*Producer / Choreographer / Director, Co'Motion Dance Theater Co'Motion Dance Theater is a professional modern dance company that toured from Ohio to Montana during a 25-31 week season for 20 years during which the company performed and taught in over 550 different communities, annually performing for more than 25,000 people of all ages and working with more than 6000 students in residency situations. Currently in its 30th season, the company now concentrates on a three concert home season, plus an annual Kids' Co'Motion workshop and production and tours part-time throughout the upper Midwest. Formed in 1978, Valerie Williams continues to find and create a market for modern dance, in a region not known for modern dance, through high quality performances and educational outreach. Collaborated on Ashes to Ashes, a performance for virtual reality with engineer Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira and composer Anne Deane. Please request or see Concert List for a list of repertory.
*Rehearsal Director, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane & Co. Besides directing general repertory rehearsals on a part-time basis from 1986-1993, directed rehearsal for The Promised Land for the premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City, and then throughout North America, France and Italy. Responsibilities at each site included setting, rehearsing and directing the choreography for 40 guest dancers at each site, then melding BTJ/AZ Dance Co. and the local company for the performance run. Also performed as company liaison for public relations at each site.
Directed rehearsal, and set choreography and reconstructed and set 19th Century social dances on the Lyon Opera Ballet for 24 Images/Seconde (1995), set movement, assisted Mr. Jones and directed rehearsal for Love Defined (1993) for the same company. Collected music and assisted John Oswald, music composer, for 24 Images/Second. Reconstructed and set Spanish Medieval dances for You Walk? (1999) and French Court Dances for Fete (1990).
*Choreography Commissioned by:
Central College, Pella, IA
University of Northern Iowa
Iowa Dance Theater
Screenscape Studio
Brunnier Gallery and Museum
Bill T. Jones/Lyon Opera Ballet
Iowa TeleProductions/Better Homes and Gardens/McDonald’s
Ben Ulin’s Unbelievable Magic
Teatro Studio, Rome, Italy
Muzia Dance Theater (two commissions), New York City, NY
Des Moines Metro Opera (six commissions), Des Moines, IA
Dancircus, Milwaukee, WI
Old Creamery Theater Company (seven commissions), Garrison, IA
Iowa Public Television, Des Moines, IA
Ames Children's Theater, Ames, IA
Des Moines Symphony Orchestra (two commissions), Des Moines, IA
Wartburg Symphony Orchestra, Waverly, IA
Central Iowa Symphony (three commissions), Ames, IA
*Adjunct Faculty –
Iowa State University (2000) Responsible for teaching courses in Dance Vocabulary, and Secondary Teaching Methods for Physical Education Majors and Dance Minors.
Co'Motion Dance Theater is in residence at ISU, and trades services with the university, including teaching master classes, guest teaching, and consulting for students projects.
University of Northern Iowa (2007-2009) Instructor and Advisor for Orchesis Dance Company.
Lecturer for Waldorf College Arts and Humanities 1998-2007. Lecture/demonstrations and performances for Humanities class. Addressed dance history, and dance as a creative art form.
*Dance Curriculum Committee for Iowa Department of Education In 1989, Williams was selected to be a member of the Focus on the Arts program for the State of Iowa Department of Education and to write the Curriculum Framework for Dance in public education. Feeling that the Framework was incomplete for general classroom and physical education teachers without extensive dance training, she wrote a guide for teachers to accompany the current curriculum. That Curriculum Guide has been presented at professional conferences (IAHPERD, CDAHPERD) as well as used in classes, residencies and teacher in-service throughout the Midwest. Besides general sales at conferences and through the internet, the Guide is currently in use in the Marshalltown schools and used in Physical Education methods classes at Missouri State University. Williams worked from the Curriculum Guide with students and teachers in Porto, Portugal.
*Established Kids' Co'Motion A continuing program, produced by Valerie Williams and Co'Motion Dance Theater, designed to train children ages 8-18 in modern dance technique, composition theory and practice and production. During this intensive, three week performance workshop students also rehearse for a final, fully produced dance performance. Instituted in 1989 by Williams as an annual project, the program has been a successful teaching and audience development tool as well as developing dancers and choreographers. Please see KCM for a more detailed description and production listing.
*Renaissance Dance Scholar/Social Dance Reconstruction and History Scholarly reconstruction of dances from the Renaissance period. Renaissance Dance reconstruction and performances with Musica Antiqua since 1977 (10-20 performances annually). Workshops, seminars and choreography. Consultant for festivals and university music departments. Choreographed and set period social dances for the Lyon Opera Ballet production of Bill T. Jones' 24 Images/Seconde in 1995, and reconstructed and set Spanish medieval dances for Jones'You Walk? in 1999, and French Court dances for Fête in 1990. Currently working on Now Foot It!, a series of instructional e-books about Renaissance Dance.
*Musical Theater Choreographer Over 70 productions for professional, amateur and high school shows
State Fair Singers and Jazz Band, 1994-5
*Social Dance Teaching and Choreography Teaching and choreographing contemporary and historical social dances from the Viennese Waltz to the Argentine Tango. Co-founder of the ISU Ballroom Dance Club; Argentine Tango Salons since 1996; free-lance teaching. Williams teaches and dances Argentine Tango, Swing, Waltz, Foxtrot, American Tango, Salsa, Country 2-Step, Cha Cha, Rumba, Bolero, Merengue, and more, Folk dances, Contra and Square dances. Workshops, demonstrations, seminars and choreography.for beginning through advanced students in Ames, throughout the upper Midwest, and University of Canterbury (New Zealand). Williams is currently completing the first in a series of e-books on social dance from the Renaissance and Middle Ages. Believing that there is a pedagogy to teaching social dance that is as rigorous as any other form of dance, Williams has developed curricula and lesson plans for teaching general social dance and Argentine Tango.
*Master Teacher University of Canterbury (New Zealand), Luther College, University of South Dakota, University of Northern Iowa, University of Montana, American College Dance Festival (1992, 2002, 2005), Dordt College, Iowa State University, University of Wisconsin/LaCrosse, Instituto Politecnico do Porto. Lecturer for Waldorf College since 1998.
Teacher In-Service in numerous public and private schools and for many educational service organizations in several states.
*Public Access Television Producer Supervise videotaping of CMDT concerts; editing for broadcast.
Sponsor of Dance Tv - a weekly broadcast of CMDT and other local companies' dance concerts on tape.
Experience with A/B roll linear editing, non-linear editing with Adobe Premiere and Pinnacle.
*Arts Advocate: Steering and Policy Committees; Consultant; Panelist Iowa Arts Council, Southwest Minnesota Arts Council, South Dakota Arts Council
Delegate for 1995 Iowa Arts Caucus.
Serve as panelist/juror for artist roster selection. See SERVICE below for listing.
Teacher In-Service in numerous public and private schools and for many educational service organizations in several states.
Organizer for ArtsReach, a group surveying and planning for the arts in Ames.
Served as a voice for the arts on Ames 2020 committee.
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Science with honors, Iowa State University, 1977. Major in Dance/Physical Education. Emphases in Chemistry, Music, Foreign Languages.
Intensive Training in Dance:
York University, 1986
Bill Evans Summer Institute of Dance, 1979--Evans modern dance technique, effort/shape, movement fundamentals.
Wisconsin College Conservatory and University of Wisconsin/Milwaukee, 1962-74--ballet, modern, Graham technique.
Selected Workshops and Master Classes Attended: Bill Evans and Co., 1975, 77, 79, 82, 83, 2002
Alan Danielson (Limon Co.), 2001
Tony Pierce, 2001
David Parsons Co, 1999
Argentine Tango, 1995-2008
Lindsay Hibbs, 1993 (London)
New York University, 1986
Early Dance and Music Institute, 1984
Nikolais and Co., 1976, 78, 84
Brigham Young University, 1977
SERVICE:
Speaker for Marketing and New Media, Iowa Dance Network, 2008
Adjudicator for Iowa Arts Council Roster, 2007
Site reviewer for Iowa Arts Council Operational Support grants, 2005
Iowa Arts Council panelist for application review and granting, 2000, 2002, 2004
Committee Member and Volunteer for FACES, a celebration of culture in Ames, 2001, 02, 03, 04
Dance/Theater juror/panelist for the Iowa Arts Council, 1979-82, 92, 2002, 04
Member of ArtsReach, purveyor of the Ames Cultural Plan, 2000-02
Iowa Arts Council panelist, "Renew, Refine, Reflect" Arts Conference, 2000
Appointed member Public Art Commission for City of Ames, 1999-2004
Iowa Arts Council juror for Artist in Schools/Communities roster selection, 1998, 99
Treasurer, Board of Directors, Ames Community TV, 1997-99
Ginkgo Festival, Chair Performing Arts Committee, 1996, 97, 98
Elected delegate to 1995 Iowa Arts Caucus
Iowa Arts Council panelist, "Common Ground" Arts Conference, 1994
CDAHPERD Convention presenter, 1993
AIM for Excellence Dance Curriculum Committee, 1990-91, 93
IAHPERD Convention presenter, 1988, 1990, 1992
Committee member for Arts Conference, Iowa Arts Council, 1989
Long Range Planning Panelist for the South Dakota Arts Council, 1984
Iowa Arts Caucus Panelist, 1984
Initiated and produced a dance series at the Des Moines Art Center, 1984, 87
Initiated and produced Des Moines Dance Festival, 1984
Dance/Theater Panelist for the Iowa Arts Council, 1979-82, 92
Artist in the Schools Conference Panelist, 1979-83
Consultant for the Southwest Minnesota Arts & Humanities Council, 1980
Resource person for ISU Music Department, 1976-present
Consultant for ISU Madrigal Dinner Productions, 1976-present
Co-founder ISU Ballroom Dance Club, 1976
Selected "Local Treasure", by the Ames Community Arts Council in 2000!
Please write or call for more information, references, and materials. Email for more info
EXPERIENCE STATEMENTS
Director
At present I am director of a professional modern dance company. My company, Co'Motion Dance Theater (C'MDT), formed in 1978, toured full time for twenty years, annually performing on tour and at home for approximately 20,000 people of all ages and presented master classes and residencies for over 6000 students. I contracted with dancers annually for a full-time 25-32 week season and met weekly payroll. I have been choreographing major works for C'MDT since 1986. Currently my office manager and I produce two or three concerts each season, plus the highly successful Kid's Co'Motion, and contract with dancers part-time by the job.
My responsibilities have included interviewing and hiring staff, writing applications for grants, accounting, forecasting, budgeting, and overseeing tax accounting for federal and state governments. I plan and direct rehearsals; direct work for a stage manager, lighting designer, costume constructor, and various designers who create work for my company. I negotiate and contract with presenters, dancers, technicians, music composers and musicians. I am experienced at writing applications for grants and services, am a competent bookkeeper and accountant, and have an excellent track record of receiving grants from local, statewide and national granting organizations such as the Iowa Arts Council, NEA's Open Studio, and Commission On The Arts. I am very comfortable speaking with and/or before any audience. C'MDT trades services for rehearsal space at Iowa State University, so I work regularly with the dance faculty. I direct public relations campaigns including all activities from press releases to journalist interviews, for both print and broadcast media. I regularly address such groups as the Rotary Club, Kiwanis, dance appreciation classes, opera guilds, and pre-show audiences.
Because I travel extensively, my office staff has had to respond to both everyday and unique requests without my verbal direction. I have written a manager's handbook for my office including daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly duties, as well as notes on operations, contacts and experiences. We work with software ranging from Microsoft products to Adobe Photoshop to Quicken.
Choreographer and Rehearsal Director
Since 1975 I have toured professionally, performing, choreographing and teaching throughout North America, Europe and New Zealand, most recently in Portugal. I began choreographing major works for CMDT in 1986, but have been making dances since elementary school. Over the years I have had many choreographic commissions, including two from Muzia Dance Theater in NYC, from Pandemonium DanceCircus of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, opera and theater companies, and commercial companies. In 1986 I began working part-time in New York City as rehearsal director for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Co. In 1990-92 I was rehearsal director for Jones' production Last Supper at Uncle Tom's Cabin/The Promised Land at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival and for the international tour throughout the USA and in France, Canada and Italy. My duties included setting Mr. Jones' choreography, directing the improvised sections of the performance and integrating the local company with the BTJ/AZ Dance Co. I have since assisted Mr. Jones in making and setting Love Defined and 24 Image/Secondes in New York City and in Lyon, France, as well as reconstructing and choreographing period social dances for the latter and You Walk? and Fête.
I have created and performed solo concerts as well as concerts for the professional dance company. I believe that dance must exist in the larger society, so I also create projects involving community dancers, such as the Spiked! series (a version of The Nutcracker with music arranged by Spike Jones), Virtue and Vice in the New Millenium, and Tribes, all of which include professional and amateur dancers in a wide age range. Solo concerts include Steel Forest, Illuminations for Body and Voice, Series Solo (a group of shorter solo concerts made for a gallery space), and Up and Coming Gods. I continue to investigate and use interactive digital technologies, and am learning to program in C++ and Matlab for future performances. I am currently directing a project at ISU, in developing a wireless sensor system that allows the performer more control over s/his environment. That performance is scheduled for April, 2005.
I seek out opportunities to work with others and have created dance concerts with visual artists (i.e. Officium, Manipulations), music composers (i.e. Air and Amor, Connections, You and Me), musicians (i.e. Barber-isms, Chamber Dance), engineers (i.e. Ashes to Ashes, Assisted Living, Trapping States), poets (Cappella, poetry festival at Upper Iowa University), set designers (Sign-apse, Waterworks, and many more), and other choreographers (Young Monks).
I began my career in musical theater, and continue to choreograph for professional and community theaters, and high schools. I have choreographed more than 70 productions ranging from Tintypes to Music Man. I also occasionally choreograph commercials and industrial videos for organizations such as McDonald's restaurants and the Iowa Lottery.
Scholar
As a scholar in Early Dance reconstructions specializing in Italian and French court dances of the Renaissance, I work with Musica Antiqua, annually performing 10-20 concerts touring in the Midwest. I present workshops in Renaissance dance movement and reconstruction for colleges and universities, and professional and amateur music and theater organizations. I have worked with the Iowa State University Music Department on their Madrigal Dinners and also annually reconstruct and set dances. I have set Spanish medieval dances for Bill T. Jones' production of You Walk?, a French Galliard for Fete, and 19th Century social dances for 24 Images/Seconde for the Lyon Ballet.
I continue to stretch myself intellectually: in 1997 I was selected to be part of the first Open Studio artist group (a national program underwritten by the Benton Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts). I learned to write HTML code, then composed and currently maintain a web site for my company and for myself (www.comotion.org, www.vjw.biz). My web site has attracted many visitors and garnered jobs including choreography that has taken me to Florida, and work with graduate students at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.
I learned to use Mark Coniglio's program, Isadora, because I am intrigued by the interactive possibilities, began learning Flash for a KCM production and am currently studying OpenCV, Matlab, and data structures. I collaborated with engineering professor Gerald Sheblé on creating a digital sensing system with piezo sensors, and we have also already created a system for wireless real-time video transmission used in Tribes. My latest collaboration is with Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira and the Virtual Reality Applications Center. We produced (with composer Anne Deane) Ashes to Ashes - Dance Driving (2002), a performance in virtual reality, and Assisted Living (2005) using software programs VR Juggler and Isadora, and sensors developed by Yifei Wang.
I believe that dancers should have a clear knowledge of bodies and of the physics of movement as well as a clear sense of movement. I continue to study kinesiology and apply that knowledge in rehearsal and class. Being injured is a waste of resources and time.
Educator
I have taught master classes and workshops at the University of Canterbury (New Zealand), Luther College, University of South Dakota, University of Northern Iowa, University of Montana, twice at American College Dance Festivals, Dordt College, Iowa State University, University of Wisconsin/LaCrosse, Instituto Politecnico do Porto and have served as a lecturer for Waldorf College since 1998.
I believe in the education of physical, intellectual and spiritual intelligences and have found no other form as fitting as dance and creative movement. Besides constantly seeking to make sure people have a positive experience in dance/movement, I express a contagious joy in the art form. I am a frequently requested Artist In the Schools in a nine state region, and have worked in that program since 1978. I have taught in elementary and secondary schools as well as universities, colleges and dance schools. I present workshops, teacher in-service, seminars and residencies in Curriculum Development, Creative Movement, Dance Technique, Movement and Curriculum, Composition, Biomechanics, Early Dance, and Musical Theater Choreography working in situations ranging from Artists in Schools to special populations to colleges to commissioned works.
I provide a role model as a professional dancer and teacher as well as provide knowledge of the field from the many years I have been working in dance and theater. Since 1975 I have toured professionally, performing, choreographing and teaching throughout a twelve state area. The exposure to professionals who work regularly, tour nationally and internationally is invaluable to students just beginning a career, particularly a professional with the ability to communicate methods as well as the art form.
My expertise in teaching creative movement as well as the knowledge acquired from the successful running of a small business has been employed numerous times by state arts agencies across the Midwest, including Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota. I have served as a consultant, given workshops, and directed retreats. I have also served on granting panels, artist selection panels, and advisory panels.
In 1989 I was part of the State of Iowa Department of Education Curriculum Committee in dance and based on that experience, wrote a book of lesson plans, ideas and rationales as a companion to the Department of Education Dance Curriculum. I have published this material as a guide to the curriculum. I have presented my book, Dance in Public Education: A Practical Guide at many professional conferences (IAHPERD, CDAHPERD) as well as used in classes, residencies and teacher in-service throughout the Midwest. Besides general sales, the Guide is currently in use in the Marshalltown schools and used in Physical Education methods classes at Missouri State University as well as by many physical education teachers in this region. In 2003, I worked from the Curriculum Guide with physical education students and teachers in Porto, Portugal on movement and curriculum. Sections of the Guide are concerned with social and folk dance and have been used in classes, workshops and presentations across the Midwest.
Also in 1989, I initiated the highly successful Kids' Co'Motion, a children's dance theater in Ames, Iowa to ensure an educated audience is being formed for modern dance. Kids' Co'Motion is an annual three-week performance workshop designed to train children ages 8-18 in modern dance technique, composition theory and practice, and production. Each day students spend an hour in technique, an hour on composition and improvisation, and two hours rehearsing for a final, fully produced dance performance. KCM continues, supported by tuition, grants and gate receipts, and continues to be a vital part of the local dance community. KCM dancers have been part of dance productions, choreographed for their school productions, and for Central Iowa Symphony performances. Many former members of KCM have gone on to college dance programs, but all are unafraid to buy tickets for dance concerts.
Although my early movement training included ballet as well as fencing and volleyball, social dancing was an active part of my life while growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I have taught social and ballroom dance since 1975 for adults, college students and school students ages 12 and over. Each group has its own demands and I am able meet them. Locally, I sponsor Argentine Tango Salons and teach or have taught social dance classes for the Ames Middle School 8th graders, the Octagon Center for the Arts, the Workspace, Ames Golf and Country Club, and the ISU Ballroom Dance Club and Ballroom Dance Company. I believe that successful social dance teaching should be governed by as rigorous a pedagogy as any other dance form.
Citizen
I have served on the City of Ames Public Arts Commission, a mayoral commission overseeing acquisition, placement and maintenance of public art for the city. I helped organize and implement ArtsReach, surveying the arts in Ames and suggesting changes and growth possibilities, and then presented the results to many organizations. I have lent my expertise in the performing arts to FACES, a celebration of culture and ethnicities, and as Head of the Performing Arts Committee for the Ginkgo Festival. I have been asked to speak at several of the Iowa Arts Council's major biannual state arts conference, most recently on the subjects of marketing for individual artists and building relationships with community arts organizations. For the Iowa Arts Council I have served as a panelist for grant reviews and also on artist selection panels; most recently as a site reviewer for the Operational Support Program. I produce DanceTv, a weekly program of dance concerts by C'MDT and other local professional dancers and companies for the local Public Access Television station, and served as treasurer on the board of directors of Ames Community TV. In 2000, I was selected "Local Treasure" by the Ames Community Arts Council for lifetime achievement. I have been nominated twice by the ISU College of Education for the Alumni Achievement Award. As Co'Motion Dance Theater is the dance company in residence in the ISU Department of Health and Human Performance, I regularly serve as a resource person for college students.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am a choreographer, director, producer and dancer, currently collaborating and creating a variety of dance productions that will be performed on various stages, in an art gallery, and in virtual reality.
Co-founder of Co'Motion Dance Theater in 1978, I have also worked as a dance artist in education in a 9 state area in the USA, as a rehearsal director for Bill T. Jones, as a performer and researcher with Musica Antiqua, and choreographer to several theater and opera companies. I continue to choreograph, dance and conduct workshops for dance artists, educators, and other arts practitioners, and also to prove in action the value of pedagogy in teaching social dance.
I have worked extensively with artists from other disciplines (music composers, visual artists, digital artists and theater artists) both as a performer and a choreographer. My choreographic work includes modern dance works, musical theater, mixed media performance and now, virtual reality. My work has been presented in theaters across the upper Midwest of the USA, Italy, and in a regular season since 1993 at the City Auditorium in Ames, Iowa, as well as other venues. I have consulted on teaching and choreographing social dances ranging from Spanish medieval dances to contemporary Swing and Argentine Tango. I have reconstructed and set dances for Bill T. Jones, the Lyon Opera Ballet (France) and numerous companies and University music departments.
The focus of my artistic work at present lies in the dialogue between dance and new technologies. I have a particular interest in interactive work, involving a live performance element.
My main academic interests are currently in the development and promulgation of a pedagogy for teaching social dance, and research, reconstruction and performance of social dances of the Renaissance and Middle Ages. I am interested in developing e-books for dance and am working on a series of e-books on cd and dvd about Renaissance dance. The first book, for children, was published June 1, 2006. The dvd includes rhythmic notations of dances from Arbeau, Caruso and Negri, movement vocabulary for the dances both notated and on video, some history of the time, and costume and chronology of the dances.
My most interesting choreographic projects for the 2006-2007 season include:
· Collaborating with dancers to create Fictions, a performance/installation for April, 2007. Dancers wear wireless sensors, allowing an interface with the computer software and giving the dancers more control over their visual, aural and temporal environment. Individual choreographers and dancers are invited to interact with the installation.
· Continuing research in motion capture and the human/computer interface in collaboration with virtual reality engineers to develop a more durable wireless sensor system. Currently working with a composer and visual artist to make work that the sensor system uses more interesting.
· Collaborating with 15 women to create a performance based on ordinary womens’ lives in 10 workshops scheduled for early 2007; performed in May, 2007.
My most interesting choreographic projects for the 2005-2006 season include:
· Collaborating with engineers to create a wireless system for a performance/installation for April, 2006. This system will bypass the MIDI interface and speak directly to the computer. Dancers will again wear the wireless sensors, allowing an interface with the computer software and giving the dancers more control over their visual, aural and temporal environment.
· Reviewing repertory from the past and setting it on new dancers.
· Teaching and Collaborating with local women dancers on a concert of dance inspired by their experiences, for performance in May, 2006.
My most interesting choreographic projects for the 2004-2005 season include:
· Collaborating with engineers to create a flex sensor system for a performance/installation for April, 2005. Dancers will wear the wireless sensors, allowing an interface with the computer software and giving the dancers more control over their visual, aural and temporal environment.
· Continuing research in motion capture and the human/computer interface in collaboration with virtual reality engineer Carolina Cruz-Neira.
· Collaborating with local photographer Sam Wormley on a concert of dance with 3d projected photography for performance in April, 2005.
Valerie Williams performs, choreographs and teaches in a state and region not known for being the mecca of dance. Why? Valerie intends to bring the contagious energy of dance to audiences anywhere, encouraging them to find the humor, drama, eccentricity, beauty and joy that makes up each of our lives and is reflected so uniquely in dance. She intends to change the face of physical education to make it truly that, not solely sports education. And Valerie intends to make professional choreographers a necessity not only in professional theater and dance, but also in high schools, community and college theater and dance, forcing them to realize the quality of dance available as well as tapping the potential of their performers.
BIO
Valerie Williams earns her living in modern dance, musical theater, opera and Renaissance dance. Dancing professionally since 1973 she has performed, choreographed and taught in a wide variety of situations including professional and amateur dance and theater, opera and even marching bands. Since 1975 she has toured professionally performing, choreographing and teaching throughout North America and Europe. Co-founder and director of Co'Motion Dance Theater, Valerie has toured to hundreds of communities and schools with Co'Motion Dance Theater, Musica Antiqua, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Co. and the Old Creamery Theater Company. She produces at least three concerts per year for Co'Motion Dance Theater plus the successful Kids' Co'Motion concert and performance workshop. In previous seasons Co'Motion Dance Theater annually performed on tour and at home for approximately 20,000 people of all ages and presented master classes and residencies for over 6000 students. Now, the company performs a three concert home season and continues its touring to a lesser degree. Valerie trained at the Wisconsin College Conservatory, UW/Milwaukee, Iowa State University, with Bill Evans and continues her training with her company and a number of other professionals. July 1986 found her starting part-time work in New York City as rehearsal director for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Co. In 1990-93 she was the national tour director for Jones' production The Promised Land at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival and throughout the USA and in France, Canada and Italy. In 1995 Valerie used her extensive knowledge of social dance history to choreograph social dances for Jones' production of 24 Images/Seconde for the Lyon Opera Ballet. In 1991 she worked as rehearsal director for Bill T. Jones' Love Defined for the Lyon Opera Ballet. In 1999, she set Spanish medieval dances for Jones' You Walk? In 1993 she set a version of her choreography Divine Liturgy on a group of dancers in Rome, Italy. 1987 and 1988 brought her two commissions from Muzia Dance Theater in NYC and one from Pandemonium DanceCircus of Milwaukee, WI. In 1989 she initiated the ongoing annual children's dance theater Kids' Co'Motion, in Ames, Iowa to make sure an educated audience is being formed for modern dance. She has worked with Electrical Engineering Professor Gerald Sheblé on Up & Coming Gods, a performance using audience/performer and performer/computer interactivity. Currently, she is collaborating with Carolina Cruz-Neira and engineers from the Virtual Reality Applications Center in Assisted Living, a theaterical dance performance using stereo projections of polarized light for a 3-d virtual interactive 'set'.
Valerie's training includes a broad range of technical study, but her experiences include much more: scholarly reconstructions of Early Dance, advanced study in biomechanics and kinesiology, and running a successful dance company. Valerie has an excellent eye for movement and has coached all ages and experience levels.
Valerie used her years of teaching and workshop experience to write "Teaching Dance in Public Education - A Guide to the Iowa Department of Education Dance Curriculum". This guide fills a large hole in teacher education by providing immediately usable lesson plans for physical education, music, art and general education teachers. It was implemented through the LACES program in Marshalltown, Iowa and is currently in use in that community's schools, as well as at the University of Missouri. From sales at presentations and conferences and through the Internet, it is assumed to be used by teachers across the country. Valerie worked with Physical Education students and teachers in Porto, Portugal using lessons from the Guide.
Valerie also dances for fun. Social dancing has been a part of all her life, starting with waltz and polka in her native Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Since then, Valerie has danced and taught most forms of ballroom and social dances, folk dances, contra and round dances, and most lately, Argentine Tango. Co-founder of the ISU Ballroom Dance Club in 1976, she continues to teach all skill levels for that club as well as other clubs and organizations. Valerie teaches private lessons and has taught and coached for the ISU Ballroom Dance Company. Since 1996 Valerie has conducted Argentine Tango Salons on a regular basis in Ames, classes and workshops elsewhere in North America and New Zealand.
Valerie believes in the education of physical, intellectual and spiritual intelligences and has found no other form as fitting as dance. Always seeking ways to ensure people have a positive experience in dance/movement, Valerie expresses a contagious joy in the art form. She is a frequently requested Artist In the Schools in a nine state region, and has worked in that program since 1978. Valerie has taught in elementary and secondary schools as well as universities, colleges and dance schools. She presents workshops, teacher in-service, seminars and residencies in Creative Movement, Composition, Movement and Curriculum, Biomechanics, Dance Technique, Early Dance, Social Dance, and Musical Theater Choreography.
Valerie Williams is a powerful dancer, an exciting teacher, a creative producer, and an articulate defender of the art form.
