{"id":14276,"date":"2015-03-18T14:30:35","date_gmt":"2015-03-18T18:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/news\/article.php?ArticleID=14276"},"modified":"2018-10-30T10:04:24","modified_gmt":"2018-10-30T14:04:24","slug":"14276_bfa-dance-alumnus-mark-willis-14-joins-lim-n-dance-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/2015\/03\/18\/14276_bfa-dance-alumnus-mark-willis-14-joins-lim-n-dance-company\/","title":{"rendered":"BFA Dance Alumnus Mark Willis ’14 Joins Lim\u00f3n Dance Company"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the Lim\u00f3n Dance Company performs as part of Paul Taylor\u2019s American Modern Dance season at Lincoln Center from March 10 through 29, Montclair State alumnus Mark Willis will be among the dancers performing in Doris Humphrey\u2019s Passacaglia<\/em>. Willis, who joined the celebrated company in February 2015, graduated from Montclair State with a BFA in Dance in 2014.<\/p>\n

Since it was founded in 1946 by the late dancer and choreographer Jos\u00e9 Lim\u00f3n, the Lim\u00f3n Dance Company has been an innovative force in American modern dance that is internationally acclaimed for its emphasis on both technical precision and dramatic expressiveness. Lim\u00f3n Dance, which is the nation\u2019s first modern dance repertory company, has received numerous honors, including a 2008 National Medal of Arts, the nation\u2019s highest award for artists.\u00a0 \u201cI am so blessed to be a part of a prestigious company with such a rich history,\u201d says Willis.<\/p>\n

“A Gorgeous Performer”<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t have an \u2018official\u2019 audition with the company,\u201d says Willis. Instead, he was recommended to Carla Maxwell, the company\u2019s artistic director by Montclair State Dance Prof. Maxine Steinman, who enjoys a long affiliation with the Lim\u00f3n Dance Company. \u201cShe recommended me after she heard that they were in need of another male dancer,\u201d explains Willis.<\/p>\n

As a student, Willis performed works of choreographers such as Lim\u00f3n, Bill T. Jones and Earl Mosley and was awarded the 2013 Spirit of Dance Award given by the University\u2019s Department of Theatre and Dance. \u201cIn school, the Lim\u00f3n technique transformed my dancing and to be able to dance with such wonderful people is a gift. I\u2019ve learned so much in the short time that I have been working with the company,\u201d Willis says.<\/p>\n

Willis choreographed Save Me<\/em>, a solo dance that was selected for the closing Gala performance of the 2014 annual Northeast Regional American College Dance Festival at SUNY Brockport. He was also part of the group that was selected to perform Earl Mosley\u2019s Oh My Love<\/em> at the National American College Dance Festival at the Kennedy Center last June.<\/p>\n

\u201cMark has a choreographer\u2019s heart in addition to being a gorgeous performer,\u201d says Theatre and Dance Prof. Lorraine Katterhenry. \u201cHis work in choreography class was always creatively exciting. He took a lot of chances and was not afraid of risk. He committed as fully to class assignments as he did to stage performances, putting a high value on personal expression whether in the classroom on the Kennedy Center stage,\u201d added Katterhenry, who is also Deputy Chair for Dance in the department.<\/p>\n

A Remarkable Opportunity<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since joining the company, Willis has had a busy schedule. \u201cThe days usually run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.,\u201d he explains. \u201cWe typically have company class in the morning for an hour and a half and the rest of the time is devoted to rehearsal with breaks in between.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to rehearsing for the Lincoln Center performances of Passacaglia<\/em>, Humphrey\u2019s 1938 dance set to the music of Bach, Willis and the company have been rehearsing Missa Brevis<\/em>. Willis says, \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful piece choreographed by Lim\u00f3n, which we will be performing in New Orleans in May.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the talented dancer, this is a remarkable opportunity. \u201cI am so very grateful to be dancing with the Lim\u00f3n Company,\u201d he says. \u201cI walk into rehearsal with a smile on my face every day because I know how blessed I am to be doing something I love to do. Not everyone gets an opportunity like this.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Will perform with Company at Lincoln Center March 10-29<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":206650,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-190_theatre-dance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14276"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":207446,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14276\/revisions\/207446"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}