Bill Finlay, Rich Leahy, Amelia Patten Whitney '09, Nozomi Sakata ’09, Miryam Moutillet and Kira Moldow ’09
Kira Moldow ’09, Nozomi Sakata ’09 and Amelia Patten Whitney ’09 will train and dance around the globe in the coming months as recipients of this year’s Edward Villella Fellowship.
Moldow, a Biology major, will spend her summer at the internationally recognized Steps on Broadway on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. In the fall, she will take classes at L’Ecole de Danse Elisabeth Allain in Rennes, France.
“I look forward to training abroad and in New York City so I can see if the same styles of dance, such as classical Russian ballet and hip hop, are taught differently in different locations,” Moldow said. She added, “I am grateful that while there is a dynamic dance program on campus, through the Edward Villella Fellowship I am afforded the opportunity to continue what I love to do.”
Sakata, a Psychology major, will return to her native Japan to study Nihon Buyo at the Kyoto Art Center.
“I’ve been dancing for 10 years, mostly jazz and hip hop, which are styles for the younger generation,” Sakata said. “I have never understood what my culture’s traditional dance has meant. When I came to America, I saw the importance of studying original Japanese dance and the culture of my country.”
Whitney, a Sociology major, will explore a wide range dance styles through daily classes and workshops at the acclaimed Mark Morris Dance School in Brooklyn.
“This is an amazing opportunity. I am excited to work with someone I admire,” she said.
This is the first year Union’s Theater and Dance Department has awarded the Villella fellowship to three students. A former New York City Ballet principal dancer, Villella founded the Miami City Ballet in 1985. In 1991, he received an honorary doctorate from Union. Three years later, the fellowship was created from the gifts of Charles D. Lothridge ’44.
The Villella scholarships were announced after the dance concert at the recent Steinmetz Symposium. Also announced at that time was the first Hedda Hainebach Memorial Prize in Music and Theater, named for the longtime coordinator of the College’s language lab and ardent supporter of the Union College Chamber Music Series, who died last year. The award went to Rich Leahy '08, a double major in theater and political science who starred in "Dracula" in the fall.