Have you ever watched a dance recital? Try being in one. Pacific University’s dance department has numerous plans for the fall semester to not only entertain others, but to give student choreographers a chance to show off their skills.
Students with a passion for dance have been working their hardest these past weeks to excel their auditions for the Autumn Choreographers Concert show in November.
“Student choreographers present two minutes of choreography in the genre of their choice at the audition.” Dance Director Jennifer Camp said. “She’s looking for all styles of dances, from classical western traditional techniques such as contemporary, ballet and hip-hop through world dance forms.”
One person who is participating in this audition is Jayme Vincent, who is making her debut with a very personal dance solo with a serious story behind it.
“The title isn’t set yet, but the two pieces of music are ‘Gravel Road’ and ‘If I Die Young,’” Vincent said. “It’s representing having a serious disease that’s life-threatening. The first part is struggling with the disease and the second one will be if you were to die young.”
Along with these auditions, senior Nikita Santino will present her senior performance in completion toward her dance degree, thus making her the first student to receive a BA in dance at Pacific. This will mark her 14th piece of choreography presented at Pacific.
“My piece this semester is called ‘(i)deal’,” Santino said. “It focuses on the lives of three individuals who struggle with social problems regarding masculinity, the nuclear family and religion. The story is long and complicated, but I will simply add that the ending is revealing and brings new light to the human experience.”
Santino is obviously putting extreme emotional depth into her piece and the audience is bound to have positive reactions toward it.
Including Pacific students, guest choreographers are coming to join the fun.
The Autumn Choreographers concert will also include prestigious Portland guest choreographer Les Watanabe, a guest performance from a Portland-based tap company and Beat Bangerz. Mary Hunt and her dance improvisation class will present their final work and will present a two new works on Pacific Dance Ensemble.
The concert show times are Nov. 15 and 16 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 17 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Everyone is encouraged to attend.
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