Student dancers perform at Varner Recital Hall for annual concert

%C2%A0

 

The Oakland Dance Theatre and OU Repertory Dance Company are joining together this week for their first performance of the 2010-2011 season.

“It showcases what we’ve been working on all semester and it’s something different from what you usually see”, senior dance major Meghan Sullivan said.

The performances, on Dec. 2 and 3, feature ten pieces from the two dance companies. Guest choreographers have been working with the dancers over the past semester to prepare for the annual concert.

“We have guest artists that come in for both groups,” assistant dance professor Alison Woerner said. “Daniel Gwertzman from New York City came in for a week and worked with the six girls in Rep Company and set a piece with them.”

Dance professor Laurie Eisenhower’s dance company, Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, is is currently in residency at OU and also provided choreography for the show.

“We contact them about a year ahead of time and see if they’re free and if they’re willing to come in, not just to set work but to teach classes to the students in all different levels and capacities,” Woerner said, about choosing choreographers for the performance.   “It’s not just technique, but also improvisation or dance history, so that they’re really getting a well-rounded experience with that guest artist.”

To prepare for the performance, the dancers worked extra hours with the guest artists.

“It was really intense for us. We had three or four hour rehearsals every day. It’s a little bit more extensive than we usually have,” junior dance major Lindsay Chirio said.

To keep up with their school work, the dancers work on their homework together, since many are in the same classes.

“You have to use your breaks well,” junior dance major Justine Gagne said. “We all do our kinesiology homework together.”

The concert will feature many things new to the dance program, like a tap number and a dance that includes vocals from the dancers.

“I’ve never been a part of a piece that has text in it — we’re actually speaking on the stage,” junior dance major Jasmine Paige-Cox said.

Even the music this year will be different from performances in the past.

“We’ve got a big variety,” Woerner said. “The tap dance has no music, because they make their own, but with all the other ones, there’s French, and we’ve got some real eclectic music, too.”

In addition to the evening performances, the dance program’s Choreography II class will be featuring Arts at Noon, a free event for everyone in the community. The show provides a chance for students in the class to showcase their own choreography.

“It’s basically all the students that are learning different ways to come up with movement and to create our own pieces. It’s our first piece of choreography,” Chirio said.

The event is at noon on the days of the concert performances.

“They’re pretty pumped up that they get to see their work and get to be behind the scenes and wear the choreographing hat instead of being the dancer all the time,” Woerner said.

For the dancers, the annual concert is a chance for them to do what they love for an audience.

“It isn’t just a hobby for all of us,” Gagne said. “This is what I train to do for my job and that’s really, really exciting.”

Paige-Cox hopes that the concert will show a different view of the dance community.

“I always think a live performance from a college company or even a professional company is something that you should try to go see because it’s completely different from what you see on ‘So You Think You Can Dance,'” she said. “It’s on a whole other level.”

The performances will be on Thursday Dec. 2 and Friday Dec. 3 at 8 p.m. in the Varner Recital Hall. Tickets are $13 for general admission and $7 for students and can be purchased online at www.oakland.edu/mtd or at the Varner Box Office.