Saturday, June 1, 2013

Welcome to the TeeBoDans "State of Being" tour 2013 BLOG!  We are very excited about this project, and thought we would try a blog to record some of our experiences throughout the tour.

The "State of Being" project will tour the choreographic works of Stephanie Thibeault, performed by talented Arkansas dancers, to NYC and Baltimore in mid-June.

It all started with a Summer Research Grant from the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.  In order to even consider touring, I had to take on a massive private fundraising effort.  Thanks to USA PROJECTS, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that helps raise funds for artist's projects (and to the Arkansas Arts Council, for pointing me in their direction), we were able to raise enough to make this tour a reality.  As with many grassroots efforts like this, we found that our friends and family--along with colleagues and fellow artists--were very generous, and enjoyed supporting a project that hit so close to home.

Shortly after deciding to do this project, I began inviting dancers to take part in the project.  After a long several months, and a few injuries and other life changes, I am now working with a group of 10 dancers, all Arkansas residents and promising artists for our future.

We are now in the rehearsal process, and I could not be more delighted!  These dancers are working hard and making beautiful things happen.  This promises to be an exciting tour! I look forward to showing my work in front of audiences in NYC and Baltimore, and I am proud that we have such talented--and well-trained--dancers here in The Natural State!  Part of the reason for this tour was to network our most talented dancers with the broader dance world.  I believe this tour will provide excellent networking opportunities for the dancers and for myself.

OK... Now that you know a little about our project, we are going to start blogging to keep you up-to-date on the progress.  See you soon!     -Stephanie Thibeault, Artistic Director, Tee-Bo-Dans

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