Contact:
Keely Bomee Platte
Marketing & Communications Manager
Crooked Tree Arts Center
keely@crookedtree.org
231-347-2718

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 23, 2024

PETOSKEY, MI — As the Crooked Tree Arts Center (CTAC) School of Ballet finishes out its summer programing, choreographer and visual artist Peter Sparling will be holding his fourth residency with the School for two weeks, beginning August 26. The first week will be dedicated to mentoring the pre-professional dancers in their choreographic work, and during the second week, Sparling will be setting a new choreography for select students and professional dancers.

Several of the mentored student pieces and Sparling’s new work will be performed in an informal showing on Friday, September 6th at 7:00 pm at Crooked Tree Art Center’s Theater. This event will be free and open to the public. The original choreographies resulting from Sparling’s residency will premiere in full at Fall for Dance, which will take place on Saturday, November 2nd at 7:00 pm at the Harbor Springs Performing Arts Center. 

Sparling is a University of Michigan dance professor emeritus and a legendary dancer and collaborator with the Martha Graham Dance Company. In previous residencies with the School of Ballet, Sparling’s original choreography has been featured in Fall for Dance 2021, 2022 and The Nutcracker 2023.

During the first week of his residency, Sparling, along with professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater, Robin Pettersen, will be mentoring approximately eight student choreographers in creating their own pieces. In addition to the School of Ballet’s studios, Bay View Association will graciously provide three of their rehearsal spaces to support this effort.

“Our pre-professional students receive a uniquely comprehensive dance education at the School of Ballet,” says Heather Raue, Artistic Director of the CTAC School of Ballet. “It has been a goal of mine to additionally provide them with a mentored choreographic experience. It is such a privilege to have Peter and Robin share their wisdom and expertise with our students!” 

Over the first week of September, Sparling will be setting an original work of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. This work will feature seven of the School’s pre-professional dancers and four professional dancers, three of whom are graduates of the School of Ballet. 

Sparling’s choreographic works are often performed alongside his paintings, created to complement the movement of the dancing. Following his residency, Sparling plans to produce paintings in correspondence with the eleven dancers’ movements. This artwork will be projected behind the dancers during the premiere of his work at Fall for Dance 2024

Tickets for Fall for Dance will go on sale mid-September online at crookedtree.org/ballet. Sparling’s residency this year is funded in part by generous donors.

Photos provided by CTAC School of Ballet: 

####

About CTAC School of Ballet:
Founded 21 years ago by Artistic Director Heather Raue, the CTAC School of Ballet (SOB) has been training young people in Northern Michigan for careers as professional dancers and artists. The School of Ballet offers professional training in ballet and alternative dance techniques and modalities. Through the professional training SOB students receive, they are able to attend summer intensive programs at some of the leading national and international dance schools. After successfully being immersed in the dance world, some of the CTAC School of Ballet alumni have moved back to Northern Michigan and are on the CTAC School of Ballet staff, passionately perpetuating the next generations of dancers. Learn more at https://crookedtree.org/ballet.