Intermediate/Advanced Contemporary with Stewart/Owen Dance

Saturdays, 10:45 am–12:00 pm
September 6, 13, 20, 27
October 4, 11, 18, 25
November 1, 8, 15, 22
Dec 6 & 13

Henry LaBrun Studio at the Wortham Center
Aug–Oct Instructor: Emily Oldak
Nov–Dec instructors: Gavin Stewart and Vanessa Owen

This intermediate/advanced contemporary dance class awakens the body and senses through an energetic follow-along warm-up, followed by creative exploration and choreographic phrase-building. Recommended to dancers with a minimum 4 years experience. All dancers are encouraged to modify for their own bodies!

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Emily Oldak is a native New Yorker who graduated from the “Fame” High School in NYC (Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts), and received her BFA in dance from the Juilliard School.  She has had a 20 year career dancing with Sleep no More, Cirque du Soleil, Aszure Barton and Artists, Larry Keigwan and Company, Loni Landon, amongst other choreographers and projects.  She is now the mom of an eleven-month-old, and hopes to instill her love of dance in him.

Gavin Stewart • Originally from Tulsa, OK, started his training at Tulsa Youth Ballet and received his BFA from UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance. Gavin has danced professionally with Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company, Owen/Cox Dance Group, MOVE: the Company, Richmond Ballet II, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance, Company E and Dark Circles Contemporary Dance Company.  During his time with Company E, he performed regularly at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and worked extensively through the State Department touring as a Cultural Ambassador. These tours took him to Kazakhstan, Sweden, Turkmenistan, Russia, Cuba, Israel, Palestine, Azerbaijan, and Uruguay where he taught, performed, and choreographed contemporary dance.  

Gavin was the first Richmond Ballet II member to create new works for both Richmond Ballet and Richmond Ballet II, and he has also presented choreography at UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, Virginia Commonwealth University, Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company, Agora Dance, Velocity DC Dance Festival, McCallum Theatre Choreography Festival, and Company E. 

He has served on the faculty of Company E, CityDance Pop, Metropolitan Ballet Academy, the Academy at Terpsicorps, WNC Dance Academy, Ballet Conservatory of Asheville, and French Broad River Academy.  Since moving to Western North Carolina in 2017 Gavin has continued to freelance as a professional dancer, while also Co-Directing Stewart/Owen Dance alongside his wife, Vanessa Owen

Vanessa Owen • Vanessa is originally from Amity, Pennsylvania and she received her B.F.A. in Dance from Wright State University.  She has danced professionally with Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company, the Kennedy Center’s production of Children of Eden, Dark Circles Contemporary Dance and Company E.  Vanessa performed regularly at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and worked extensively through the State Department touring as a Cultural Ambassador during her time with Company E. These tours took her to Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Russia, Cuba, Israel, Palestine, Republic of Georgia, Azerbaijan, China, and Uruguay where she taught, performed, and choreographed contemporary dance and musical theater productions.

Vanessa was awarded a McDowell Regional Artist Grant, a Fellowship in Choreography by the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Audience Choice Award at the NYC Dance Gallery Festival, and her choreography has been presented at Wright State University, Women in Dance Conference, Shenandoah University, McCallum Theatre, Asheville Fringe, CHOP SHOP, Richmond Dance Festival, Versatility Dance Festival, Palm Desert Choreography Festival, Austin Dance Festival, Stavna Ballet and Company E.