Events

Leah Tubbs, founder of New Yok City’s ModArts Dance Collective will be in residency this summer at ArtPlay from June 3-June 21.  ModArts Dance Collective (MADC), a professional contemporary dance company, is comprised of dedicated, passionate, and gifted artists on a guest for technical growth and artistic nourishment.  The company employs a synthesis of ballet and modern blended with Afro centric undertones to articulate the human condition and spirit through the unbounded art form of dance.  ModArts Dance Collective prides itself on works of dance that possess both high artistic merit, as well as works bearing a readiness to connect and inspire a multitude of people from various walks of life.  ModArts Dance Collective artistically represents an adoration and joy for movement that transcends race, gender, and socio-economic backgrounds. ModArts Dance Collective provides a nurturing environment where artists can embody, and audiences can experience the desire, athleticism, and vitality of dance.  Leah is a native of Birmingham, AL and a graduate of Alabama School of Fine Arts.

Leah Tubbs will be teaching Horton modern dance technique in a three week workshop.  The workshop will consist of a 1.5 hour class that will prepare the dancer for rehearsals that follow; rehearsals will last for 1-1.5 hour.  Tubbs will be teaching repertory from ModArts Dance Collective which will be performed in the June 21 concerts at the Alys Stephens Center.  Students from the workshop will be asked to perform alongside company members from both ModArts Dance Collective.

Leah Tubbs, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, studied dance at Alabama School of Fine Arts (ASFA) and University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. She toured with the Alabama Ballet during her time at ASFA. She is a former scholarship recipient of the American Ballet Theater Summer Intensive. She has been blessed to dance with several prominent companies such as Dayton Contemporary Dance Second Company (DCdC2), Cleveland Contemporary Dance Theatre (CCDT), Lula Washington Dance Theatre, Project 21 Dance, L.A. Choreographers and Dancers, Donna Sternberg and Dancers, Jazz Ain’t Dead, and The Zifadanz Group. She has set work on several dance companies and had her work presented in various festivals. In the spring of 2010, she received three nominations from the Austin Table Critics’ Awards for her performance and choreographic work. She is the founding artistic director of ModArts Dance Collective and the creator and program coordinator of a dance program for ages 2.5-7, Arts In Motion (A.I.M.). For more information about ModArts Dance Collective, please check out http://leahtubbs.snappages.com.

Three weeks: MONDAY-FRIDAY 5-9pm;  REHEARSALS ON SATURDAY 1-5PM

COST: $200, scholarships still available and $15 Drop-In

LOCATION: UAB’s Hulsey Center: Room 312

The residency will cummulate in a performance.  

The performance will celebrate choreography created by performers with Alabama roots. Performers will include Tubbs, Cooper and ModArts company members, as well as Rhea Speights, artistic director of Sanspointe Dance Company of Birmingham; Cindy Free, director of Birmingham Ballet; Jacqueline Lockhart, director of J. Lockhart Performing Arts Institute of Birmingham; and Kendia Bennett, company member of Alabama Ballet, who was recently accepted to SUNY Purchase College Conservatory of Dance in New York.

Tickets to the performance are $25, general admission. For tickets, call 205-975-2787 or visitwww.AlysStephens.org. ArtPlay will also present a free Meet the Artist performance earlier that day at 1 p.m. for children in summer camps, as part of its education and outreach mission.