Dear Dance Colleague:

The University of Florida’s School of Theatre and Dance cordially invites you and your students to participate in the American College Dance Festival Association's Southeastern Regional Conference, "Recognizing the E-Merging Artist," March 8-11, 2008 in Gainesville, Florida. The conference promises to be the premiere dance event of the year for all participants, featuring top-tier master classes, a Guest Artist Concert with Neta Dance Company and The A.W.A.R.D. Show! Florida Edition, an Informal Concert, and Gala Concert, all housed in the sun-filled state-of-the art Nadine McGuire Theatre and Dance Pavilion. We will facilitate special opportunities for student and faculty/artist exchanges outside of the studio, offer targeted faculty seminars and workshops, and present an exclusive screening of Movement (R)evolution Africa, the internationally celebrated feature-length documentary exploring contemporary African choreography. We are pleased to welcome as our adjudicators three dynamic, experienced, and well-respected members of the dance community, Phyllis Lamhut, Kraig Patterson, and Christopher d'Amboise.

ACDFA values diversity. Our conference activities reflect the styles and forms rooted in the broad range of ethnic heritages, cultures and aesthetics that inspire today’s college/university dance programs. We encourage the attention to diversity within informal and formally adjudicated concerts, master classes and panel discussion &/or lectures. We encourage all institutions to attend and to participate in the full array of scheduled events, whether or not planning to present choreography for adjudication. The experience of taking master classes, viewing the concerts, and listening to the adjudicators' comments, as well as the energy exchange among dancers and faculty from other schools has proven invaluable for students, regardless of their levels of dance experience. You need not be a member of ACDFA to attend the festival. However, if you have not yet joined ACDFA, we urge you to do so to help further the important work the association performs for college and university dance programs.

We anticipate an enthusiastic response to our festival and space is limited. We are allowing members of Southeast Regional the opportunity to fulfill their registration during the month of September. We will open the registration to all others beginning October 8, 2007. It is important to note that we will register participants on a first paid - first accepted basis. When we reach maximum capacity, we will be unable to accept additional participants. Please plan to register early as the conference may reach capacity prior to the December 14th postmark deadline.

A great deal of initial planning has already occurred for the Southeastern Regional Conference. We now need to know how many colleges plan to participate and which ones wish to perform at the informal and/or adjudicated concerts. Please note that we can on accept approximately 42 adjudicated works, and approximately 17 works (10 minute limit) for the Informal Concert. If you are interested in the adjudication process, please refer to the "Adjudication Guidelines." If you choose to have two pieces adjudicated, at least one piece must be choreographed by a student. Please remember you must be an institutional member in good standing of ACDFA in order to qualify for adjudication. Pieces will be accepted for adjudication, like registration, on a first paid - first accepted basis. The same is true for the Informal Concert. It is also important to note the significance of adjudication during this National Festival Year. While normally held at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., ACDFA is looking forward to holding the National Festival in New York City, hosted by Barnard College. Selected adjudicated works from each regional conference will be invited to perform at the National Festival in the upcoming year, June 4-6, 2008.

If you would like to participate, the registration process is in two parts:
1) Please return the "Registration Form" either through e-mail or the listed address.
2) All payments must be registered through: http://conferences.dce.ufl.edu/Basic/235.aspx.

Each participant will be registered individually. There is contact information on this site should you have any payment questions. (If you are an ACDFA Board member, please do not register yourself on the payment site.) All registration forms and enclosed fees must be returned by mail by the postmark deadline of December 14, 2007.

The University of Florida is located in beautiful Gainesville, Florida, Alachua County in North Central Florida. The Gainesville Regional Airport makes Alachua County highly accessible. Several international airports - Orlando and Jacksonville are located within 2 hours of us and Tampa is about two and a half hours away. For those of you who will be first-time visitors to Gainesville, we want you to know that our location boasts a variety of historical sites and cultural centers, including the home of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, author of The Yearling, the state-of-the art Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, The Hippodrome State Theatre, The Harn Museum of Art which is host to a premiere contemporary collection in the Southeast, The Bauman Meditation Center at Lake Alice, Devil’s Millhopper, Bat Houses, hiking trails, numerous natural springs and, of course, ‘gators. We are just two hours north of Orlando and the exquisitely mounted Cirque du Soleil’s La Nouba, as well as any number of theme parks.

For those arriving early, we will have the registration table open from 6:00-9:00 p.m. on Friday, March 7 in the Nadine McGuire Theatre and Dance Pavilion at the heart of the UF campus. Doors for registration will open Saturday, March 8 at 7:00 am.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,
The UF Dance Faculty

Ric Rose, Conference Coordinator
rarose@ufl.edu 
McGuire Theatre and Dance Pavilion
School of Theatre and Dance
University of Florida
P.O. Box 115900
Gainesville, FL 32611-5900
(352) 273-0500 (Main Office)
(352) 273-0506 (Ric Rose, UF Office)
(352) 392-5114 (Fax)

UF Dance Faculty
Joan Frosch, Interim Chair, Co-Director Center for World Arts
Dr. Rusti Brandman, Dance Coordinator, Co-Director Center for the Arts in Healthcare
Ric Rose
Kelly Drummond Cawthon
Neta Pulvermacher
Mohamed DaCosta
Isa Garcia-Rose
Meredith Farnum
Angela McDonough
Aimee Green

Websites of Note
For directions: http://www.ufl.edu/directions/ 
For more information on UF: www.ufl.edu 
For more information on Gainesville: www.visitgainesville.net
For more information on the School of Theatre and Dance: http://www.arts.ufl.edu/theatreanddance/ 
For more information on the American College Dance Festival Association: http://www.acdfa.org 
For more information on the film: www.movementrevolutionafrica.com