Two Mississippi School of the Arts dancers participated in a two-week Fini Dance intensive school at its annual summer festival at Villapiana Lido in Calabria, Italy, in the latest dimension of MSA’s partnership with Fini.
The festival is a meeting of artists and young people, providing dance and scholarship opportunities and connections with others, and promoting growth in their art.
As part of their summer program, Natalie Fleming and Charleigh McDuffie toured two ancient Italian villages, learned basic Italian, maneuvered European train systems, made life-long friends, received awards, and created professional connections in addition to attending a rigorous class schedule in classical ballet, modern repertoire, jazz, hip hop, and aerial taught by dance artists from Italy, America, and the National Kosovo Ballet Company. Their days began at 8:30 a.m. and ended at 6 p.m. or 7 p.m.. They were privileged to perform on two occasions -- a class demonstration and a formal gala in Altomonte, Italy. They danced variations from each genre they studied and performed with a cast of ten Italian and American dancers in Tammy Stanford’s new and revised work, Rare Earth.
MSA Dance is recognized as a Fini Dance Partner School. Since 2021, Antonio Fini has served as guest artist at MSA and yearly presents scholarship awards to MSA dancers. MSA’s Tammy Stanford received a Fini Career Award in 2022, and this year was named Fini Dance Ambassador. The school’s new technical director, Katie Ginn, attended the Fini Dance Festival during the summer, was invited to take part in the festival Choreographer’s Workshop and performed “Hands,” her dance work, at the Gala.
Antonio Pio Fini is a former Italian principal dancer, choreographer, director, and producer who founded Fini Production LLC to create and produce, and showcase artists and companies. In 2011, he founded Alto Jonio Dance Awards in Villapiana Lido in Calabria, Italy, and in 2013, the Italian International Dance Awards in New York City, now merged with the Fini Dance Festival. In 2016, he started Fini Dance New York Showcase in Florence, Italy, during Danza In Fiera -- the biggest dance fair in Europe. Fini was a principal dancer with Michael Mao Dance, one of the foremost modern and contemporary companies of multi-cultural performers in New York City. Stylistically, he merged athleticism with art, bringing fluid energy to the simplest of intentions. Performing in New York City and throughout the US and Europe, Fini has been a special guest of Martha Graham Dance Company, Erick Hawkins Dance Company, the National Ballet of Kosovo, Staten Island Ballet, Boca Ballet Theater and Mare Nostrum Elements. In 2010, Fini was recognized by Joseph Fontano as Emerging Choreographer at the Stefano Valentini Award III Edition. He received the Altomonte Dance Award from Brunilda Lato and the Teatro Carcano Award from Aldo Masella. As a choreographer, Fini created works for the National Ballet of Kosovo, Roi Escudero, the Players of the Square, Company in residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and “La danza dei camorristi” for the New York City Opera at Rose Theater at Lincoln Center.
Visit http://finiproduction.com/antonio-fini/ for information about Antonio Pio Fini.
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