Senior Dance Major Johnny Bates was thrilled to learn last spring that he had been selected to choreograph a dance piece for this fall’s Choreographers’ Gallery, showing Thursday, Nov. 21 through Sunday, Nov. 24.
At auditions, Bates searched for the two dancers who could most effectively convey the mood of his piece. Bates’s duet is one of eight dances choreographed by junior and senior dance students along with a senior dance piece choreographed by Visiting Professor Jill Patterson. This year’s show, titled, Pure Movement Plus, was put together under the artistic direction of Dance Professor Melissa Rolnick.
“I started thinking about [my piece] last year, before I was even accepted to do it. I wasn’t looking for technique at all. I was looking for those who can show emotion through their movement,” Bates said.
Rolnick has taught all of the choreographers in her composition classes and has been extremely impressed by the choreographers ability to pull their work together successfully in a short amount of time.
“They know that this is being produced on the main stage by the department. A lot of people are going to see it. It’s important to them as a personal piece of expression, so they all own that,” Rolnick said.
Senior Elementary Education Major Allie Kalkman was selected to perform in two of the student choreographed pieces and the senior dance piece.This show in particular is quite special to Kalkman, even after four years of dancing at Gustavus.
“I feel like so many of the works this year are so relatable. All of the stories are pretty apparent, so you’re able to be drawn in that much more. Even if you don’t know exactly what the story is saying, that emotion is so present that you can latch on to it,” Kalkman said.
“They’re very personal this time. I think most of them, as I understand it, come from a very personal place, and that also can bring the audience in, because generally there’s something in every piece that somebody in the audience can relate to,” Rolnick said.
Bates’s piece, for example, was inspired by his mother’s long-term battle with multiple sclerosis.
“It’s not necessarily about her specifically, but just overall the idea of letting go of something,” Bates said.
Bates encouraged his dancers to think about their own similar experiences in order to successfully display the emotion of the piece.
“For me, it’s about [my mother]. For my dancers, they all picked their own thoughts about it, so when they dance, they’re thinking about something they have to let go of,” Bates said.
Bates says his own dancing has improved simply by watching his dancers, First-year Jordan Lovestrand and Junior Katie Schulze.
“Watching my dancers dance, I’ve been able to give them corrections and apply those corrections to myself when I’m dancing. It’s just like people say: teaching somebody is the best way to learn,” Bates said.
This opportunity to choreograph a main-stage show has also given the student choreographers experience working with a production team and collaborating with costume and set designers. The show is also unique in that Anderson Theatre, which is normally a thrust stage, is converted into a proscenium stage.
“We set it up as a proscenium so the dancers, the choreographers, and the designers can have an opportunity to work with side lighting, which tends to be the way that most dance concerts are lit when they’re performing on stage. When you perform in side light, it’s very different. It can be very disorienting, so I think it’s important to learn how to perform in those kinds of lights,” Rolnick said
Kalkman noted the drastic difference between performing on a proscenium stage versus a thrust.
“It’s much more removed from the audience. Being that far back [on the stage] makes the emotional intensity and the focus so much more necessary. It’s challenging,” she said.
The months of collaboration and rehearsal seem to have paid off. The students chosen to choreograph and dance in this show have gained valuable lessons about the art of dance and the process of planning and executing a successful show.
“It’s an opportunity for the choreographers to go through a creative process, during which they learn a lot about themselves. The investigation requires a tremendous amount of focus, commitment, and discipline, and it won’t happen if that doesn’t happen,” Rolnick said.
Pure Movement Plus: The Choreographers’ Gallery will premiere Thursday, Nov. 21 at 8:00 p.m.