Fourth-year dance performance and choreography student Megan Bunkley has spent the first half of her senior year drawing on movement ideas from a piece started in high school. She has created a “full-circle” moment that guides her newest work for the student choreography showcase.
The Betsy Blackmon Dance Program is a part of USC's Department of Theatre and Dance. The program allows students taking dance classes to find their choreography style and voice to prepare for the showcase at the end of each semester.
“It explores the emotional journey of recognizing that the relationships we value can change and that the people we consider friends may not always act with our best intentions,” Bunkley said.
Bunkley said her dance is a powerful piece contemporary-ballet piece en pointe to the songs “Eleanor Rigby” by the Beatles and the “Waltz No. 2” by Dmitri Shostakovich. The audience should get the notion that everyone is fighting each other through their dancing, she said.
“I feel like choreographing this piece, I was really able to explore breaking out of the very held ballet posture and all of that with doing a contemporary ballet piece,” Bunkley said.
Senior dance instructor Olivia Waldrop said the showcase has nine different works with pieces ranging from ballet to something a person could see on television shows, such as "Dancing With the Stars."
This is a time for the students to explore what they experience through classes and what they see out in the world, Waldrop said. Guest choreographers come in to teach the students different styles and techniques they might not have known before, she said.
“Something I continue to see, which I think is really exciting, is dancers observing all of these different ways to create choreography and then playing with that themselves,” Waldrop said. “I think something I see often, that I think is a strength, is them coming to this process curious to try lots of different ways to create art.”
Third-year dance student Maira Honjiyo choreographed a contemporary duet for the showcase to “Blue” by Billie Eilish, “Like Him” by Tyler, The Creator and “I Love You, I’m Sorry” by Gracie Abrams. She said this experience has been different because she is working with her peers, rather than the professors.
Honjiyo said being able to choreograph this dance has opened doors for her, and although coaching her peers and making the choreography is a challenge, it is something she has enjoyed. She said she has been told what to do her entire life as a dancer, and this gives her a glimpse of the other side of what dance teachers do.
The dance is a personal piece about the relationship between Honjiyo and her mother when she was growing up. When casting for her piece, Honjiyo looked for dancers with the style of a section from “I Love You, I’m Sorry.”
Honjiyo said the dance involves movement that is very physical and not as gentle. The choreography involves jumps and other choreography that looks like a lot of effort being put into the moves to help tell the story, she said.
“They're dancing together the whole time, so I feel like the audience can see the connection that I've been trying to portray with my mother,” Honjiyo said.
Waldrop said the showcase is designed to mirror real-world conditions, with students collaborating with professional lighting and sound crews. By having their pieces cast through auditions and scheduling their own rehearsals, students gain valuable experience in organization and management, she said.
“It's a really great experience for them to not only collaborate with others but also get that leadership component,” Waldrop said. “It's not just about making dance steps, your role is bigger than that.”
The showcase will take place at Drayton Hall from Dec. 2 to Dec. 5, as well as in April 2026. More information can be found on its website.