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Northwest Florida Ballet presents New Moves, a visual and performing arts exhibition

FORT WALTON BEACH, FLA. – Jan. 25, 2019 – The Northwest Florida Ballet (NFB) presents New Moves, performed on Fri., March 8 at 7:30 p.m., Sat., March 9 at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. as well as Sun., March 10 at 2:30 p.m. New Moves features the premiere of new and cutting edge works by guest choreographers as well as a mix of contemporary, neoclassical and classical pieces from the NFB repertoire. The four performances also include access to the juried visual arts exhibition featuring some of Northwest Florida’s most talented artists presented by Okaloosa Public Arts.

This unique studio series experience is performed in a specially designed black box theater at NFB’s downtown studios and features choreography from Todd Eric Allen, Susan Honer, Amanda Wiley and Lindsey Kelly Brewer.

“We are thrilled to present this unique collection of new works to our community. This program will showcase the versatility of our dancers and also offers a chance to collaborate with some of our area’s most talented visual artists. NFB is known for presenting a wide range of classical ballets and we are excited to show a different side of the company in a range of pieces stretching from neo classical to modern and contemporary,” said NFB Artistic Director & CEO Todd Eric Allen.

Allen’s piece will feature a diverse collection of music from electronic to classical music. The movement will be classically based but also fuses many other styles.

A native of Fort Walton Beach, Allen began his training in classical ballet at the age of 14 with Bernadette Clements. One year later he received a scholarship to attend the School in New York City and is an alumnus of Virginia Intermont College. He has choreographed 30 original works and classical ballets and 8 operas, has taught at The USA International Ballet Competition and many master classes and workshops in the US and internationally and has served on the jury of NBA Ballet’s Japanese National Ballet Competition in Tokyo, Japan.

Allen has danced with the , and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and has performed as a guest artist and teacher throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. He has also had the honor of performing at the prestigious Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., on two separate occasions, for Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton. In 2004 he was invited to perform with the Broadway cast in the Tony Award winning Musical, Movin’ Out, choreographed and directed by Twyla Tharp with music by Billy Joel.

Over the past 24 years, Allen has committed himself to his community by developing young minds and bodies through innovative dance education programs, creating an awareness of dance in Northwest Florida while exposing his audiences to a variety of classical and contemporary works through his role at NFB.

Susan Honer will present Out of the Rolling Ocean, based on Walt Whitman’s poem Out of the Rolling Ocean the Crowd. The peice explores a depth of feelings and connections forged in an instant — as we walk past, brush, and bump into strangers every day. Honer, unpacks these brief moments, developing relationships that might exist if given time. She collaborates with composer/artist Sean Simon for an original music score.

Honer hails from Southwest Virginia and currently resides in Dayton, Ohio. She is owner of Present Body Pilates where she teaches Pilates and SmartSpine™ Therapeutic Bodywork. She has been dancing with MamLuft&Co. Dance in Cincinnati for nine years and is also the Assistant Company Director and Resident Choreographer. Horner received her Master of Fine Arts in Dance from Hollins University/American Dance Festival and her Bachelor of Arts in Dance and English from Hollins University.

She has studied intensively with artists such as Donna Faye Burchfield, David Dorfman, Jennifer Nugent, Karinne Keithley, Gerri Houlihan, Neta Pulvermacher, and Mark Haim. Her work has been seen in Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, Connecticut, Wisconsin, New York, and Austria. In 2009, Honer was commissioned to create an original work for Merge Record’s 20th Anniversary Dance Concert, Merge with Motion. She is also the co-founder of Distance Dances, a blog and video-based dance collaboration with fellow dance artist Gina T’ai.

Amanda Wiley’s new work is neo classical and set to a minimalist musical score in four movements. The piece opens with a quartet of women and a principal couple, throughout the piece the dancers intertwine as the music evolves instrumentally.

Wiley has performed with several companies across the country including the , Bowen McCauley Dance, Ballet Theatre of New Mexico, the Prairie Wind Dancers, and NFB. She has performed principal and soloist roles in numerous classical ballets including , Giselle, , Paquita, La Bayadère, Carmen, Cinderella, and The Sleeping Beauty. She has also worked with several modern and contemporary choreographers: Trey McIntyre, Lucy Bowen McCauley, Alex Ossadnik, Adrianna Thompson, and Angelie Melzer.

Amanda studied classical ballet and modern, on scholarship at the University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music. She began teaching and choreographing with the Missouri River Dance Company in Great Falls, Montana. Since then she’s choreographed and taught for Ballet Theatre of New Mexico, St Mary’s College in Maryland, and the NFB Académie.

Lindsey Brewer will present a piece entitled Hear Me Roar. This choreography combines jazz, classical ballet and Brewer’s unique style of modern dance. The music is an eclectic mix of Diana Ross and electronic music composed by We Love.

Brewer is a contemporary and modern dance choreographer and teacher. Her work has been presented at the American Dance Festival in Durham, Goucher College in Raleigh, the North Carolina Dance Festival in Greensboro, ReHappening in Black Mountain and the University of North Carolina Asheville. Her work has also been featured in New York City at the Bryant Park Contemporary Dance Festival and the Danspace Project.

Brewer is the former director of Lindsey Kelley Dance, a professional modern dance company based in Asheville. During her time as director, she produced three evening length performances, plus curated and produced the Summerdance Festival. She has choreographed two original works for NFB since her return to Northwest Florida.

In addition to the incredible performing arts experience, attendees will also be treated to a stunning, juried visual arts exhibition from the area’s most talented artists showcasing a wide range of media, from traditional paint on canvas to high-resolution photography. The juried visual arts exhibition will open on Thurs., March 7 at 7:30 p.m. and is free for the public to attend. The artwork will be judged by the New Moves attendees during intermission of each of the four performances. The winners will be announced during the March 10 performance.

"An exciting, contemporary art exhibition by local artists affiliated with Okaloosa Public Arts will complement the eclectic program planned by the . It will undoubtedly set the mood for an interesting statement on the juxtaposition of dance and the visual arts. Works in oil, acrylic, sculpture, watercolor and photography will give the audience an opportunity to view the joining of the considerable talents of the visual and performing artists in our area,” said Okaloosa Public Arts President Bernadette Sims.

Tickets for New Moves are on sale now at www.NFBallet.org. Box office prices are $35 for adults and $15 for children 12 and under. NFB’s 2018-2019 season is presented by the St. Joe Community Foundation. The season signature co-sponsor for New Moves is Emerald Coast Magazine. NFB is sponsored in part by the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs. For additional information on entering the juried art exhibition please email [email protected].

The Northwest Florida Ballet celebrates its 49th year as a regionally recognized semi-professional ballet company and school. In addition, NFB has developed the nationally acclaimed Académie – an integrated academic and dance education program serving 156 students from the third to eighth grade. In 2012 the NFB introduced the Pre-Professional Program – an intensive dance program for the 9th to 12th grade students preparing for a career in dance. The NFB is led by Artistic Director and CEO Todd Eric Allen, an area native. The NFB is funded in part by the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs. ###