Dancers Take Their Talents to the Stage
A night of music and dancing was underway to highlight undergraduate students as they showcased 10 original pieces for the USD’s Theatre Department. The spring performances involve many students who are a part of the department.
The Spring Dance Showcase was put on in the Wayne S. Knutson Theatre on May 2-4. The showcase was directed by new dance professor Katie Gutmann
In total there were five choreographers, five lighting designers and seven costume designers. With the assistance of the professors and students, performers across the USD community were able to showcase their skills.
The showcase gave people a chance to experience a traditional dance performance with a variety of themes.. One student, Kaitlyn Byrne, got to showcase her tap dancing ability to the song Pink Pony Club.
“My favorite part about Pink Pony Club was that I was able to let go of all the stress of the world around me and just dance with my best friend,” Byrne said. “The most challenging part was definitely the amount of stamina it took to perform the dance each night.”
As well as tap dancing, Byrne had the opportunity to design lights for a few of the dances. She found that learning the creative process for lighting was fun and collaborative.
“I got to work with Lydia, the choreographer of the pieces I designed, on all of it and it was really just a melting pot of our ideas together to make the dancers look the best they could and to convey all the themes,” Byrne said.
Byrne went on to reminisce on her favorite part about being a part of the showcase.
“My favorite part of the showcase was seeing everyone’s hard work come together and being able to share it with the community,” Byrne said.
Another student, Stella Lewis, was a choreographer for this year’s dance showcase. Lewis wanted her choreography to be able to tell a story as it may be the last time she performs on the stage. While Lewis was coming up with her group piece, she wanted to express the idea of coming together as one.
“I feel like right now, we are living in a world that is very divided, and with division comes conflict,” Lewis said. “So by having dancers doing different things at the beginning of my dance, I was expressing that conflict, but then by having them dance in unison at the end of the dance, I was showing that by coming together, harmony can be created.”
The students have been working up to this moment for the entire spring semester. Lewis was happy to have the opportunity to watch everyone’s dances.
“I loved seeing the progress that everyone has made, and everyone had such amazing dances this year,” Lewis said.
This showcase highlighted not only the talent and creativity of USD’s theatre students, but also showcased the students’ collaborative spirit that brought their works to life.
