Kevin Dreyer

{{Short description|American lighting designer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2019}} '''Kevin Dreyer''' is an American lighting designer of dance, theatre, opera and film, Full professor of Theatre at the University of Notre Dame and resident lighting designer for the Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival.<ref name=autogenerated1>[http://ftt.nd.edu/faculty-and-staff/alphabetical-directory/kevin-dreyer/ Kevin Dreyer, Faculty and Staff, Film, Television and Theatre, University of Notre Dame] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531110627/http://ftt.nd.edu/faculty-and-staff/alphabetical-directory/kevin-dreyer/ |date=May 31, 2012 }}. Retrieved August 20, 2012.</ref> Dreyer is also a dance lighting reconstructor for the works of Gerald Arpino, Moses Pendleton and Kurt Jooss.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.worlddancereviews.com/dance/found.php?x=7 |title=World Dance Reviews |access-date=August 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130209122730/http://www.worlddancereviews.com/dance/found.php?x=7 |archive-date=February 9, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Early life== A third-generation performer, Dreyer was born at Fort McClellan, an Army base in Anniston, Alabama. During his youth, he never lived in the same place for more than three years since his father worked as a singer, actor, teacher, and for the Quaker's American Friends Service Committee, a pacifist organization that staff community service projects. When Dreyer was about to enter the tenth grade, his father joined the drama faculty at the North Carolina School of the Arts. "We decided that if I wanted to have my own identity, I shouldn't go in for acting, so I went for design and production, thinking that if I had trouble getting a job acting, stage managing would be a good fallback," he says. "By the time I got to college, acting was no longer calling me as it had."<ref name="nd.edu">Hughes, Andrew, "Kevin Dreyer," Spotlights, Arts and Entertainment, ''South Bend Tribune'', August 11, 2011, http://www.nd.edu/~ftt./AE_Aug_11_Dreyer.pdf. Retrieved August 20, 2012.</ref> Dreyer observed ballet classes at NCSA to get a clear sense of the process.<ref name=mauro/>

==Training and influence== Dreyer received a BFA in Stage Design and Technical Design from Carnegie-Mellon University in 1975. "I don't like sawdust, so I gravitated toward lighting. What I discovered, also, about myself is that I'm an impatient person in ways. The thought of waiting four to six weeks to see a design realized is excruciating. I am really drawn to the speed that's involved in designing lighting."<ref name="nd.edu"/> He was influenced as a designer while stage managing for choreographer and lighting designer Alwin Nikolais' Nikolais Dance Theatre.<ref name=autogenerated1 /><ref>Stikeleather, Donald. Personal Interview, July 10, 1988.</ref> "From Nikolais, Dreyer learned the importance of detail and acquired a knack for striking a human chord."<ref name=mauro/> "He was the first person to be entrusted with the original lighting created by Alwin Nikolais."<ref>Kreiman, Kerry, "CONTEMPORARY DANCE/FORT WORTH APPEARS IN CORSICANA s NEWLY-RENOVATED PALACE THEATRE," Palace PR, June 8, 2002, www.brucewilliamsmusic.com. Retrieved August 20, 2012.</ref> Dreyer was also exposed to 'dance pieces that would start entirely from visual design.' "I took away the courage to experiment. Nikolais' true genius was his ability to spot the right thing in the midst of an accident. He had no preconceived rules. Anything was valid. And that's where you find the magic."<ref name=mauro/>

==Lighting design for the stage== Dreyer's lighting designs for theatre, opera, and dance have been seen throughout the U.S. and in Europe, South America, and Asia with such companies as Paris Opera Ballet, La Compañia Nacional,<ref>[https://bitacoracritica.blogspot.com/2007/10/una-cierta-memoria-para-el-teatro-de.html Bitacora Critica: Una Cierta Memoria Para El Teatro De Cesar Rengifo]</ref> Opera Teresa Carreño, Ballet du Nord, Momix,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kisselgoff |first=Anna |date=1987-01-05 |title=DANCE: THE MOMIX BLEND OF MOVEMENT AND HUMOR |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/05/arts/dance-the-momix-blend-of-movement-and-humor.html |access-date=2022-07-22 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> ISO, DanzaHoy, American Ballet Theatre (The Green Table) and the Joffrey Ballet.<ref name=autogenerated1/>

Dreyer began an association with the Joffrey after 1995 as a lighting designer<ref>{{Citation |title=Footnotes for RJ, Joffrey Ballet - Choreography by Gerald Arpino |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8pdav0mhJI |language=en |access-date=2022-07-22}}</ref> and lighting director for reconstructions<ref>{{Citation |title=Reflections, Joffrey Ballet - Choreography by Gerald Arpino |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHq_uHi8lQs |language=en |access-date=2022-07-22}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated3">{{Citation |title=Gerald Arpino on Artbeat Chicago - Joffrey Ballet |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGaSSzx7mPM |language=en |access-date=2022-07-22}}</ref> since the company moved to Chicago, working with them in the city, for their yearly Nutcracker Ballet since 1998<ref name=mauro>{{cite journal|author=Mauro, Lucia|title=Lighting a Christmas Classic|journal=Stage Directions|date=December 2004|volume=17|url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/15332310|issue=12}}</ref><ref name=autogenerated3 /><ref>{{Cite web |title=- YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F36CWXx5ZYk |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=www.youtube.com}}</ref> and on tours, including a recent tour to Amsterdam.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bradford|first=Judy|title=Illuminating the complexities of "Arcadia"|url=http://www.nd.edu/~lumen/2005_04/Arcadia.shtml|accessdate=August 31, 2012|newspaper=Lumen: Research, Scholarship, and Creativity at Notre Dame|date=April 2005}}</ref>

Dreyer's lighting design credits for the Joffrey include ''I/DNA'',<ref>{{Citation |title=Gerald Arpino on Artbeat Chicago - Joffrey Ballet |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGaSSzx7mPM |language=en |access-date=2022-07-22}}</ref> ''Ruth Ricore Per Due'',<ref>{{Citation |title=Ruth, Ricordi Per Due |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hos3TOz5Xac |language=en |access-date=2022-07-22}}</ref> and ''Partita for RC''.<ref>Partita for RC, Productions, Performances, http://joffrey.org/performances/productions/partita-rc {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303220621/http://joffrey.org/performances/productions/partita-rc |date=March 3, 2016 }}. Retrieved August 20, 2012.</ref>

In addition to his work for the Joffrey, Dreyer has designed for the Chicago Shakespeare Festival's Short Shakespeare production of ''The Comedy of Errors''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chicago Shakespeare Theater: Home |url=https://www.chicagoshakes.com/ |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=www.chicagoshakes.com}}</ref> and for Giordano Dance Chicago, including lighting for ''Pyrokinesis'',<ref>Pyrokinesis, Giordano Dance Chicago, http://giordanodance.org/photospyrokinesis.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103060303/http://giordanodance.org/photospyrokinesis.html |date=November 3, 2014 }}. Retrieved August 28, 2012.</ref> and ''Impulse''.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{Cite web |title=Chicago Shakespeare Theater: Production History |url=https://www.chicagoshakes.com/about_us/production_history |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=www.chicagoshakes.com}}</ref>

Dreyer has been called upon to reconstruct the lighting for dances produced by Joffrey Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. Don Atwood's 2005 review of Dreyer's lighting reconstruction for Kurt Jooss' The Green Table by American Ballet Theatre speaks of the attention to detail Dreyer learned from Alwin Nikolais (see training, below): "Kevin Dreyer's implementation of the Jooss/Anna Markard lighting design makes Stappas’ terrifying 'Death' ubiquitous, appearing and disappearing magically and seemingly at will, eventually capturing 'The Standard Bearer' and all else."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Attwood |first=Don |title=Reviews, World Dance Reviews |url=http://www.worlddancereviews.com/dance/found.php?x=7 |accessdate=August 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130209122730/http://www.worlddancereviews.com/dance/found.php?x=7 |archive-date=February 9, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=autogenerated4>{{Cite web |url=http://joffrey.org/performances/productions/green-table |title=The Green Table {{!}} Joffrey Ballet |access-date=August 23, 2012 |archive-date=July 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120707212851/http://joffrey.org/performances/productions/green-table |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Lighting design in film== Dreyer's lighting design is featured in Paramount Pictures’s ''Save the Last Dance''<ref>[https://movies.yahoo.com/photos/julia-stiles-sara-paramounts-save-last-dance-156590.html Julia Stiles as Sara in Paramount's Save The Last Dance | View photo – Yahoo! Movies]</ref> and the Robert Altman feature, ''The Company''.<ref name=autogenerated1/><ref>{{Cite news |title=Movies |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/section/movies |access-date=2022-07-22 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Company {{!}} About the Movie {{!}} Sony Pictures Classics |url=https://www.sonyclassics.com/thecompany/home.html |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=www.sonyclassics.com}}</ref>

==Recognition== Dreyer's lighting designs have been reviewed in ''The New York Times'' on seven separate occasions for his work with The Joffrey, MOMIX, and others since 1987.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The New York Times - Search |url=https://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch/#/kevin+dreyer/ |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=query.nytimes.com |language=en}}</ref> Dreyer was featured in the article "Lighting a Christmas Classic," in the magazine ''Stage Directions'' in 2004.<ref name=mauro/>

His design work in Venezuela was nominated for a national critic's award, and he has been heralded as a "wizard lighting designer" by Dance reviewer Deborah Jowitt in the ''Village Voice'' for his work with Momix. In 2000, Anna Kisselgoff, dance reviewer for ''The New York Times'' called his work with the Joffrey Ballet "brilliant".<ref name=autogenerated1 /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Staff |first=New York Times |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PuoUYsmSZ-8C&dq=%22the+new+york+times%22+%22kevin+dreyer%22&pg=PA118 |title=The New York Times Dance Reviews 2000 |date=2001 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-57958-059-9 |language=en}}</ref> and acknowledged his lighting and shadow play for MOMIX's Woomen in 1987.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kisselgoff |first=Anna |date=1987-01-05 |title=DANCE: THE MOMIX BLEND OF MOVEMENT AND HUMOR |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/05/arts/dance-the-momix-blend-of-movement-and-humor.html |access-date=2022-07-22 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Jowitt, in her ballet review of a Frederick Ashton Celebration in 2004, described how Dreyer's lighting enhanced the costumes: "In their gleaming unitards and elvish caps, molded by Kevin Dreyer's lights, the dancing figures inhabit a frieze in process, dreamily making and unmaking it in a timeless golden void."<ref>Jowitt, Deborah, ''The Tender Touch: Four companies celebrate in our city the 100th birthday of an English master choreographer'', Dance, ''The Village Voice'', August 2, 2004, [https://archive.today/20130205180739/http://www.villagevoice.com/2004-07-06/dance/the-tender-touch/]. Retrieved August 20, 2012.</ref> Joffrey Ballet co-founder/artistic director Gerald Arpino commended Dreyer for 'his ability to work with the art of the ballet itself—it's about how the lights make the most aesthetic sense for the ballet.'<ref name=mauro/>

==Other activities==

Dreyer began working with the University of Notre Dame's Theatre program in 1986, and he joined the Film, Theatre and Television faculty in 1989. In addition to teaching theatre courses, he has been the Resident Lighting Designer for the Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival since its inception in 2000 and was the Producing Artistic Director in 2011.<ref name=autogenerated1 /><ref name=autogenerated2 />

Dreyer is a member of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology(USITT), United Scenic Artists 829 and the International Alliance of Theatre and Stage Employees (IATSE).<ref name=autogenerated1 /> YouTube shows Dreyer teaching for USITT's 2009 show, teaching on 'lighting various skintones',<ref>{{Citation |title=07 - Part 1 Tips On Lighting Various Skin (3:59) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUHW1YR4idA |language=en |access-date=2022-07-22}}</ref>'using color', 'the basics of lighting', 'how to design', and 'do lighting colors change?'.

Dreyer is the past president of South Bend Civic Theatre, serving as president in 2011.<ref>Board of Directors, Staff/.Board of Directors, About Us, http://sbct.org/about-board.php {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120929023136/http://www.sbct.org/about-board.php |date=September 29, 2012 }}. Retrieved August 20, 2012.</ref> According to Andrew Hughes of the ''South Bend Tribune'', Dreyer is also the president of the board of Morris Entertainment Inc. and president of Michiana Youth Ministries.<ref>Hughes, Andrew, "Kevin Dreyer," Spotlights, Arts and Entertainment, South Bend Tribune, August 11, 2011, http://www.nd.edu/~ftt./AE_Aug_11_Dreyer.pdf. Retrieved August 20, 2012.</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dreyer, Kevin}} Category:American lighting designers Category:University of Notre Dame faculty Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people)