By: Rebecca McGregor
Lyndon Institute Dance Instructor
VT State Dance Festival Founder and Coordinator
Mentoring Committee Member for National Dance Education Organization

This year the Vermont State Dance Festival entered its 18th year of dance workshops and performances not knowing how a pandemic would impact the world of education and performance.  However, as every artist knows, flexibility and creativity are the keys to success and forward momentum!

In an effort to adapt, the festival unveiled a new addition – a student choreographer’s scholarship opportunity. This year Vermont dance students could submit choreography they created and performed for adjudication by higher education dance instructors for a financial reward which they can put toward their future dance endeavors. The first recipient is senior Amanda Bissonnette from North Country Union High School. Amanda submitted a choreography titled “Control.” The choreography was full of dynamic and chaotic movements met by stillness, representing both the sense of loss of control, as well as the essence of regaining it out of necessity.  Her intent was to depict the need to stay in control and move forward during a time in which so much is out of our control.

The festival is offering another adaptation: Zoom dance workshops on the festival date, Saturday, November 21st.  This year two dance educators, Cydney Spohn and Joan  Wiegers, will provide online dance sessions for teenage dancers at a minimal charge in contemporary dance choreography, barre fitness, and career and employment opportunities in dance. 

Cydney Spohn (M.A.) is an educator, freelance artist, and consultant for dancers and organizations. After a twenty-year tenure as a professor of dance at The University of Akron where she mentored and advised students with diverse backgrounds and interests, Cydney founded Solutions In Motion to help dancers of all ages take their next steps and prepare high school students for college readiness, acceptance, and career success. Cydney danced professionally with North Carolina Dance Theatre and as a soloist with The Pennsylvania Ballet. Her repertoire included lead roles in Swan Lake, Cinderella, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Serenade, Agon, Square Dance, and La Sonnambula, along with works by Joe Goode, Lar Lubovitch, Doug Varone, Paul Taylor, and Lynne Taylor-Corbett. As a recipient of an Emerging Choreographer Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and two Princess Grace Foundation-USA awards, Cydney has been recognized for her creative and performing career on national levels. A high school graduate of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Cydney later earned both a B.S. in Economics (graduating summa cum laude) and an M.A. in Education from The University of Akron. Service contributions include seats on the board of directors of CORPS de Ballet International and the board of advisors of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts. Her research has been presented at professional conferences and published in the scholarly journal’s Research in Dance Education and Arts Education Policy Review.

Joan M Wiegers (MFA, MA, Barre Certification) is the creator and original Director of Plymouth State University dance program is a master teacher/choreographer in New England and beyond. Joan currently teaches 10-12 online classes each week to all levels and ages. She teaches students from New England to Asia and focuses on contemporary dance at the Russian Academy of Dance in Newmarket, Dance Inspirations in Concord, The Mill #3 in Ashland, and The Farmstand in Holderness.

To register for these workshops and watch Amanda’s beautiful choreography, please visit:https://www.lyndoninstitute.org/arts/dance/vermont-state-dance-festival.

Photo caption: This year’s recipient of a Vermont State Dance Festival Student Choreographer’s Scholarship is senior, Amanda Bissonnette from North Country Union High School.