Countdown to PortFest 2015: Olga Berest and Berest Dance Company

Olga Berest is a busy woman. Mrs. Berest is the cornerstone to the renowned Berest Dance Center in Port Washington where 600 students are enrolled in over 100 classes . Her energy and enthusiasm for dance, youth, and life are absolutely contagious. Her dream was to be a dancer from when she was a little girl and studied at American Ballet Theater and Martha Graham. Her stern Greek grandparents encouraged her to go into teaching, so she earned B.S. in Speech and Hearing Pathology and her M.S. in Special Education. In the 1960’s Mrs. Berest initiated a program at Willowbrook State Hospital that combined communication skills with teaching children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder and Down’s Syndrome.

Fast forward to the present, Berest Dance Center is a busy and accomplished Dance Studio that demands Mrs. Berest’s full attention with a faculty of 12 teachers. Recently, accomplished dancer, Heather Berest has joined her mother as Artistic Director.

Olga immediately jumped on the idea of PortFest when Victor Germain (HEARTS Board of Directors) called her. She thought it was an important idea to bring dance, art, music and culture to the Port Washington Community in an inclusive way. “My idea is to have an “interactive dance tent” – when people peek in my tent, I want to involve them in all kinds of dance genre. My tent is like a busy bee commune. The music is constant!”

Olga quickly became synonymous with dance and PortFest. Each year she choreographs and designs a “crowd inclusive” mass dance jam with the PortFest crowd. The first year it was the popular Flash Mob. Next the Schreiber Gym rocked with prim ballerinas that let loose with the Harlem Shake. Last year, streamer and hula hoops were given to the crowds with hip hop dancers interspersed among the crowd. Olga is particularly excited about this year, as it will involve African drumming and African Jazz dancers. Percussion instruments will be distributed to the crowd and an improvisational percussion orchestra made up of the PortFest crowd will accompany the dancers.

The Berest Dance tent at PortFest is always teeming with dancers from tiny butterflys, to lovely young ladies in bright leotards, to more serious tweens doing improvisational dance. You won’t want to miss the smiles and joy that abounds in the Berest Tent. It is always a highlight of PortFest.

PortFest is a community wide Music, Arts and Community Festival. Live music, art exhibits, local musicians, dance performances, interactive hands on exhibits, and performing groups from across the school district are just some of the scheduled events and activities at PortFest. New to PortFest will be the Poetry Café featuring poetry readings and a display of student artwork. Coffee and sweet treats will be available for purchase in the Poetry Cafe. One of the largest exhibitions will be the PortFest Art Exhibit that will boast different local artist’s work on display and available for purchase (a percentage of sales will go directly to HEARTS). The popular Silent Auction tent will be chock full of incredible prizes, baskets, and experiences. Proceeds from PortFest will go towards the grants program established by HEARTS (helping enrich the arts) for Port Washington.

Admission to PortFest is FREE and there will be plenty of free parking at the Schreiber High School Campus 101 Campus Drive Port Washington, NY 11050. For a schedule of events or for a link to make a donation, log onto www.pwportfest.org.

To connect with HEARTS, as a volunteer or to make a donation, log onto www.heartspw.org or www.facebook.com/heartspw or email heartspw@gmail.com A Crowdrise account has been established for PortFest. Below is a link to Crowdrise, which will enable you to set up a fundraising tool that you can share via email or social media.…Come “Join The Team” https://www.crowdrise.com/fundraise-and-volunteer/the-team/portfest2015/heartspw