Behind the Scenes: Dance Pro choreographers take the stage

336
dance pro
Marie Mawji runs a lighting rehearsal during tech week at Occidental College in Los Angeles, CA. March 21, 2023. Kawena Jacobs/The Occidental

Hundreds of students, faculty and families piled into Thorne Hall eager to see an array of dances created and performed by students at Dance Production Club’s (Dance Pro) 75th annual performance March 24-25. But who are the people behind these dances?

Shae Campbell (sophomore), Eliana Dávila (sophomore) and Mary Ferris (junior), are three of Dance Pro’s choreographers at Occidental’s student-led dance club. According to Campbell, the process starts in the fall, when choreographers sample eight counts of their dances to interested students, allowing them to choose which dances they want to perform. Campbell said the next several months are filled with planning and rehearsals, leading all the way up to the final performance in March.

dance pro
Dance Pro members rehearse their pieces at tech rehearsal at Occidental College in Los Angeles, CA. March 22, 2023. Kawena Jacobs/The Occidental
dance pro
Arden Courtney Collins (first year), Molly Milam (senior), Malcolm Ramsey-Ray (senior) and Erick Bojorquez (sophomore) talk during tech rehearsal at Occidental College in Los Angeles, CA. March 22, 2023. Kawena Jacobs/The Occidental

According to Ferris, choreographer and secretary of Dance Pro’s e-board, her dance entitled “Hers & Hers” was choreographed with her friend Gabi Piazza (junior). Ferris said she is excited to see it on stage since it is one of the first pieces she has choreographed.

“Gabi and I knew we wanted to choreograph together so we just found a few songs we were interested in. From there we just played the songs and kind of figured out certain moments we wanted to hit or certain ideas we had and then built off of that,” Ferris said. “Somehow it’s turned into a five-minute piece, so that’s really exciting.”

According to Ferris, she looked to celebrity performances for inspiration, citing names like Doja Cat, Beyonce and many others.

Ferris said her piece is a heels style number with 22 dancers, ranging in experience level. Ferris said the process of teaching the dance has been very exciting.

“It’s so cool to watch,” Ferris said. “Thinking about the process from the beginning of the year when [the dancers] were so eager to start learning the choreography to yesterday when we had our lighting rehearsal and I got to see them run it full out. They looked super confident and excited.”

Dávila, who choreographed “Somewhere in the Middle,” said that teaching was challenging at first because she had not previously taught her choreography to beginners.

“When I had choreographed before, it was all with people who had dance experience — going in and choreographing for people that didn’t have any was definitely a tricky game for me,” Dávila said. “I went in with a general idea, and then I would sort of mold it to how my dancers or I were feeling that day, or what worked with the music and the timing. That is sort of my approach to choreography.”

dance pro
Jasmine Mack (senior) dances during Miari Costarelli (senior) dance at tech rehearsal at Occidental College in Los Angeles, CA. March 22, 2023. Kawena Jacobs/The Occidental

According to Ferris, the inclusivity of Dance Pro is one of her favorite parts of the club.

“We encourage everybody to join in. It’s just a nice space where you have freedom to express yourself and do what you want, instead of trying to make everybody look exactly the same,” Ferris said.

In Campbell’s piece “Vibe,” which they co-choreographed with Jule Kilgore-Reed (sophomore), the dancers were all ranging in experience level.

“I’m pretty sure there are some people in my dance who have never performed in a dance show and they’re getting to perform [for the first time] tonight, which is so fun,” Campbell said. “And then there are some people who’ve been dancing for a lot longer.”

dance pro
Marie Mawji and Katie Moore (senior) run a lighting rehearsal during tech week at Occidental College in Los Angeles, CA. March 21, 2023. Kawena Jacobs/The Occidental

Campbell said that their piece is a hip-hop fusion number, heavily inspired by Jersey Club music and dancing.

“We got our inspiration from Jersey Club remixes. We looked at a lot of Jersey Club footwork, as well as Chicago influenced dancing and regular old hip-hop too,” Campbell said.

Dávila said her number was an opportunity for her to try new things and experience a sense of freedom she did not have before.

“I wanted to explore my sexuality and my sensuality through dance. I hadn’t really been allowed to do that in my last dance environment, because they were really conservative and super strict about how we showed off our bodies,” Dávila said. “And so this year, I sort of just wanted to dance however I wanted, and move my body however I wanted. So that was really exciting.”

dance pro
Dance Pro members rehearse their pieces at tech rehearsal at Occidental College in Los Angeles, CA. March 22, 2023. Kawena Jacobs/The Occidental

While fun, Dávila said the process of choreographing can also be very stressful. According to Dávila, there are a lot of responsibilities, especially during the week leading up to the performance, referred to as tech week. It is typically filled with meetings, run-throughs, and dress rehearsals.

“It’s definitely a lot of time and can be exhausting, but seeing everything come to fruition, the end of the year is definitely worth it.” Dávila said.

According to Ferris, tech week is a lot of work, starting two weeks before the performance for e-board members who come back early from spring break to begin setting up.

“We come back and do lots of setup like building the Cooler shrine, organizing the T-shirts and prepping for the actual week,” Ferris said.

From there, Ferris said the real tech week starts with lighting and sound rehearsals that are run onstage at Thorne Hall. The group then moves on to the tech rehearsal where dancers learn the finale number, Ferris said, and finally dress rehearsal where the club runs the full show exactly as it will be during the performance.

Ferris said that balancing her role as both an e-board member and choreographer was very challenging at times.

dance pro
Dance Pro members rehearse their pieces at tech rehearsal at Occidental College in Los Angeles, CA. March 22, 2023. Kawena Jacobs/The Occidental
dance pro
Dance Pro members rehearse their pieces at tech rehearsal at Occidental College in Los Angeles, CA. March 22, 2023. Kawena Jacobs/The Occidental

“It’s a lot to balance all of the roles. Thankfully there is a pretty good amount of crossover between choreographer and e-board member, but tech week is always super busy. In the end, it’s always worth it,” said Ferris.

Campbell said that they hope anyone who comes to the show can see the dedication from everyone involved. Campbell said that the work and talent that has gone into this production is incredible and hopes that the show gets the appreciation it deserves.

“There so many months of having to organize people and ideas, while putting so much creative energy out there,” Campbell said. “I hope that there’s an appreciation for the art that we’re creating and the fact that we’re even performing, because that’s so huge and can be so scary.”

Contact Felisa Duff at fduff@oxy.edu

Loading

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here