The National Society of Arts and Letters invites dancers ages 16-23 to participate in the 2021 National Competition in Dance, which will be held June 4-6, 2021, in a virtual format. Contestants will first compete at the chapter level, then the winners of those regional competitions will proceed to the national competition.
Arizona dancers are to submit videos for adjudication of a classical variation, a contemporary piece, and classroom work to NSALAZ Dance Chair Susan Silverman, moc.loanull@anirezus.
Arizona Prize Money is a total of $6,000!
Local entries due March 22, 2021!
The winner will participate in the National Competition where the national prize money totals $40,000!
Learn more about the competition here.
NSALAZ Honorary Chair for the national competition is Arizona’s Andrew Needhammer, ARAD, RAD, RTS
Andrew Needhammer began his ballet studies with Janet Mitchell and Edward Verso in Oakland, New Jersey then studied with Richard Thomas, Barbara Fallis and Daniel Levans at the New York School of Ballet. He joined American Ballet Theatre II and toured the U.S., Canada, Korea and Japan before becoming a member of the National Ballet of Canada where he performed in many of the great classic and contemporary ballets including leading roles in Nureyev’s Sleeping Beauty, Balanchine’s Symphony in C and Ashton’s The Dream. He joined Ballet Arizona and danced principal roles in The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Agnes DeMille’s Rodeo and Balanchine’s Serenade and The Four Temperments. Mr. Needhammer is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Dance and a Registered Teacher of the Royal Academy of Dance. He has students who have participated in summer intensives in the U.S. and London, England, are dance majors at universities around the United States and attending pre-professional programs with companies nationwide. Six of his students have been semi-finalists in the Genee International Ballet Competition in London, Toronto, Glasgow and Wellington, New Zealand. He currently directs the Dance Division of the Northern Arizona University Community Music and Dance Academy.
Co-Chair: Rebecca Needhammer, RAD
Rebecca Needhammer teaches at the School of Ballet Arizona, where she began her dance training at the age of five. She continued her ballet training in the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus with Mary Moe Adams and Andrew Needhammer. In 2008, Rebecca was a semi-finalist at the Genee International Ballet Competition in Toronto. She has been on Associate of the Royal Academy of Dance since 2009. Rebecca graduated from St. John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico with a Bachelor’s in Liberal Arts. Rebecca was a member of Center Dance Ensemble and has taught ballet, modern, and lyrical at Northern Arizona University Community Music and Dance Academy, Phoenix Dance Academy, Dance Theater West, and Yen-Li Chen Ballet School.
