LaManna, Pinheiro Perform ‘Stepping Through Time’ March 23, G. Ray Bodley H.S.

Pianist Juan Francisco La Manna and classical ballet dancer Ligia Ravenna Pinheiro will perform “Stepping Through Time: 200 Years of Gestures in Dance and Music” at 7:30 p.m., Fri., March 23, in the G. Ray Bodley High School auditorium, it was announced by Steve Chirello, president of the Fulton Music Association (FMA). Admission is free. Donations will be gladly accepted in support of FMA.

The evening’s program will feature their collaboration in classical music, dance and pictures in four sections, Chirello said. These include: Dance in the Baroque period, with music by G.F. Handel; Dance in the Romantic period, with music by F. Schubert; Dance in the Classical period, with music by G. Faure and C. Debussy; and Dance in the Modern era, with music by J. Brahms. Each segment will have paintings and images projected related to the style of the time.

Pianist Juan Francisco La Manna and classical ballet dancer Ligia Ravenna Pinheiro (above) will perform “Stepping Through Time: 200 Years of Gestures in Dance and Music” at 7:30 p.m., Fri., March 23, in the G. Ray Bodley High School auditorium, it was announced by Steve Chirello, president of the Fulton Music Association (FMA). Admission is free. Donations will be gladly accepted in support of FMA.

Juan Francisco La Manna is orchestra director at the State University of New York in Oswego. Prior to his appointment at S.U.N.Y., Dr. La Manna lived in the Kansas City area, where he was conductor for the State Ballet of Missouri. In that capacity, he directed the St. Louis and Kansas City Symphonies, and also conducted the orchestra for the late Rudolf Nureyev.  During his stay in the Kansas City area, Juan Francisco was music director of Northland Symphony, the Lawrence Chamber Orchestra, and conductor at Benedictine College and Washburn University.

Dr. La Manna was principal conductor for Miami City Ballet for four years, directing many performances in Florida, including a gala with the Cleveland orchestra and the premiere of Elvis Costello’s Nightspot, working with famed choreographer Twyla Tharp. He has directed for the distinguished opera company Teatro Lirico d’Europa, and was Artistic Director and Conductor of Oswego Opera for many years, presenting wonderful works such as La bohème, The Magic Flute, and Carousel.  He has directed orchestras in California, Colorado, Florida, and Rumania.

Active as a pianist as well, Dr. La Manna has performed as a chamber musician, playing recitals regionally, nationally, and in England, Venezuela, and Italy. Dr. La Manna attended Indiana University, where he earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in piano performance with high distinction, and the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he received a D.M.A. in orchestral conducting.

Juan Francisco LaManna

Ligia Ravenna Pinheiro is currently an ABD doctoral candidate at The Ohio State University Department of Dance with a concentration in dance history.  She received her MFA in Labanotation and her MA in dace history from The Ohio Stage University, and her BFA summa cum laude from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She is an associate professor of dance at Wittenberg University teaching courses in dance history, dance kinesiology, Labanotation and ballet technique from beginner to advanced levels.

Ligia danced with BalletMet, Columbus, OH, and Evansville Dance Theater as a principal dancer, having performed leading roles in the classical ballet repertoire such as The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and the Nutcracker, as well as contemporary works. She has also worked with world-renowned baroque ballet choreographer Catherine Turocy and appeared as a soloist in the Oberlin College production of the baroque opera Le Povoir de L’amour in 2001.

Ligia Ravenna Pinheiro

In 1987 Ligia was awarded first place at the Joinville International Dance Competition in the category of classical ballet repertoire for her performance of The Nutcracker pas de deux. At Wittenberg University she has received a Matthies Award, two Faculty Growth Project Research Awards and several research grants. In 2009 she received a summer research grant from the Luso-American Foundation and the National Library of Portugal to conduct research at the Lisbon Library.  She has presented her research in lectures, demonstrations, and performances in the United States, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Brazil, and Germany.

For more information, contact Carol Fox at (315) 591-3392.

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Located in the Key Bank Building, Fulton, Chirello Advertising offers full service advertising, public relations, and marketing expertise to a variety of industrial, professional, institutional and retail clients throughout Central New York. Established in 1996, the agency specializes in public relations planning, graphic design, web design and streaming web video, video production, market research, radio, television, online, and print advertising. Steve Chirello can be contacted at (315) 592-9778, [email protected] and www.chirello.com. Profiles of the agency are also on Facebook® and LinkedIn®.