies with a Fulbright fellowship studying under world-renowned horn musician and teacher Frøydis Ree Wekre.

In addition to earning her degree at Eastman, Futterer works as a teaching assistant at the River Campus and stays involved in multiple arts and musical associations, including the Arts Leadership Program, Pegasus Early Music, and the Sound Exchange Group of Musicians. This summer, she embarked on her latest endeavor, helping to plan the Fringe Festival through an internship with the Catherine Filene Shouse Arts Leadership Program.

According to Futterer, the festival is an avenue for “promoting artistic culture” and helps to “connect different artistic mediums.” The event will feature local Rochester musicians, artists, dancers, and performers, complemented by headliners Patton Oswald, the Harlem Gospel Choir, and aerial dance group Project Bandaloop.

The concept of the “fringe” tradition started in Edinburgh in 1947 when eight theater groups turned up at the Edinburgh International Festival uninvited and decided to perform at venues they organized themselves.  Today, Fringe Festivals are held in nearly 200 cities around the world, including 20 cities in the U.S.

Fringe Festival Director Erica Fee ’99, whom Futterer describes as an “incredible mentor,” gave her the chance to contribute to the festival in any way that she wanted. Futterer says she picked the “fun job” of party planner, helping to organize a launch party aimed at getting the performers to know and support each other.

Futterer explains that a major aim of the festival is to “bring people of different specialties together” so artists of different mediums can get to know each other as “comrades rather than competitors.” She notes that one of the best things about the festival is that it is “100% nonprofit” and provides little-known artists and performers with greater recognition and support.

More than 20 venues have lent their support for the effort, with shows at Geva Theater, Eastman Theater, Millennium Park, and Little Theater, among others. Gibbs St. in downtown Rochester will shutdown to host the weekend-long festival. The effort has the support of many local businesses in the Rochester community, including the Boylan Code Law Firm in the Culver Road Armory, in which festival board meetings are held, several Rochester schools, including the University of Rochester and Eastman, as well as its biggest sponsor, First Niagara Bank.

Futterer has been thrilled about the process of organizing the Fringe, getting to know some amazing people in Rochester, and being a part of the effort to bring the city’s “hidden arts culture” and “little gems” up to the surface for more people to experience. She also appreciates that the festival “doesn’t speak to a certain age level or a certain genre … it is something for everybody.” The Fringe features 120 different shows, and covers a wide range of art forms:  theatre, dance, comedy, music, film, visual arts, multidisciplinary, children’s, and variety.

Tickets for the Fringe Festival are available at the Eastman Theatre Box Office on 433 East Main Street, Wegmans “That’s the Ticket!” locations, at the door of all venue locations, and on the festival’s website, http://rochesterfringe.com. A festival guide, which is featured on the website, provides listings of all shows and venues.

Article written by Caitlin Mack, an intern in University Communications.

“The First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival is about inspiring even more creativity throughout Rochester’s large and talented artistic community, as well as attracting a large, diverse audience for their work,” said University President Joel Seligman. “The University has always been a passionate advocate for strengthening this city, and we believe that this festival will do just that.”

Erica Fee, who is the festival’s producer, a native of Victor, and a University alumna, described the independent shows that sprang up around the official 1947 Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland as the start of the fringe festival movement. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is now the world’s largest arts festival and runs for a month.

“Rochester’s four-day Fringe will also have that fun ‘expect-the-unexpected feel’ while showcasing everything from theater and dance, to visual arts and music, to comedy and family entertainment,” explained Fee. “There will truly be something for everyone!”

Individual artists, groups, and producers of all types can apply online at www.rochesterfringe.com for a place at the festival’s official venues, which include such locations as Kilbourn Hall and Hatch Recital Hall at the Eastman School, Java’s, and the Rochester Museum and Science Center’s Strasenburgh Planetarium. More East End locations will be added. Applicants also have the option to “Bring Your Own Venue” by discovering a location and gaining permission to use a site within the festival’s footprint.

Fringe festivals number about 200 worldwide with 20 in the United States, festival organizers say. Those closest to Rochester are in Toronto and Philadelphia. The First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival will be the second location for New York State after New York City’s.

The festival’s board of directors includes representatives from the Rochester Downtown Development Corp., the University of Rochester, the Eastman School of Music, Rochester Institute of Technology, Boylan Code LLC, and Mengel Metzger Barr. Many local cultural institutions support the effort, including Geva Theatre Center, the George Eastman House, and Garth Fagan Dance, as well as newer groups such as PUSH Physical Theatre and Method Machine.

To submit your show or for more information, visit the festival website at www.rochesterfringe.com, follow them on Twitter at @rochesterfringe, and like them on Facebook.

Article written by Valerie Alhart, humanities press officer in University Communications.

Rochester Fringe Festival logo courtesy of www.rochesterfringe.com

Watch the video here

(Video created by Devin Embil ’13)

To see highlights from the festival, watch the video.

“The festival gave members of the University of Rochester community the chance to learn, teach, and perform a vast diversity of dance styles,” says Friedlander, a native of Philadelphia, Pa., and a psychology major with an interest in dance therapy. “By experiencing these different forms, we hope participants gained a greater appreciation of the value of dance.”

During the week, local, regional, and national guest artists and master teachers conducted more than 20 classes and workshops. From beginner to advanced, participants had their pick of classes, including contemporary, hip-hop, jazz, tap, ballet, West African, Jamaican, Middle Eastern, Capoeira, injury prevention, contact improvisation, yoga, T’ai Chi, Qi Gong, and more.

The festival also was about connecting students with influential members of the local, regional, and national dance community. The festival’s featured master teachers included: Clyde Evans, Philadelphia hip-hop artist; Bill Evans, award-winning choreographer and esteemed dance educator; Missy Pfohl Smith, BIODANCE artistic director and director of Rochester’s Program of Dance and Movement; Darwin Prioleau, dean of the School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at The College at Brockport; Sue Callan-Harris, physical therapist; Cadence Whittier, chair of the Dance Department at Hobart and William Smith College; Nicole Cotton, Syracuse modern dance teacher; and the 10-member faculty of Rochester’s Program of Dance and Movement.

Additionally, the Rochester Contemporary Dance Collective (RCDC) brought together a roster of professional choreographers, dance companies, and dancers for two performances that closed out the festival.