Perkins’ celebrate 15th year with “Big Bang” recital
NORWICH – The Perkins School of the Arts began delivering creativity and a passion for dance to thousands of girls and boys from their studio on Birdsall Street in downtown Norwich 15 years ago.
Everything started when former studio owner Bernie Windsor approached Mike and Antoinette Perkins with the opportunity to purchase her business and, as the story goes, the decision to do so was made in quick succession. With daughter Amber fresh out of college as principal choreographer/teacher and later, son and brother, Mikey, keeping the ball rolling, the studio evolved much like the universe burst through the skies billions of years back.
To celebrate the occasion, the aptly named annual recital, “The Big Bang,” will take place this coming weekend, June 8-10, in the Norwich High School auditorium on Midland Drive. Senior dance performances are at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The junior dancers will hit the stage in matinees at 1 p.m. on Saturday and again on Sunday.
It’s difficult for Mikey Perkins to wrap his head around it, but the first class of 3-year-olds he ever taught are now high school seniors.
“It’s exciting. You get so attached to your students. You see them grow, sometimes as much or even more than their parents have. They ask for your advice and treat you like family. I’m going to miss them so much,” said Perkins, who was a high school senior when he began teaching.
The show’s featured performance, “Six Minutes to the Moon,” is a large group modern piece with 30 dancers who will recreate the average American’s reactions while watching the 1969 Apollo II landing on the moon on TV. As the broadcast proceeds, the music changes tempo and the dancers express varying degrees of fear, excitement, pride and finally, resolve to move forward. All is expressed through choreography with help of pearls, polka dots and I Love Lucy-period costuming.
“It’s a cyclical thing,” said Mikey, who had his students create their own names and back stories for the performance. “Everyone was scared of the unknown, like scared about the different stages of growing into an adult, and then happy and scared all over again.”
The story is much like the studios, beginning with an idea and then growing and changing. It has evolved with new students (some traveling from as far away as Florida and Massachusetts as well as throughout Central New York), a second studio in Vestal, award winning choreographers, and more and more demand for Perkins School of the Arts gigs. Last month’s recital in Vestal at Union Endicott High School attracted several hundred people.
The Perkins School of the Arts’ solid reputation for modern-based adagio continues, though in a less serious fashion this year. Mikey said he made a conscientious shift toward swing dance and other more traditional partnering styles with his large group number, “Dancing in the Gym,” from West Side Story. The piece earned him a choreography award at the American Dance Awards (ADA) regional competition in Binghamton in March.
The junior adagio number, “Sleeping Giant,” choreographed by Travis St. Denny, is set to the sound of trees. The couples watch each other to move and lift on cue instead of relying on musical accompaniment.
St. Denny, national ADA Dancer of the Year champion and professional dancer/teacher, won a diamond choreography award for his senior small group modern, “My Body,” set to the Peter Gabriel song. This piece explores the interaction between a man and the woman he loves and how she is trapped within her cage. Norwich master metal smith Harry Wenzel created metal cages that the girls wear as dresses.
ADA regional champion Blake Zelesnikar of Binghamton and national champion Katie Martinez of Miami are featured in a more traditional adagio number titled “Holding On,” choreographed by Amber. The small group senior adagio number, “Angels and Demons,” choreographed by both Amber and Mikey, also took a diamond award at the ADAs. This piece is about the battle between light and dark. The stage is adorned with a giant curtain and dancers move in and out of the fringe.
A large group of dynamic young dancers are already stepping out to fill the graduating seniors’ footsteps. Twelve-year-olds Chase Benjamin of Waverly and Julia Padavona of Vestal took home Junior Dancer of the Year trophies and jackets at the recent ADAs for their solo performances. Padavona and duo partner Brooke Brown took third place over all in the 12 and under category for “Borealis,” choreographed by Christina Jensen, the Perkins’ cousin.
In fact, the last time the studio had such a strong of a group of junior dancers was back in 2004. The cadre of young talent prompted Mikey to stir up and revive the studio’s much acclaimed 2004 junior production of “Harry Potter.” Certain numbers became classics, he said, but are rarely repeated and never with the same music.
“It’s amazing what these young students can do,” said Perkins. “They are like sponges. You can’t teach them enough.”
What started with an idea has kept growing and getting bigger. The 15th annual recital will feature 300 dancers. The dance studio’s faculty consists of Amber and Mikey; cousin Christina; longtime teachers: St. Denny, Stacey Eastman and Samantha Valashinas; and former students Dan Kermidas and Maria Cataldo. New teacher, Terrance Dillar from Vestal and senior student Blake Zelesnikar brought street hip hop training to the studio’s mix of dance styles.
Twelve seniors will be saluted during the Big Bang performances this weekend. Many of them will move on to further their arts careers in college, something of which Amber feels especially proud.
“Each year we have so many seniors who say they want to continue dancing. That’s a good feeling. We’ve taken a dance school and made it a stepping stone for a career in the arts,” said Amber.
The graduates are: Tara Franklin of South New Berlin (15-year PSA student) ; Darby Dietrich and Lane deCordova of Norwich, (10-year PSA students); Liam Deering, Greene; Charlotte Federowicz, Vestal; Luciana Piccirilli, Binghamton; Dillan Smith, Norwich; Stephanie Staley, Sherburne; Arianna Tagliaferri, Vestal; and Blake Zelesnikar, Binghamton.
Everything started when former studio owner Bernie Windsor approached Mike and Antoinette Perkins with the opportunity to purchase her business and, as the story goes, the decision to do so was made in quick succession. With daughter Amber fresh out of college as principal choreographer/teacher and later, son and brother, Mikey, keeping the ball rolling, the studio evolved much like the universe burst through the skies billions of years back.
To celebrate the occasion, the aptly named annual recital, “The Big Bang,” will take place this coming weekend, June 8-10, in the Norwich High School auditorium on Midland Drive. Senior dance performances are at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The junior dancers will hit the stage in matinees at 1 p.m. on Saturday and again on Sunday.
It’s difficult for Mikey Perkins to wrap his head around it, but the first class of 3-year-olds he ever taught are now high school seniors.
“It’s exciting. You get so attached to your students. You see them grow, sometimes as much or even more than their parents have. They ask for your advice and treat you like family. I’m going to miss them so much,” said Perkins, who was a high school senior when he began teaching.
The show’s featured performance, “Six Minutes to the Moon,” is a large group modern piece with 30 dancers who will recreate the average American’s reactions while watching the 1969 Apollo II landing on the moon on TV. As the broadcast proceeds, the music changes tempo and the dancers express varying degrees of fear, excitement, pride and finally, resolve to move forward. All is expressed through choreography with help of pearls, polka dots and I Love Lucy-period costuming.
“It’s a cyclical thing,” said Mikey, who had his students create their own names and back stories for the performance. “Everyone was scared of the unknown, like scared about the different stages of growing into an adult, and then happy and scared all over again.”
The story is much like the studios, beginning with an idea and then growing and changing. It has evolved with new students (some traveling from as far away as Florida and Massachusetts as well as throughout Central New York), a second studio in Vestal, award winning choreographers, and more and more demand for Perkins School of the Arts gigs. Last month’s recital in Vestal at Union Endicott High School attracted several hundred people.
The Perkins School of the Arts’ solid reputation for modern-based adagio continues, though in a less serious fashion this year. Mikey said he made a conscientious shift toward swing dance and other more traditional partnering styles with his large group number, “Dancing in the Gym,” from West Side Story. The piece earned him a choreography award at the American Dance Awards (ADA) regional competition in Binghamton in March.
The junior adagio number, “Sleeping Giant,” choreographed by Travis St. Denny, is set to the sound of trees. The couples watch each other to move and lift on cue instead of relying on musical accompaniment.
St. Denny, national ADA Dancer of the Year champion and professional dancer/teacher, won a diamond choreography award for his senior small group modern, “My Body,” set to the Peter Gabriel song. This piece explores the interaction between a man and the woman he loves and how she is trapped within her cage. Norwich master metal smith Harry Wenzel created metal cages that the girls wear as dresses.
ADA regional champion Blake Zelesnikar of Binghamton and national champion Katie Martinez of Miami are featured in a more traditional adagio number titled “Holding On,” choreographed by Amber. The small group senior adagio number, “Angels and Demons,” choreographed by both Amber and Mikey, also took a diamond award at the ADAs. This piece is about the battle between light and dark. The stage is adorned with a giant curtain and dancers move in and out of the fringe.
A large group of dynamic young dancers are already stepping out to fill the graduating seniors’ footsteps. Twelve-year-olds Chase Benjamin of Waverly and Julia Padavona of Vestal took home Junior Dancer of the Year trophies and jackets at the recent ADAs for their solo performances. Padavona and duo partner Brooke Brown took third place over all in the 12 and under category for “Borealis,” choreographed by Christina Jensen, the Perkins’ cousin.
In fact, the last time the studio had such a strong of a group of junior dancers was back in 2004. The cadre of young talent prompted Mikey to stir up and revive the studio’s much acclaimed 2004 junior production of “Harry Potter.” Certain numbers became classics, he said, but are rarely repeated and never with the same music.
“It’s amazing what these young students can do,” said Perkins. “They are like sponges. You can’t teach them enough.”
What started with an idea has kept growing and getting bigger. The 15th annual recital will feature 300 dancers. The dance studio’s faculty consists of Amber and Mikey; cousin Christina; longtime teachers: St. Denny, Stacey Eastman and Samantha Valashinas; and former students Dan Kermidas and Maria Cataldo. New teacher, Terrance Dillar from Vestal and senior student Blake Zelesnikar brought street hip hop training to the studio’s mix of dance styles.
Twelve seniors will be saluted during the Big Bang performances this weekend. Many of them will move on to further their arts careers in college, something of which Amber feels especially proud.
“Each year we have so many seniors who say they want to continue dancing. That’s a good feeling. We’ve taken a dance school and made it a stepping stone for a career in the arts,” said Amber.
The graduates are: Tara Franklin of South New Berlin (15-year PSA student) ; Darby Dietrich and Lane deCordova of Norwich, (10-year PSA students); Liam Deering, Greene; Charlotte Federowicz, Vestal; Luciana Piccirilli, Binghamton; Dillan Smith, Norwich; Stephanie Staley, Sherburne; Arianna Tagliaferri, Vestal; and Blake Zelesnikar, Binghamton.
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