The Notre Dame Dance Company performs their first production this Thursday and Friday night at 7 p.m. in Washington Hall, a performance in the works since the beginning of the school year.
"This dance production is a showcase of the talents of all the hard working dancers in Dance Company," ND Dance Company President Anne McDonough said. "The show [allows] student choreographers to express themselves through choreography and also for dancers to interpret that choreography and expose their emotions to the audience through dance."
The show will consist of dancers' performances of a wide variety, ranging from jazz, lyrical, ballet, tap, pointe, and contemporary.
"You should expect to see pieces with different stories behind them that all celebrate the beauty and intricacy of movement," McDonough said.
The performance will be largely made up of dances choreographed by the students themselves, where it is very apparent that each member of the Dance Company looks forward to each others' creativity and artistic visions. From the top down, the support and enthusiasm among the Dance Company is very apparent, and McDonough expressed her excitement to see all of her dancer peers' talent showcased on stage. This sentiment is thoroughly reciprocated among all of the members, as freshman dancer Sarah Rohrman expressed her own excitement towards her fellow dancers' work.
"I really like the emotion behind KaleenDeFilippis' piece, 'Come Home Soon,'" Rohrman shared. "It's just fun to perform! I've gotten to see 'Some Nights,' a piece by Maggie Miller a lot in rehearsal, so it's probably one of my favorites, along with 'Breathe Me' [by Mari Grief] and 'Awake My Soul' [by Julia McGinty]."
The long process leading up to the production was a significant one. McDonough described how choreography was invited from the members at the beginning of the year, and since then met once a week, spending 40 minutes on a dance routine.
"Typically choreographers will start the rehearsal with some sort of warm up and review of the previous week's choreography and then continue teaching the number and setting spaces for the dancers," McDonough said. "Usually Dance Company pieces are not finished until the week before or even the week of the show, simply because there is not enough time in a semester."
The level of dedication is very impressive, and major time commitments did not escape McDonough's description of the process.
"As college students, it is difficult to maintain the level of training and discipline in dance that many of us practiced in high school," McDonough said.
However, it is precisely this strain on the members' time that truly speaks on each dancer's passion, throwing themselves in their art.
"A huge reason Dance Company is inspired to put on shows is to be able to help students continue their training, passion and love for dance despite the fact that their lives are more hectic the older they get," McDonough said. "It sounds cheesy but I feel like this club has become my baby...It makes me happy to share my passion with others on the company."
The close-knit relationship in the Company is apparent.
"Everyone is here [in the ND Dance Company] simply because they love to dance and want to share it with people," Rohrman said. "We've put so much work into this performance every week since August, and I think everyone's just ready to be able to showcase that."
The Notre Dame Dance Company's show will be Thursday and Friday night at 7 p.m. at Washington Hall. Admission is $5.
Contact Miko Malabute at
mmalabut@nd.edu
