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San Francisco BayPress Release from ODC
ODC Founder and Artistic Director Brenda Way
Honored with Prestigious Residency at
The American Academy in RomeSAN FRANCISCO, May 9, 2008—ODC/Dance is pleased to announce that ODC Founder and Artistic Director Brenda Way was recently honored with a prestigious residency at the American Academy in Rome for the academic year 2008-2009.
Founded in 1894 and chartered by an Act of Congress in 1905, the American Academy in Rome is one of the leading American overseas centers for independent study and advanced research in the fine arts and the humanities.
Ms. Way will reside at the Academy in Rome as a Resident in the Arts, where she will serve as a senior advisor to the winners of the esteemed Rome Prize, and other members of the Academy community.
“The American Academy in Rome is a unique and very special place that brings together artists and scholars from many different backgrounds and disciplines,” said Academy Fellow and renowned landscape architect Mary Margaret Jones. “The Academy has had Fellows and Residents in the arts of great note throughout its history and with Brenda's residency the continued expansion to embrace all forms of art, including performance, will flourish. Brenda will bring great energy, intellect and art to the Academy and she, the Academy, and Rome will benefit enormously from her time there.”
"The invitation to reside and work at the American Academy in Rome is a great honor," said Ms. Way. "I look forward to spending several months with the distinguished artists, thinkers, and scholars in residence on Janiculum Hill, not to mention the pleasure of absorbing the beauty and stimulation of Rome itself."
Residents are eminent artists and scholars working in up to eighteen disciplines, and are invited by the Director to stay at the Academy for periods ranging from two to four months. Selected by invitation only, Residents in the Arts are asked to offer at least one Academy event, such as a concert, an exhibition or studio visit, a lecture or reading, or any other appropriate event. Ms. Way is only the second choreographer to receive this honor.
While in Rome, Ms. Way hopes to pursue a choreographic exploration with a group of Italian dancers and to initiate collaboration between them and her San Francisco troupe, ODC/Dance.
Ms. Way will also advise Rome Prize winners, awarded each year to 15 distinguished and emerging artists (working in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Design, Historic Preservation and Conservation, Literature, Musical Composition, or Visual Arts) and 15 scholars (working in Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance and early Modern, or Modern Italian Studies).
Notable former Rome Prize winners and Academy residents include writers Robert Penn Warren and Wallace Stegner; composers Aaron Copland and Samuel Barber; architects Robert Venturi, Michael Graves and Louis I. Kahn; and artists Laurie Anderson, Chuck Close, Frank Stella and Roy Lichtenstein.
Ms. Way is the Founder and Artistic Director of ODC/Dance, a world-class dance company, and creator of the ODC Theater, a nationally regarded presenting theater, and ODC Dance Commons, a five-studio rehearsal and office complex and home to ODC School & Rhythm and Motion, a professional, pre-professional, and recreational dance training program. Ms. Way received her early training at The School of American Ballet and Ballet Arts in New York City. She launched ODC and an inter-arts department at Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music in the late 60's before relocating to the Bay Area in 1976. She has choreographed some 76 pieces over the last 35 years. Among her many commissions are Unintended Consequences: A Meditation (2008), Equal Justice Society, On a Train Heading South (2005) CSU Monterey Bay, Remnants of Song (2002) Stanford Lively Arts, Scissors Paper Stone (1994) Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Western Women (1993) Cal Performances, Rutgers University, and Jacob's Pillow; Ghosts of an Old Ceremony(1991) Walker Art Center and The Minnesota Orchestra; Krazy Kat (1990) San Francisco Ballet; This Point in Time(1987) Oakland Ballet; Tamina (1986) San Francisco Performances; and Invisible Cities (1985) for Stanford Lively Arts and the Robotics Research Laboratory. Ms. Way is a national spokesperson for dance, has published widely, and has received numerous awards and 30 years of support from the National Endowment for the Arts. She is a 2000 recipient of the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. Ms. Way holds a Ph.D. in Aesthetics and is the mother of four children.
American Academy in Rome
The American Academy in Rome is one of the leading American overseas centers for independent study and advanced research in the fine arts and the humanities. Through its annual Rome Prize fellowship program, the Academy supports up to thirty individuals working in archaeology, architecture, classical studies, design arts, historic preservation and conservation, history of art, landscape architecture, literature, modern Italian studies, musical composition, post-classical humanistic studies and visual arts. The Academy community, which regularly numbers 75, also includes Residents, who are eminent artists and scholars invited by the Director to stay at the Academy for periods ranging from two to four months.The artists and scholars in residence at the Academy are there to pursue their own independent projects. The Academy provides a unique opportunity for interaction between artists and scholars working in up to eighteen different disciplines. Each year a number of Academy events, including concerts, symposia, readings and exhibitions, take place both in New York and Rome.
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Background photo © 1999 Michael W. Phelan
Michael
W. Phelan,