A work choreographed by Steven Iannacone of the Hope College dance faculty will be featured during a festival celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of internationally acclaimed choreographer Alwin Nikolais (1910-93).
The "Nikolais Centennial Alumni Concerts" running Friday and Saturday, Dec. 3-4, at Hunter College in New York will feature former company members and students of Nikolais presenting work they have choreographed and/or performing.
Iannacone, an associate professor of dance at Hope, was a member of Nikolais Dance Theater in the late 1970s. His work "Desde el Jardin" will be performed during the Dec. 3 concert by two other members of the Hope dance faculty, Alicia Diaz and Matthew Thornton, who appear courtesy of Agua Dulce Dance Theater.
Iannacone has taught at Hope since 1990 and is also artistic director of dANCEpROjECt, an affiliate company of the department of dance.
An international performer, choreographer and teacher, Iannacone has danced professionally not only with Nikolais Dance Theater, but also with Phyllis Lamhut Dance Company, Murray Louis, Avi Kaiser, Sergio Antonino and many others. He trained and worked with Hanya Holm, Louis Falco and Finis Jhung; danced for the Urban Arts Core; appeared at the Dance and Non-Verbal Theatre Festival/San Vincenti and the Budva City Theatre Festival; and has had his works produced in Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, Luxemburg, Mexico, Spain and Sweden. He has been on the faculty at the Escuela de la Ballet Folklorico, Vlaamse Dansacademie, Ballet Akademien, Omladinski Kulturni Centar and F.E.D./Catholic University.
He is co-founder of In The Body, and works with "The Roof" in Duisburg, Germany. He is the recipient of numerous Holland Area Arts Council grants, won third prize for the "Best Solo in Belgium" and has been twice awarded "Visitante Distinguido" by the office of the mayor of Queretaro, Mexico.