Choreographer, dance legend Sylvia Waters to visit Syracuse University as keynote speaker for Women of Distinction Awards Feb. 29

Choreographer, dance legend Sylvia Waters to visit Syracuse University as keynote speaker for Women of Distinction Awards Feb. 29February 14, 2008Carol K. Masiclatclkim@syr.edu

On Feb. 29, Syracuse University will host world-renowned choreographer Sylvia Waters when she visits campus for the 13th Women of Distinction awards.

Waters is the artistic director of the dance company Ailey II and a celebrated teacher of dance with a career spanning three decades. Presented by the Office of Student Life and the Division of Student Affairs, the awards honor women leaders on the SU community. The awards ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. in Goldstein Auditorium in the Hildegarde and J. Myer Schine Student Center.

The Women of Distinction awards celebrate and recognize women — students, faculty and staff — who have made a difference with their leadership. Selection criteria for the awards include: leadership, academics, service/social justice and efforts within their chosen or anticipated profession.

The awards honor:

• demonstration of outstanding leadership with an organization, community or classroom;
• accomplishments or leadership roles within the individual’s future or current profession;
• academic achievements inside or outside the classroom;
• participation in or initiation of innovative efforts or programs intended to promote enhancement of self or others;
• service or social justice efforts within or beyond the Syracuse University/SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry community; and
• promotion and involvement in collaborative initiatives.

In addition to the awards presentations, the event will feature student organization performances by Orange Bhangra and the Black Celestial Choral Ensemble, and a keynote address by Waters.

This event is free and open to the public. Discounted parking is available at Booth Garage. For more information on the event contact Sara Ross at (315) 443-2718 or saross01@syr.edu.

Since Ailey II’s inception more than 30 years ago, Waters has been responsible for the growth and expansion of one of the country’s most vibrant young dance companies. She became interested in dance when the art form was introduced in her junior high school curriculum. She continued her studies at the New Dance Group, whose illustrious faculty included Alvin Ailey, Jane Dudley, Geoffrey Holder, Carmen de Lavallade Muriel Manning, Sophie Maslow and Donald McKayle. While earning a bachelor of science in dance at the Juilliard School, she studied with Antony Tudor and Martha Graham. Waters received a scholarship to the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance and also performed with McKayle’s dance company.

After graduating from Juilliard, Waters toured in the European company of “Black Nativity.” She subsequently moved to Paris, where she appeared regularly on television and worked with Michel Descombey, then director of the Paris Opera Ballet. Waters also performed in McKayle’s European production of “Black New World,” worked with choreographers Maurice Bejart and Milko Sparembleck, and performed in Brussels and at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

In 1968, Waters returned to the United States and joined Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She toured throughout the United States, South America, Europe and the Soviet Union as a principal dancer with the company until becoming the artistic director of Ailey II. In fall 2003, Dance Theater Workshop presented Waters with a New York Dance and Performance Award for SustainedAchievement in recognition of her outstanding commitment to young and emerging artists.

She has also established a distinguished reputation as a teacher, conducting master classes throughout the country. In 1997, she received an honorary doctorate from the SUNY College at Oswego. She has served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts and is also active in a variety of other national and local arts organizations.