Dance artist, choreographer, educator, visual artist and artistic director of Santa Barbara Dance Theater, Christopher Pilafian, will be joined by Christina Sanchez and a panel of professional dancers from a variety of genres to give words of wisdom for those who are embarking on careers as dancers from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, May 10, 2016, at Art From Scrap Gallery.
Attendees are encouraged to bring their dance dreams and questions about how to materialize them.
Pilafian has performed on stage, television and in film with choreographers Jennifer Muller, Alvin Ailey, Judith Jamison, Charles Moulton, Louis Falco, Matthew Diamond and others.
He was awarded the Doris Humphrey Scholarship and the Louis Horst Fellowship at The Juilliard School and as founding member, principal dancer and associate artistic director of Jennifer Muller/The Works performed in 11 NYC seasons and 10 international tours of Europe and beyond from 1974-89.
He has choreographed over 50 works for concert stage, film and theater and, as artistic director of Santa Barbara Dance Theater, has produced three seasons, including the company’s 40th-anniversary season (2016).
He first came to UC Santa Barbara as a guest artist in 1990 and served as vice chair of the Department of Theater and Dance and director of dance from 2011-15.
Christina Sanchez has performed with the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble, Ballet Hispanico of NYC, Complexions Contemporary Ballet and Buglisi/Foreman Dance among others.
Subsequently she became a member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, with which she toured extensively.
Sanchez is currently a member of UCSB’s Santa Barbara Dance Theater under Pilafian’s direction. She also teaches modern dance technique at Westmont College and at UCSB.
Please register online at www.awolsb.org, and for more information, call 805.565.1332.
The cost to attend is $20. A sliding scale available for financial hardship.
— Art Without Limits is a nonprofit organization that creates intensive, long-term, one-on-one mentorships for aspiring Santa Barbara County artists by pairing them with professional artists to help them succeed in their chosen art form.