Students work on own to create personalized showcase
In a typical concert put on by USC dance performance students, the dancers move across the stage, meticulously acting out each choreographed step given to them by their instructor.
But in this year’s “Future Perfect” showcase, students prove their skills not only as dancers, but also as choreographers.
The performance premiering tonight at Drayton Hall Theatre will give audiences the product of a semester’s worth of work and individuality of eight dance students that range in age from sophomores to seniors.
Director Cindy Flach worked with the students to perfect their original choreography, but she stepped back to allow their individual styles to emerge, resulting in eight drastically different pieces.
“Cindy helped us see the choreography from someone who is not so personally involved with it,” said second-year dance performance student Virginia Green. “She gave us advice on how the audience might look at it.”
Despite the overall guidance from Flach, Green said she worked completely on her own to create her first choreographed piece at USC.
“These students did an outstanding job of choreographing with deep and well-thought-out ideas,” Flach said.
Like many of the students, Green said she drew her inspiration for the piece from music. Using contemporary movements, she invented each step with the music in mind, but more importantly, the theme of the music in mind.
“The hardest part was probably incorporating the theme into the movements,” she said. “Sometimes I needed to take break and [come] back to it.”
Flach said putting four months of work into five minutes of dance was just a piece of the creative journey each dancer took. With some pieces including up to 14 dancers, each student worked to coordinate practices and keep in mind the individual needs of all of their dancers.
“The students worked so seamlessly with each other,” Flach said. “The more they shared, the better the dances became.”
Green agreed that throughout the process, she envisioned what each dancer would look like during the performance, creating a teamwork aspect to the entire project.
“More often than not, the students would consult the dancers with any problems they were having,” Flach said. “The dancers really helped in the process and allowed them to become invested.”
Some time after the students found their inspiration for their dances, Flach said she stumbled upon her inspiration for the showcase name of “Future Perfect.”
“I started to write my director’s note for the program and kept wondering where people from past semesters are,” she said. “I thought, ‘Where is the future of dance?’ and ‘Where will these girls be?’ These girls are the future of dance, and this is the type of thing that leads them to future success.”
The piece will premiere tonight at Drayton Hall Theatre at 6 p.m. and will include works from third-year students Mary Clements and Melissa Gundling and fourth-year students Mariel Mitton, Meredith Madden, Camille Sellers, Kelsey Uhl and Hannah Thomasson.