The Fall Dance Competition returns to the College of Nevada, Reno

By Karthik Kotresh

Six pairs of individuals enter a rollercoaster experience. Whereas most of them appear to benefit from the experience, a few them … nicely, not a lot. However come selfie time, everybody’s smiling and posing. Thus, begins this yr’s Fall Dance Competition. Choreographed by Emily Leech, “Preserve Your Palms, Arms, Toes and Legs Contained in the Automobile” is the primary of 11 dance items within the present.

Skilled dance is far more than simply studying to maneuver elegantly. It’s storytelling in movement. Whereas folks could not communicate the identical language or comply with the identical cultures, they will join with one another by related tales which have related feelings, be it happiness or disappointment or anything. The Department of Theatre and Dance on the College of Nevada, Reno has been celebrating this excellent artwork kind for years, and the Fall Dance Competition is one occasion that exemplifies this method to inventive expression.

The Fall Dance Competition is an annual custom on the College. This yr, the pageant returns to the dance theatre to acknowledge the up to date and progressive works created by scholar choreographers Jenna Emmons, Jenna Fortino, Shay Jordan, Halie Landers, Emily Leech, Andrew Paiz and Sarah Ziolkowski.

“The Competition has helped me take into consideration my choreography in new methods and has supplied me an opportunity to collaborate with my friends on a special stage than how we collaborate and work together in lessons,” Fortino, choreographer and dance main, mentioned. “I’ve had a lot enjoyable developing with new materials and being round people who find themselves captivated with what they do.”

In contrast to final yr’s theme of solos and duets, there is no such thing as a central theme to this yr’s pageant. Every dance piece is exclusive and has its personal theme and format. For instance, “Items” by Fortino is about cohesiveness. Paiz’s “Les Tenebres” addresses the connection amongst folks with psychological sicknesses and the delusions one could have about love. “Pantsuited” by Rosie Trump, affiliate professor of dance, is a response to the double requirements girls face.

Since this previous Wednesday, Nov. 16, 11 scholar choreographers and a forged of 26 scholar dancers from the Division of Theatre and Dance have introduced a wide range of authentic works that handle social and relationship points whereas experimenting with collaboration, comedy and screendance (dance meant particularly for the display screen).

“Fall Dance Competition has been an unimaginable alternative for me to work with three dancers to convey my imaginative and prescient to life,” Paiz, choreographer, performer and dance main, mentioned. “The piece I’m presenting this yr has been a singular expertise as a result of somewhat than creating new work from scratch, I’m constructing upon and refining my piece from final semester’s Pupil Choreography Showcase. I’m prepared for the viewers to see it and respect all of the exhausting work that has gone into it.”

The coed choreographers and dancers have been getting ready for the present because the starting of this semester. Nevertheless, quite a lot of preparation began a lot earlier than that, be it engaged on the ideas and the storylines, having common conferences with their school mentors or selecting the music for the items.

“Fall Dance Competition is so particular as a result of it’s student-driven,” Trump mentioned. “Every scholar choreographer works one-on-one with a school mentor to convey their concepts to life. The scholars conceive the concepts, forged and rehearse their dances, and organize their music and costumes. They’re ready to be dancemakers by coursework and empowered to see their concepts come to life. We mannequin an expert dance pageant course of, so college students are working towards on the College what the professionals do.”

Earlier than the rehearsal course of begins, the scholar choreographers current written proposals of their inventive work. The proposals function outlines for his or her choreography and association and assist college students establish choreographic intentions, overriding ideas and key choreographic parts. As soon as the proposals are mentioned and finalized by the scholar and college members, the choreographers work carefully with their casts and develop new and ingenious choreography that helps them obtain their targets and artistic visions.

“As a dancer, it is allowed me to push myself previous my limits,” Petra Warburton, performer and dance main, mentioned. “I’ve gotten to develop my expertise in performing characters and vocalizing on stage. I’ve by no means achieved roles which are so character-driven and vocal. It has been a pleasure to work with these choreographers and fellow dancers which are bringing these spheres of efficiency to the dance world.

The pageant is a wonderful alternative for college students not solely to develop and showcase their expertise but additionally to develop their horizons in relation to choreography.

“The Fall Dance Competition could be very distinctive,” Eve Allen Garza, the manufacturing coordinator for the Fall Dance Competition, mentioned. “Choreographers typically make the most of motion languages akin to ballet, fashionable, hip-hop or world types of their works. This yr, we’re additionally together with two screendance shows.”

Garza can be answerable for organizing and managing all of the manufacturing parts for the pageant, together with the scholar choreographers, performers, crew members, auditions, rehearsal scheduling, paperwork and advertising and marketing. 

Aside from offering a platform for college students, the Fall Dance Competition can be a terrific alternative for the school to showcase their work. Trump’s dance, “Pantsuited,” which was initially created in 2018, is a response to the pressures girls face with respect to how they costume, sound and current themselves within the political enviornment. This can be a matter that’s related right now as a lot because it was related 4 years in the past. “Pantsuited” fashions the fashion of dance-theatre. It blends gesture, bodily motion, up to date choreography and textual content. Trump’s work will likely be introduced in preparation for the American School Dance Affiliation (ACDA) regional pageant on the College of Utah in March 2023.

The Fall Dance Competition included 5 evening-length productions beginning Wednesday, Nov. 16, and ending Sunday, Nov. 20, within the Lombardi Dance Theatre (Lombardi Recreation Room 123) on the College of Nevada, Reno. This yr’s Fall Dance Competition was offered out.

The Division of Theatre and Dance, considered one of three tutorial departments within the College of the Arts, is a collaborative neighborhood of performing artists and students aiming to attain the best stage of excellence of their instructing, studying, analysis, inventive endeavors and outreach to the neighborhood. The College of the Arts produces world-class performances, productions and exhibitions in music, theatre, dance and visible artwork.