The UW Department of Dance is excited to announce its 4 recipients for the bst Residency for the 2019-2020 school year.
Winter Recipient: Alexander Ung
Spring Recipients: Corrie Befort and Hannah Simmons
Summer Recipient: Heather Kravas
About the 2019 Winter bst Recipient: Alex Ung
Residency Dates: Dec 15-22, 2019
From musical theater to hip hop, acro-modern, and contemporary ballet, Alex Ung's dance range is broad and his breadth of style is reflected in his choreography. Alex began his dance career in hip hop at the Iowa State Hip Hop Dance Club. Soon after college he moved to Seattle, where he began teaching hip hop, jazz, and contemporary jazz, and became the head coach of the award-winning Bainbridge Ballet Dance Team. Alex is currently a summer faculty member of Pacific Northwest Ballet School. He has choreographed musicals at Bainbridge Performing Arts and Seattle Children's Theater, opera for Pacific MusicWorks, mainstage shows for PRIDE Seattle, several productions of The Nutcracker, and new works for Seattle International Dance Festival, Jerboa Dance Company, and, in 2020, Tint Dance Festival. After teaching and coaching for 13 years, Alex founded the Guild Dance Company. As artistic director, he choreographs and produces his own works, which include Immigration Stories(2019), a choreographic odyssey that traces the journey of Alex’s immigrant Tai Dam family from war-torn Southeast Asia to Iowa, from the 1940s to the 1970s. Upcoming works include el Camino, a collaboration with Seattle’s Tudor Choir that will feature the shared stories of pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago. Alex’s narrative approach to choreography has developed into a unique voice within the Seattle dance scene, and he is excited to inspire the UW artists with his process and style.
About bst: bst is a residency offered by UW Department of Dance designed to support local dance artists by offering the gift of space and time when formal classes are not in session. bst offers the opportunity to experiment, make mistakes, revise ideas, and remain focused on the creative process without the pressure that accompanies commissioned works or performance deadlines.
Past Recipients:
- Erica Badgeley
- Alice Gosti
- Dayna Hanson
- Jessica Jobaris
- Angel 'Moonyeka' Langley
- Kim Lusk
- Ella Mahler
- Michael O'Neal Jr
- Coleman Pester and Ethan Folk
- Amber Willett
- Petra Zanki
Congratulations to the 2019-2020 winners of the bst Residency!
bst Residency is partially funded by Tim Summers.