THE ARTISTS: Robert Salas, M.F.A.
DANCE AT THE TOP OF THE HILL!
photo: Robert Salas
Years Moving/Dancing: over 29 years
About Robert Salas: Robert received his BA and MFA in dance from the University of California, Irvine. He has studied ballet, jazz, modern dance, acting and mime with such notable teachers as Finis Jhung, Israel "El" Gabriel, Claude Thompson, Hama, Jaime Rogers, Athena Pallas, Natalie Clare, Nina Weiner, Lena De Marco, James Penrod and Paul Jones. His instructors in Laban studies are Janice Meaden, Ed Groff and Peggy Hackney. Robert enjoys exploring the principles of Laban theories of Space, Shape and Movement and how they reveal the complexities of the Human experience. In addition to teaching and choreographing dance, Robert is also a professional dance photographer. This is Robert’s fifth year at Moorpark College where he serves as Assistant Chair of Music and Dance.
Robert has been involved in dance and movement for about 29 years, first as a martial artist, where he studied Chung Moo Kwon, Tai Kwon Do, Shorin Ryu, and Aikido. It was this early influence of martial arts that an appreciation for structured movement and movement as a vehicle of cathartic expression took root.
This desire for physical expression brought Robert to theatre and dance during his early years in college. Having been fortunate enough to work professionally with the California Shakespeare Festival under Director Mark Lamos in Taming of the Shrew and Romeo and Juliet, his passion for performance took flight.
In his junior year in college at Humboldt State as a theatre major, Robert realized that dance was his preferred form of theatrical expression. He applied and was accepted to study dance at the University of California, Irvine. Robert received his BA and MFA from UCI.
As a performer he has danced with Terry Lewis Dance Ensemble, Francisco Martinez Dance Theatre, Long Beach Ballet, South Bay Ballet, The Montgomery Ballet and Le Ballet Pallas.
As an instructor Robert has been teaching dance in Community Colleges and private studios. He has taught dance at Ballet Pacifica Conservatory, Dance West, Cypress College, Cerritos College, Irvine Valley College, Academy of the Performing Arts, at Huntington Beach High Schoo,l and currently is at Moorpark College as a tenured faculty member.
Choreographic works that will be presented:
"Camille Claudel" – group work
"Reunification" - duet
About the dances:
Camille Claudel; of Dreams and Nightmares
At her core, Camille Claudel, a sculptor, was a rebel, an artist that was years ahead of her time, who scorned the bourgeois society who failed to understand her art. Betrayed by her lover, Rodin, she ventured on the fringe of madness. I take comfort that her sculpture “Sakountala” hints at the possibility of peace for her tortured soul in Nirvana.
MUSIC: Zoe Keating, Bach
COSTUME DESIGN: Denise Gibson
LIGHTING DESIGN: Robert Salas
SCULPTURE: Tina Frugoli
Reunification:
Reunification is a work inspired by the Zohar, a medieval text of Jewish Mysticism. It is an exploration of the reunification of the masculine and feminine aspects of the mortal soul and the influence upon them by the Sefiroth Hod (splendor/passive) and Chokhmah (wisdom).