Emerging Artists Series

Presented by Fletcher Dance Project, Travis Mesman, Erik Wagner, Tai White and The Academy of Ballet Arts.

Emerging Artist Series highlights dance at The Studio@620 on Tuesday August 23, 2011 at 7:30 PM.

Have you heard the buzz? The dance scene in St. Petersburg is building and it’s the home of many innovative choreographers.  Come see their works in an evening of dance and music, and meet the artists that are going to put dance on the map in St. Petersburg.

The nature of the show is also designed and open for the creators to meet new artists of all mediums.  The directors are extending an invitation to all forms of art to be in the show as collaboration.  If you are an “Emerging Artist” in the fields of music, fashion, theater or mixed media please contact the group for an audition. All work must be in complete form and ready to be performed the evening of August 23. Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of the action.

Email: [email protected] for details.

About the Directors

Erin Fletcher Erin graduated from The University of Florida with The New World School of the Arts, receiving a B.F.A. degree in dance. Ms. Fletcher began her dance experience performing children's roles with The Boston Ballet Company.  Upon moving to Florida she trained with The Florida West Ballet and graduated from The Pinellas County Center for the Arts.  Her experiences at PCCA enabled her to train at schools such as The Atlanta Ballet, Ballet Met, The Boston Conservatory, and The New World School of the Arts were she received scholarships.  Ms. Fletcher's interests in choreography have allowed her to showcase her talents in many venues including The South Beach Film Festival and Philadelphia's Fringe Festival with The Koresh Dance Company, and The Studio@620 with “Look Tonight” a collaboration with Helen Hansen French and Erik Wagner, “Glass Candy” with the Fletcher Dance Project, and “A Dance in 48 Hours” the most recent collaboration with Travis Mesman, Shila Tirabassi and Fuzion Dance Artists. While living in Miami Ms. Fletcher owned iDrops Entertainment, a successful arts entertainment company booking events requiring dancers, promotional models, art design, graphic design, and managing events.  Weekly in South Florida during that time clients included Level Nightclub (corporate special events), Crobar, Club Space, The Opium Group, and several Miami and Ft. Lauderdale venues.  Corporate clients also included Microsoft, Verizon Wireless, Bacardi, and Camel Cigarettes. Upon graduation Ms. Fletcher moved to the St. Petersburg area and has had the pleasure to teach at professional schools in the disciplines of ballet, tap, modern, jazz, contemporary, hip-hop and creative movement. The Fletcher Dance Project’s desire is showcase a multi-discipline diverse experimental theater experience, while building and educating the art community in the St. Petersburg area.

Travis Mesman Travis was born and sun burned in the town of Mobile, Alabama until the ripe age of 20 when he decided that he wanted to become a professional dancer. Before that he trained as a gymnast and musician. While his dance training was very minimal, and through a stroke of luck, Travis came to St. Petersburg to train under Suzanne Pomerantzeff and Patricia Page as a guest of PCCA. After one year of painful transformation, Travis moved to the big city to get his formal education at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. There, he trained in most formal styles of dance including Horton, Graham, Limon, and Paul Taylor styles of modern dance. All the while, he was indulging in such movement forms as breakin', capoiera, Hip-Hop, improvisation, and circus arts. After college, Travis did exceptional work for many dance companies including Koresh Dance Company, MOMIX, SCRAP, Cirque, and many others including The Ultimate Thriller, a Michael Jackson tribute show. Such talents as standing on his head, hopping on his hands, carrying people on his shoulders, and looking very mean were just a few of the talents that allowed him to tour the US and many countries around the world. Travis is excited to be working with Erin Fletcher again after the success of “Look Tonight” and their recent experimental collaboration “A Dance in 48 Hours.” Travis will be bringing more dance to the Saint Petersburg community.

Erik Wagner Erik Wagner is a choreographer, dance teacher, and freelance performer. He was born in Clearwater, FL and began his dance training at the Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs HighSchool. He has danced with San Francisco Ballet, Béjart Ballet Lausanne, Ballet X, Ballet NY, and Bern Ballet. He performed leading roles in a repertoire of both traditional classics and major works by contemporary choreographers such as Stijn Celis, Mark Morris, William Forsythe, Maurice Béjart, James Kudelka, Lar Lubovitch, Paul Taylor, Jo Stromgran, Linus Tunström, Helgi Tommason, Val Caniparoli, Jerome Robbins and Geroge Balanchine. As a choreographer, he has produced over 10 works ranging from classical ballet to contemporary dance theatre, including two evening length works and a one man show conceived and performed by himself. In 2010, Erik founded the Trigger Group, an artist collaborative company for which he is the Artistic Director. As a dance teacher, he has worked internationally with professional companies and schools ranging from Cedar Lake Contemporary Dance Company and Broadway Dance Center in NYC to Basel Ballet and the ProArt Festival in Prague, CZ. Erik is currently teaching ballet and contemporary dance at the Academy of Ballet Arts in St. Petersburg, FL.

 

Tai White  Tai White is a dancer and choreographer who currently resides in Saint Petersburg, Florida. White is creator of his own dance theater project entitled "Shadows of the Mind" that has performed throughout the Tampa Bay area. He has also choreographed multiple top scoring contemporary solos for The Youth America Grande Prix in 2010-2011. White has had the opportunity to dance with great teachers and instructors such as Troy Powell, Ronald K. Brown, Robin Dunn, Earl Mosley, freelance choreographer Monica Richardson and various Alvin Ailey company members. White has performed with American Idol contestant Cesar De Larosa, and rising singing sensation Shyann Roberts among others. Recently he has performed on Wild-splash 2011, BET's 106 & Park and received an invite to return to New York in August to appear once again on the show. White also has appeared at The Studio@620 in the Fletcher Dance Project’s productions of “A Dance in 48 Hours” and “Glass Candy.”  Locally, White has danced under the instruction of Suzanne Pomerantzeff with a full scholarship at Academy of Ballet Arts, and with Ferdinand De Jesus since 2009 in the styles of Jazz and Modern. The staff of Academy of Ballet Arts, as well as Florida Dance Theatre have invested countless hours and great amounts of energy into his craft.