Kim Hausler, '06, dancer/choreographer

Members of Rider University’s dance program will be featured in an evening and afternoon of dance in the production, “Rider Dances,” on Saturday, March 4 and Sunday, March 5.

The production takes place at 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at The Yvonne Theater in the Fine Arts Building on Rider’s Lawrenceville campus. Rider dance majors and minors will perform with alumni, faculty, Westminster Choir College students, and guest artists Douglas Martin and Mary Barton, a husband and wife duo who are noted dancers and teachers from the American Repertory Ballet’s Princeton Ballet School (PBS).

At the March 5 afternoon performance, Dr. Phyllis Frakt, vice president for academic affairs and provost at Rider, who retires this June, will receive special recognition from the dance program and the American Repertory Ballet. Committed to improving student learning, Dr. Frakt has over the years played a fundamental role in enhancing Rider’s dance program and many other academic programs, departments and initiatives on campus.

“Dr. Frakt has given her precious time and expertise to our partner organization that continues to be New Jersey’s leading dance company,” said Dr. Kim Chandler Vaccaro, Rider Dances director. “The American Repertory Ballet is indebted to the work and generosity of one of its most dedicated friends.

“There are ten great reasons to see this year’s dance program, “ continued Chandler Vaccaro. “Pianists Jonathan Benjamin, Tim Brown and Rider’s own Dr. Richard Swain comprise one of the reasons. Others are Rider theater faculty Dr. Richard Homan on guitar; a tribute to the music of Harold Arlen and the dance of Katherine Dunham; the special thank-you to retiring Provost Phyllis Frakt; the energetic choreography of American Repertory Ballet’s Laney Englehard; four returning, professional alumni, 37 fantastic Rider students and the unsurpassed dancing of Mary Barton and Douglas Martin.”

Mary Barton received her training at the Washington School of Ballet and participated in summer courses at The School of American Ballet (SAB) and The Joffrey Ballet School. She joined Dayton Ballet in 1981 and performed many of the company’s leading roles before leaving to join the Joffrey II Dancers. In 1986, she joined the Joffrey Ballet. She has performed around the world both as a solo artist and as a featured member of ballet companies. She has been on the teaching staff at the Princeton Ballet for 11 years.

Douglas Martin, started his ballet training with Dimitri Romanoff at the San Jose Ballet School and continued as a scholarship student at American Ballet Theater School. He joined the Joffrey II Dancers in 1982 and was promoted to the Joffrey Ballet in 1984. He performed many of the company’s renowned repertory and was involved in the creation of many new works until his retirement from performing in 2002. He has been an integral part of the teaching staff at the Princeton Ballet since 1994. He also teaches at Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of Dance and for Rider’s Westminster Choir College.

Additional artists include Rider alumni Shannon Anderson '05, Melanie Tirpak '03, Stephanie Galati '03, Melissa Kanavel '04, and Erin Rutherford '04.

Currently, there are 50 dance majors and minors in the Rider University Dance/Princeton Ballet School Dance Program. Students must complete courses in the history of dance, music, visual art and theater; introductory courses in dance and music theory; and a series of studio courses in ballet, jazz, modern, World dance, Pilates and choreography among others. The distinct partnership with the Princeton Ballet School enables students to study with conservatory level faculty while receiving a liberal arts education.

Tickets are $5 for Rider students, faculty, staff (with Rider's Bronc I.D.) and senior citizens; $10 for the general public and will be available at the door the evening and day of the performance, one hour before the curtain rises. For more information, call (609) 896-5168 or (609) 896-5000, ext. 7706.