On Friday, January 13th at SPC’s Palladium Theater, Helen Hansen French, a beloved St. Petersburg dancer/choreographer, showcases where fitness and passion can take you if your pursue your artistic dream.
Following in the footsteps of last season’s wildly successful performance, BEACON 2017 includes not only vibrant, lively dance works, but also the world premiere of a dance film created by world-renown dancer and BEACON Series co-founder/choreographer/artist Helen Hansen French, in collaboration with more than 25 artists from across all disciplines.
The performance will embody strength, joy, courage, tenacity, resilience and communal celebration. French and BEACON co-founding partner/choreographer/dancer Lauren Ree Slone will offer another evening of virtuosic, thought-provoking dance helping and reflecting the effort towards building a thriving, safe environment for everyone.
French was an Old Northeast St. Petersburg native with a graceful, melodic style and regarded as one of the most accomplished artists in the world of modern dance. She earned her BFA from NYC’s acclaimed Juilliard School and brings fifteen years of dance experience back to St. Pete. A founding member of the St. Petersburg Dance Alliance, she always wanted to write music and dance to it and at age 12, danced in a summer program at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater.
French graduated from the Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High and migrated to a modern dance company, dancing with the Buglisi Dance Theater for fifteen years. She’s worked with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre as well as serving as a faculty member at George Mason University, Juilliard and is currently on faculty at St. Petersburg College.
French brings dance off the stage to new audiences, including a fall event hosted by the St. Petersburg Dance Alliance at Green Bench Brewery. Dance on Film, a series of four films, was made by local choreographers like her.
Article by Nanette Wiser