“Dance celebrates what it means to be alive,” Margaret Wilson, a professor in the theatre and dance department at UW, said.
Starting on Mar. 7 and going until Mar. 10 the university’s Theatre and Dance Department will be performing their show “Spring to Dance” at the Buchanan Center. The show will feature several contemporary modern pieces choreographed by teachers, guest artists and even one by a student.
“I’ve never had my choreography in a university show before,” Avery Lux, a dance science major, said. “It was probably around five minutes last spring and then this year I’ve added a lot more.”
Her piece will feature a solo dancer, Elizabeth Graves, and will be around eight minutes. She has been working with Graves for about a year on the piece and said it will focus on the subject of anxiety.
Lux will only be performing in one of the pieces, a vertical dance choreographed by Wilson. Vertical dance is done with ropes that the dancers use to lift themselves off the ground. Lux said she would have been performing in more of the pieces if not for a stress fracture in her ankle.
Other pieces such as “We Want ANSWERS” and “Teach Me How to Be Loved” are going to be performed in regular contemporary modern style dance. Both pieces are choreographed by Maurice Watson, another theatre and dance teacher at the university.
Trevor Cook, a dancer in both of the pieces said that “We Want ANSWERS” is a response to the current political atmosphere in this country and “Teach Me How to Be Loved” is a look at a struggling relationship and what it looks like when two people want different things.
Cook said his dream is to be on Broadway but before he hits Broadway however he will be performing with EDge, the London Contemporary Dance School’s own postgrad performance company.
“It is a year-long MA program where the student company works with world famous choreographers and tours the UK and Europe,” Cook said.
He is one of only 12 students from around the world selected to perform in the company.
The Spring to Dance show will not only feature some of UW’s choreographers and dancers but also a musical group called Lights Along the Shore. Wilson said they are an acoustic band of current and former UW faculty.
According to the band’s Facebook page they play Irish traditional, Moldovan and Romanian folk, American folk, jazz and traditional classical music.
The show will also be dedicated to Margaret Mains who passed away on Sept. 25, 2016 and will present a seven-minute video celebrating her life and legacy. Mains started the university’s dance program in 1948, with her focus being modern dance.
“The dance department at UW has very talented and dedicated students,” Wilson said. “It also has good support from administration and colleagues and is a vital program that presents many opportunities after graduation.”
Wilson said she hopes that the show will be a success and that people who attend Tuesday’s performance will spread the good word.
The dancers and choreographers have rehearsed a lot since their auditions late last semester. They hope that people will come to show their support and enjoy all the hard work they have put into the performance.
“This is my last performance at UW and I will use it as a way to look back on my time here and perform for all those who have supported me through the last five years,” Cook said.
Tuesday, Mar. 7 will be a “pay-what-you-can” night and everyone is encouraged to attend. All other nights there will be tickets available at the box office in the Buchanan Center.
“I really enjoy dance because it allows you to explore your ideas and your thoughts in a new way and level with your body and without words,” Lux said. “It allows you to connect to the people that you’re dancing with and to your audience.”
