Southeastern Regional Ballet Association

The Alabama Dance Theatre of Montgomery and Southeast Alabama Dance Company of Dothan are proud to announce that they will host the annual SERBA (Southeastern Regional Ballet Association) Festival. The four day dance SERBA Festival 2009 “Stars Danced on Alabama” will be held at the Montgomery Performing Arts Centre and Renaissance Hotel and will attract over 650 people.

SERBA is one of five divisions of Regional Dance America (RDA), a national association of dance companies, founded to promote the artistic development of dance companies throughout the United States. RDA has 90 companies and over 3,000 dancers. The organization offers instruction, scholarships, awards, and performance opportunities.

At the SERBA ’09 festival, dancers and dance professionals from over twenty companies around the Southeast will have the opportunity to take ballet, modern and jazz dance classes from a nationally recognized faculty. They will also attend performances featuring some of the Southeast’s finest dancers and will have an opportunity to audition and receive scholarships for summer studies and schools.

Special guest teachers that will instruct dancers at the Festival include Judy Rice; Wes Chapman, Director of American Ballet Theatre II; Shawn Black, former American Ballet Theatre Soloist; Thom Clower, Bobby Barnett, Deidre Carberry, Jennifer Medina, Roscoe Sales, Joey Arrigo, John Virciglio, Ashlie Wells, and Stephen “Twitch” Boss, ADT alumni and runner-up in “So You Think You Can Dance.”

The Alabama Dance Theatre (ADT) and SEADAC both SERBA Honor companies have been chosen to perform at the GALA performance. ADT will perform Janie Alford’s “Dances of Faith” which was chosen by the adjudicator and will include live music by Beth Nielsen Chapman and SEADAC will close the GALA with Chik-a-boom choreographed by Ashlie Wells.

SERBA Festival 2009 has been made possible by the Slawson Family and by the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. A special thanks to the City of Montgomery, the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce Convention and Visitor Bureau, Alabama Department of Tourism, Bloch/Mirella, and Eurotard for making SERBA 2009 possible. Alabama Dance Theatre dancers are able to attend thanks to the generous support of the JK Lowder Foundation.

The SERBA Gala performance on Saturday, May 9 will highlight the works of selectively chosen companies from the organization. Tickets to the GALA are on sale ($35) and must be purchased in advance by calling 334-241-2590. The SERBA GALA performance will be held at the Montgomery Performing Arts Centre May 9, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. Volunteers are needed for the festival. For more information on SERBA and the Alabama Dance Theatre visit www.alabamadancetheatre.com or call 334-241-2590.