Summer Contemporary Intensive with Sonia Dawkins and Elijah Gibson

LDI Contemporary Intensive offers a fabulously creative faculty, Dynamic outlet and provides an excellent and vital cross training tool for the versatile dancer. With a focus on providing a highly athletic and expressive dance education experience students will explore technique and build choreography, in a safe, fun, supportive, and inclusive format.

Each week culminates in a showing on Friday for family and friends.

August 1-12th
9 am – Noon

Investment:
1 week participation: $525

Or join for 2 weeks participation: $525 (2 for the price of one!)

REGISTER NOW

WEEK 1: SONIA DAWKINS

Sonia Dawkins, founder and artistic director of SD/Prism Dance Theatre, is a graduate of The University of the Arts and earned a Master’s in  Dance/Kinesiology & Choreography from SUNY Brockport. A faculty member at Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle (the first African American female teacher, 12 ½ years) and Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C., she has also been an Artist-in Residence at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre School; University of North Carolina School of the Arts; University of Oklahoma; Cincinnati Ballet School; and Jones-Haywood Dance School.

She has performed extensively with choreographers and companies in the United States and the National Dance Company of Jamaica. Her national and international choreography credits include: Village Theatre (Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time; My Heart is a Drum); Seattle Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage, Goodman Theatre (Pullman Porter Blues); Seattle Repertory Theatre (Three Musketeers, Brother Size, The Breach); Seattle Children’s Theatre; Pacific Northwest Ballet; Nevada Ballet; Seattle Theatre Group (Dance This); and Broadway Bound (13 the Musical, Bye Bye Birdie, God Lives in Glass). She choreographed her dancers to perform at the Iliev Foundation at the Bulgaria Dance Festival and the Mexican International Festival.  At Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, she choreographed and coached winning participants in the Youth Grand Prix and the Young Arts Recognition.

Ms. Dawkins has received the Gypsy Rose Lee Award for choreography for Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, 2019; Brother Size, 2011; and was nominated for the same award for Pullman Porter blues, 2012.  A recipient of the New Directors Choreography Lab from Alvin Ailey American Dance Foundation, she has also been selected to present a new musical at the New York Theatre Barn.  She has served on the faculty of Ballet Academy East, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet summer intensives, as choreographer and faculty at SLK Ballet, and is very honored to have choreographed an excerpt of the world premier ballet on PHILADANCO, Pieces of My Heart, based on unpublished poetry by August Wilson. SD/Prism has presented workshops at dance schools in Barcelona, 2017-2019, at Studio Harmonica in France, 2017. She served as a Judge for the World Cup Dance Competition in 2019. Currently, Ms. Dawkins serves on the Dance/Film Association Board; is a member of the Stage Directors, Choreographers Society; and teaches at the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre School/Fordham University.

Find Sonia on Instagram

WEEK 2: ELIJAH GIBSON

Elijah Alhadji Gibson – Is the founder and Artistic Director of Social Movement Contemporary Dance, a dance company based in Houston, Texas. Gibson is originally from San Diego, California, he attended the San Diego School for the Performing Arts. Mr. Gibson continued his education and studied dance in college at Sam Houston State University under the direction of Dana Nicolay and received his Master of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, with a focus on dance history, somatic studies, and pedagogy. In 1999, Gibson joined the world-renowned Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago where he toured nationally and internationally for eight years. He has worked with or performed the works of the late Gus Giordano, Margo Sappington, Christopher Huggins, Jon Lehrer, Mia Michaels, Liz Imperio, Randy Duncan, Tony Powell, Ron De Jesus, and Davis Robertson among many others.  He’s also had the privilege of guest performing with Instruments of Movement, Cirqua Rivera Dance Theater, Thodos Dance Chicago, and Especialty Tap Chicago just to name a few. He has performed and taught throughout the United States as well as in Germany, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Latvia, Spain, Ecuador, Canada, and Mexico.  Mr. Gibson has served on the faculties of RDA Midwest, Gus Giordano Jazz Intensive, American College Dance Festival Association, Jazz Dance World Congress, Dance Masters of Wisconsin, Chicago National Association of Dance Masters, Leon Dance Arts NY, Embrace Dance Convention, and Key West Modern Dance just to name a few. Dance companies have performed his choreography nationally and internationally such as Nomi Lamad, Inaside Dance Chicago, Thodos Dance Chicago, Jayson Tisa Dance Company, City Dance Company of Houston, Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago II, and Naway Dance Company, as well by university dance ensembles throughout the country. Mr. Gibson has been on faculty at Shenandoah University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Sam Houston State University, and the University of Texas at Austin. Gibson has dabbled in every aspect of the arts from dance, theater, and film.

Find Elijah on Instagram