Kent State University School of Theatre & Dance

Charlotte USITT conference

2011-03-12T18:36:00.000-08:00

What an excellent conference! The sessions have been very full and there were way too many to choose from. I have learned some great things, and one of the most immediate is that USITT members get a 20% discount from Lowes. Now I will know who is reading the blog—when I get asked to shop for them.

I took notes at all the sessions I attended, and can share them with folks that are interested. The first one was on Sculpting and Foam Carving. Best tip from this was to learn about the riffler tool set. Digitally Printed Scenery Solutions was a session given by Rose Brand. The key thing on this was to hear that it cannot replace the scenic artist, and the file quality is key to the final product. Before even designing, you should call to see if this is the right application and to find out just how to go about getting the file.

Perhaps the most interesting thing to think about was the 5D forum called "Breaking the Box" which was a continuation and preparation for next year in Long Beach. One panelist was Holger Förterer, who is an artist and projection designer. His work includes the Cirque de Soleil show Ka. What he shared was fabulous!

Scenery restoration is an area that is in great need of people to work. Only the two women who gave the presentation are working in this field, and there is much work to be done. One works in New England and takes more of an archival approach; the other works with Masonic temples and takes more of an artist's approach. Both repair and restore the work, and both involve the community as volunteers in the process.

The Alternative Careers workshop showed the amount of tech work that is out there in areas that are entertainment but not theatre per se. The demand is high for technicians.

The last session I was able to make it to was on Service Learning and it was very informative; we learned how we can integrate projects into our curriculum that will both enhance the community we live in and reinforce the lessons we are learning and teaching.

Student work and professional work is on display, which is very inspiring.

I have plenty of notes I can share, so contact me (checker@kent.edu) if you want them. The expo was very informative, with great new products and lots of meeting up with old friends and making new friends. I highly encourage everyone to take advantage of a conference when they can. It opens one's eyes to the many possibilities about the work we are engaged in.

--Connie Hecker

Dedication Ceremony for the New Erdmann-Zucchero Theatre!

2011-03-08T09:38:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe, but little over a week ago Grease closed. It's always sad to see something you've put so much work into coming to an end, but the plus side is moving on to new projects! Speaking of which... the dedication of the black box theatre is April 8th! Student Theatre Fest is included in the festivities, but it also runs the 9th and 10th. The dedication will feature songs and scenes from shows that Bill Zucchero and Lou Erdmann (the men the theatre is being named for) were involved with during their time here. There will also be short pieces directed and written by students. I will directing one of my own short, original works.

It's shaping up to be a wonderful event, with a wide variety of pieces. Comedy, tragedy, dance, music, and everything in between. We're so lucky to have this new amazing space; it'll be great for us all to come together and celebrate it. The evening will provide an excellent chance for us to appreciate past artists at Kent State, while looking into the future work that can be accomplished.

--Sarah Coon

We made it!

2011-02-21T13:00:00.000-08:00

Grease opened this weekend with THREE sold out performances! The audience response has been so positive; I couldn't be more pleased and proud of the cast and crew.

While you would think that once the show opens the stress goes away, watching the show in performance is actually really nerve-wracking. Once the show is running, there's nothing I can do! If something goes wrong, or something's not quite right, I have to sit back and watch the actors or crew figure it out. Thankfully, nothing went wrong this weekend. But the possibility is there! All you an do is sit back and trust that everyone knows what they're doing, and have faith that should anything go wrong, everyone can handle it. Honestly, most mistakes would pass by an audience member's eye unnoticed anyway.

It's a strange feeling getting to this point; it's really bittersweet in a way. On the one hand, you're finally getting to share all your hard work with an audience, and with a response like the one that Grease is getting, it can be an overwhelming high. But on the other hand, it's sad to see a project that you've worked so hard on come to an end. You grow accustomed to working with this group of people very closely for long periods of time, and it can be strange to suddenly not see them as much. I'm not complaining about all the extra time suddenly in my schedule, but it is a bit of a jarring change to suddenly have nothing to work on in the evenings.

The show runs through Sunday (which I believe is also sold out!), with performances on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday as well. On Wednesday, there is a special matinee for high school students. It's a great opportunity to present a younger audience with a show very relevant to their lives...but because of their age, we have to change some lines and physicality to make them more "appropriate." The musical about teen rebellion has to be censored for teens. Ah, the irony.

I can't thank possibly thank everyone who helped us get to this point enough. It's been an amazing journey. Now, to try to relax and enjoy the run!

Tech Week: The Inside Scoop

2011-02-14T05:30:00.000-08:00

Tech week has officially begun! Everyone hang onto your notepad. For those who have never been through a tech week—lovingly referred to as "Hell Week" in some circles—let me break it down for you: a week (give or take a few days) prior to opening the show, you begin to add in technical elements, like lights, sound, and costumes. This where you can really start to get an idea of how the finished show will look. This is also the time when Murphy's Law kicks into high gear. Mics picking up feedback, costumes ripping, lamps blowing, sound cues shattering ear drums... things like that always go down during this time. Thankfully, this means that those things don't happen during the show...usually.

Saturday we had an all-day rehearsal. We added in the orchestra, microphones for the actors, a click track, and lights. If you don't spend a lot of time studying theatre, it's easy to take these elements for granted—you only really think about the process if something goes wrong. But each element requires a team of people working almost around the clock to get them up and running. Picture a back row of a theatre, filled with tables, and each table is covered in notebooks, spreadsheets, pencils, coffee cups, empty twelve packs of Diet Coke (I swear, Coca-Cola is missing an epic sponsorship opportunity with theatre), and electronic paraphernalia that I couldn't even begin to explain to you. Behind those tables sit a slew of people: designers, assistant designers, a stage manager, the director, board operators. Now add to that more electronics and people behind them: The sound crew. The choreographer. The props and scenic designers. The technical director. Scene shop supervisor. Assistant director. Costume designer. Costume crew. Everyone waiting with a notepad in hand to record anything that isn't the way it should be, making sure every element is as perfect as possible. That's what you're looking at when tech starts. If there is ever doubt that theatre is a collaborative art, look at those rehearsals.

It's stressful, sure. But it's also so exciting! You know that it's almost time to open, and you really get to start polishing the show, and seeing what it will look like when it's finished. And seeing it all together in one cohesive vision makes it all worthwhile. Besides, there's something kind of thrilling about the stress of it, at least for me. Sure, it gets tedious. And frustrating. And there are moments when I think that if I hear "Hold, please" one more time my brain will explode. But at the same time, the frustration reminds me that I'm here because I love what I do. I freak out and lose sleep and moan and groan because I'm putting everything I have into this; this is where my passion is, and that means there's going to be some highs and lows. All I can do is hang on and enjoy the ride.

Get your tickets if you haven't; they're going fast!

--Sarah Coon

The Home Stretch

2011-02-14T05:29:00.000-08:00

(Moderator's Note: Sarah sent this blog post to me about a week ago, and due to any number of things, I wasn't able to post it until now. My apologies to readers, and to Sarah—my punctuality could not match hers. --WLS)

Just under two weeks to opening! Amazing how time flies. We got a little off-track this week with the snow days (two days of rehearsal lost!) but we seem to be headed in the right direction now. We're at a point where the actors may no longer call for line, and most of the lines are there—a few scenes were shaky today, but nothing that won't be fixed in a day or two. The dance numbers are getting cleaner and cleaner. Everyone seems to be really pleased with the progress the show is making. It's always nice when you don't have to be panicking about being ready!

We start tech this weekend, which is always one of my favorite parts of the rehearsal process. Seeing all the elements coming together is so exciting! The actors are starting to rehearse in the shoes that go with their costumes already- it's an interesting sight to see modern clothing with older shoes, or girls in shorts and t-shirts with spiky heels. I can't wait to see the costumes that go with it! The countdown begins now...

--Sarah Coon

Putting It Together

2011-01-30T17:50:00.000-08:00

Between Thursday and Friday, we did out first work-through of the show! Hooray! We've got it blocked out, and all the choreography has been taught—now it's just a matter of cleaning and polishing. This evening we'll move into Stump Theatre (we've been rehearsing in the EZ black box) and make sure everything gets spaced out correctly, and before we know it we'll be doing full run-throughs. I can't believe how quickly the show is coming together. Looking back to our first rehearsal, when the cast was learning the complex Hand Jive choreography, it's nice to see how far we've come.

There's still a lot of work to be done, of course. The music moves extremely quickly, so the dance numbers still need tightening. There are still occasional traffic problems that need resolving. Timing of the lines isn't quite right. But the outline of the show is there- now we just need to fill in the blanks. Hopefully moving into the space will help with blocking and dancing—the actors can really get a feel for the size of the stage, which is hard when you're working in a slightly more cramped space. Even when you've got the boundaries of the space taped out on the floor, it's still a bit of an adjustment to move.

Time is ticking away, but we're in great shape. I can't wait to start adding more technical elements!

--Sarah Coon

Department of Self-Promotion: Summer Update

2011-01-28T05:35:00.001-08:00

I recently recorded a podcast with Andy Bliss, artistic director or the Nief-Norf Project, one of the experimental music groups I play with regularly. We talk about the upcoming summer festival at Furman University, including a collaborative project with KSU senior BFA dance student Sharon Kriz. Enjoy!

nief-norf Chronicles Episode #8 from Andy Bliss on Vimeo.

--Bill Sallak (Moderator/Assistant Professor/Dance Music Director)

Learning the Ropes

2011-01-24T10:03:00.000-08:00

We're into our second week, and we're still pushing forward hard. We've gotten a lot of the show blocked out over the past few days, including a few groups scenes and a lot of the choreography. Tonight the cast will learn the choreography for another group number (Shakin' at the Hop) and then we'll review everything we've learned. It's great to see so much progress being made in such a small time! The choreography is intricate, but the cast is picking it up like champs.

Blocking the scenes is going really quickly as well. It's a different experience working on this show; because it's a recreation of the European tour, a lot of the blocking is already determined. We don't have to start from scratch. Mac will give the actors the blocking, and we run it to see if there are any changes that need to be made. He'll usually sit down with the actors then to discuss the circumstances of the scene: why are you here, what time is it, where are we, etc. Then he'll use that to help the actors hone in on specific actions and objectives. What is it your character wants in this scene? How will they go about getting it? With that in mind, we'll run the scene again and see how it works.

The blocking isn't concrete; things are added and subtracted depending on how well they work, or if they look natural. Occasionally, 'bits' (in many cases, physical jokes) that worked overseas don't play as well here. That's a really interesting insight he shared: certain jokes or types of humor that we find funny don't work in other countries, and vice versa. It makes sense, but it's not something that I ever really thought about. Grease encompasses a specific time and feeling in American culture... how is that interpreted elsewhere?

Grease is the word... but does something get lost in translation?

--Sarah Coon

Devising Theatre: Health and Care

2011-01-15T17:25:00.000-08:00

When I walked into the first class for Seminar in Devising Theatre: Health and Care, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. I had signed up for it last semester to fulfill my last seminar class as an undergraduate theatre studies major at Kent. I was extremely apprehensive when I signed up for a class that so intensely involves acting, considering I am engaged in a stage management concentration and I haven’t been on the stage since high school. I was pleasantly surprised.

After going over a few housekeeping notes (syllabus, etc.), we began to play a few games to get to know the people in the room (which by the way is a huge class—about 30 or so). One game that struck me as extremely interesting involved everyone in the room grouping themselves together (based on an instruction given by instructor Katherine Burke) without speaking. This led to flapping arms, pointing at things, and some valiant, yet unrecognizable efforts at pantomiming (an example would be favorite food—try and pantomime Greek food. It’s hard). While some of it was comical, the idea that most of the people in the room became aware of was the fact that although it is entirely possible, it is still extremely difficult to communicate without speech. We had to work together as a company to obtain a common goal.

One exercise that we did that truly inspired me took place near the end of our first class. One person went into the middle of a circle created by the rest of the group and said exactly how they were feeling in that moment. Anyone from the outside of the circle could then tap the person in the middle on the shoulder, and build on that statement of how they were feeling. People made statements that a lot of times you may be thinking, but are afraid to say out loud. It was extremely organic and honest. This is one of the unique things that Devising Theatre allows artists to do: it enables them to collaborate on a project in a very organic and vulnerable way.

Although I was very inspired, I am still trying to work my way out of my ‘I like to be in the booth and call the show, not be on stage’ shell. I believe that this class will allow me to grow as a theatre artist, giving me the opportunity to see theatre from a completely different angle. I am hoping that next time I will be able to step into the circle and proclaim to the world exactly how I feel.

--Vanessa Gabriele

Hitting the Ground Jiving

2011-01-13T17:10:00.000-08:00

Whoa! It's almost the end of our first week back, and it whipped by! I came back to Kent Sunday for our first choreography rehearsal for Grease. The cast spent 8 hours learning parts of the Hand Jive from our amazing choreographer, Felicity. It's a really complex number: the pace is lightning fast, with several tricks and lifts happening right on top of each other. I was holding my breath for a lot of the lifts, imagining faces smacking into the floor or walls. But the cast picked it up quickly, and it's shaping up to be a show-stopper.

Monday was a music rehearsal, and Tuesday was the first read-thru/sing-thru of the whole show, and design presentations. This is a really modern version of Grease; Michael, the director, wants it to look and sound like a flashy rock and roll concert, and from what I've seen, the designers are going to give him just that. This isn't your parents' Grease, folks. This is louder, faster, bigger, and raunchier!

Last night (Wednesday) we finished putting all the pieces of the Hand Jive and bringing it up to it's face-meltingly fast tempo. It needs some polishing, but the work that's been done leaves me in awe each time. It's some of the most athletic, powerful dancing I've seen for a musical here. There's a really cool blending of 50's and contemporary styles here, which is making the piece have a really fresh, new energy to it.

I'm informally dubbing this show "Grease 2.0." Seeing it revamped is really exciting... I can't wait for everyone else to get in on the action!

--Sarah Coon

Student Dance Festival Rehearsals

2010-12-09T17:58:00.000-08:00

The Student Dance Festival (SDF) is an annual spring dance concert that presents the choreography of Kent State University dance majors and minors. This year, there are fourteen SDF choreographers and almost fifty student dancers. I am one of the choreographers for this concert as well as a performer in Sabatino A. Verlezza’s SDF piece.

Sabatino A. Verlezza decided to submit his SDF piece for the ACDF Regional Conference in March, so we began rehearsals in November. We have had approximately six rehearsals and there are six female dancers. The piece is a journey into the movement Sabatino A. grew up seeing around his home as well as the May O’Donnell modern dance technique that his parents, Sabatino and Barbara Allegra Verlezza, teach and perform. The piece is quirky and fun but always technically challenging.

It was particularly taxing to rehearse this piece in the fall because I was also involved in three dance pieces that were performed at the Dance ’10: TranscenDANCE faculty dance concert. My brain and body were overwhelmed with choreography. I found it particularly difficult to remember the new choreography Sabatino A. taught us because I was still rehearsing the faculty dance concert pieces.

Now that the Faculty Dance Concert has passed, rehearsing Sabatino A.’s SDF piece is much more manageable. We have already completed over two minutes of the piece and are working on “cleaning” different sections. Tomorrow, Friday, December 10th, we will perform Sabatino A.’s SDF piece at a showing for the faculty.

Please come see the Student Dance Festival Concert in the spring! It is going to be an extremely diverse and entertaining concert!

Show Information:
E.Z. Blackbox Theatre in the Music and Speech Building
March 11 & 12 at 8pm
March 12 &13 at 2pm
More information and tickets at www.theatre.kent.edu

--Jessica Mego (BFA Dance Major)

A Letter To The Stage

2010-12-09T17:53:00.000-08:00

My last semester at Kent State University is approaching and has become a realization of many of my hopes, dreams and accomplishments in my life. While attending KSU I was able to not only improve my technique as a dancer but grow as a person , choreographer and teacher. I have studied many styles of ballet (including Cecchetti and Balanchine technique) and modern dance (including May O’Donnell, Erick Hawkins and Postmodern Release techniques).

As graduation gets closer, I can’t believe the overwhelming feeling of excitement that has filled my life with joy. Dancing for the Kent State University Dance Division has been a wonderful journey for me. As I complete my year, I will never forget the teachers and students that have been a part of my educational and life-learning experiences. I love you all-- and remember, the stage is not only for performances, but it is also a part of our life everyday for exploring and performing our talent for dance.

--Tamara Landry (BFA Dance Major)

Caring behind the audition table

2010-12-09T09:54:00.000-08:00

Being on the other side of the table at an audition was a very interesting experience. I have always been the one performing for the people sitting behind the table hoping that I get cast, but this time the pressure was off in that manner and the pressure was on in a new way. Being behind the table brought a new sense of unease in wondering who in this wonderful group of auditionees would be able to fulfill the needs of my piece, but also be able to rehearse on the weekends. To my surprise, I found many dancers I believed would be great for the work and could rehearse on the weekend! My nerves had not yet subsided though because the process of selecting dancers with the other SDF choreographers was yet to come. I feared that even though the process seemed simple enough that with fourteen choreographers I would still have trouble casting the dancers I wanted. To my surprise the whole process was quick and painless. I got all three dancers I wanted and it seemed to me that all the other choreographers were also very pleased with the process, as well as the dancers they were able to cast. I think this was because not only were we very organized (thanks to the amazing duo, Joan Meggitt and Sabatino Verlezza), but also I feel our group is full of very understanding, level-headed individuals, who care for one another. That's what I love most about the group that I have been privileged to work and create with since Modern I/Comp I-- that we care for one another and no matter what is going on. We are all about serving the work. We realize that we are here to serve our work.

--Ebby Howarth (BFA Dance Major)

Dancing with Finger-paint

2010-12-09T09:52:00.000-08:00

With the Student Dance Festival coming closer, and the first rehearsal with my cast just around the corner, I thought I was prepared. I know exactly what I want my piece to be about. I chose a couple different pieces of music I like and want to use. I have the costumes planned out in my head.

But then I get hit.

With green paint.

I dream about it. I see glimpses of it as I go about my daily routine. I can feel it squish under my toes and its texture drape across my back. I want to choreograph it. I want to mold the paint through space, spread it across the floor and flick it through the air. The only question now is how. In my mind, it is epic and curious and the most intense finger painting the Dance Divisiont has ever seen.

--Michelle Brown (BFA Dance Major)

For the Love of Cotton

2010-12-09T09:49:00.000-08:00

As dancers, we all have that one piece of clothing we love to wear to class: that one leotard that fits just perfectly, the pair of faded-to-grey-but-once-black dance pants with the hole in the knee, or the fuzzy socks worn thin at the heel. Clothes shouldn’t have an effect on how well you perform in class, but they do. My favorite thing that makes taking class just feel better is a pair of secondhand purple leg-warmers that I have no doubt were meant to live with me.

I found them in a thrift store about three years ago for a couple dollars and I think the dance gods up above sent them to me. I’m pretty positive they graced the calves of Hanya Holm in their past life. No matter how many times I leave them behind somewhere, which is extremely often, they find their way home to me. They have become a part of my everyday life, and experienced most of the important moments I have had in the dance department here at Kent State. I do not look forward to the day they will wear out completely and I will have to put them to rest.

This post is to commemorate those special pieces of clothing that have been through thick and thin, sweat and blood, and have always got your back (or calves, in my case).

--Michelle Brown (BFA Dance Major)

American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA)

2010-12-09T09:45:00.000-08:00

The ADTA is an organization that began in 1966 to support the emerging profession of dance/movement therapy. The purpose of the organization is to establish, maintain, and support the highest standards of professional identity and competence among dance/movement therapists by promoting education, training, practice, and research. The ADTA also provides avenues of communication among dance/movement therapists and those working in related fields, and increases public awareness of dance/movement therapy.

I am a member of the ADTA, and got a wonderful opportunity in September to attend the 45th annual ADTA conference in Brooklyn, New York. The conference was entitled “Creating the Mind-Body Mosaic: Theory, Research, and Practice in Dance/Movement Therapy." My experience there was wonderful; I attended six seminars in which I learned many new things about dance therapy. I was also able to network with many people and build a professional associate contact list. Out of all of my experiences at the conference, I am most delighted to report is that I was invited to be a part of the new organization, BAAD (Black American and African Descents Affinity Group for Mental Health Practitioners). It is a brand new organization and I have the opportunity to be one of the founding members. I am so grateful for the opportunity to have attended the conference; my eyes have been opened to many new things and my spirit is joyful and excited about continuing my education in Dance/Movement Therapy.

--LaDonna Curry (BFA Dance Major)

Dance’10: TranscenDANCE

2010-12-09T09:39:00.000-08:00

On December 3-5, 2010, Dance ’10: TranscenDANCE was presented by the Kent State University Dance Division in E. Turner Stump Theatre. Two words to describe the show as a whole are “Pleasant Chaos”. Those word fit perfectly to me because I felt as though there was a lot going on-- I felt a sense of hurriedness and chaos-- yet with each performance came on clear movement and pleasant presentation. It was delightful to see graceful and traditional ballet lines, along with more rigid and right-angled clean and direct movement. The colors chosen for lighting and costuming also accompanied a feeling of fall and winter, with pretty light blues and purples, and also orange, burgundy, forest green, brown and navy blues, these different colors all used in separate pieces truly added to the atmosphere of the choreography. I enjoyed the show as a whole, however there where two specific pieces that took residence in my spirit and made my heart smile. Those two pieces are Rainbow Concerto choreographed by Andrea Shearer and Sustained By a Breath choreographed by Erin S. Smith. It was pleasing to see the ballet lines in Rainbow Concerto yet refreshing to have a feeling of strength and desire while watching Sustained by a Breath. TranscenDANCE was just the pleasant break I needed right before finals, and I am truly proud of all my fellow dancers.

--LaDonna Curry (BFA Dance Major)

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

2010-12-09T09:34:00.000-08:00

Snow has touched the ground and Christmas shopping has begun. What does this have to do with the School of Theater and Dance? I'm glad you asked.

Since fall semester 2008 the freshman dance majors and minors (now juniors) have made a tradition, but not any tradition-- a secret Santa. This has been going on for two years going on three. As we approach another holiday season we have another exciting exchange, this time including fellow upper division modern dance students. It is an exciting time because of the hard work that we've all done this semester, so when this exchange comes around it is like a reward. I can't wait to see all the smiling faces!!!

Now on Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and good ole Rudolph-- bring secret Santa gifts to all the wonderful dancers of Kent State Dance Division.

--LaRonica Southerland (BFA Dance Major)

Reflections: TranscenDANCE

2010-12-08T10:00:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was an very exciting one, indeed. TranscenDANCE turned out to be an excellent production. Backstage, all crew members and performers worked together to create a well organized and smooth run of all three shows. Costume designers in the dressing rooms were there for anything that performers needed. Costume alterations were necessary, but designers completed the alterations in a prompt and efficient way. There were many caring and helpful individuals to help the performers backstage in the wings as well, including help with quick costume changes and first-aid equipment.

Jerimie, the stage manager, was also especially notable for his direction and leadership skills during the performances. His attentiveness and interaction with cast members was outstanding, as well as the way he kept everyone on the same page, so to speak.

As a performer, I felt well guided and "taken care of." I was always aware of the time, and of where my costume pieces were. It was most helpful in staying focused for the show. I thought every night progressively became more organized and relaxed. I received excellent feedback from family and friends as well. "One of the best we have seen so far..."

--Diane Skerbec (BFA Dance Major)

Open Thread for Dance 10: TranscenDANCE

2010-12-07T08:36:00.000-08:00

This is an open thread for comments about Dance 10: TranscenDANCE. If you attended, what did you think? Any particular highlights?

Preparing for Dance 2010

2010-12-07T08:33:00.000-08:00

After the Dance Division moved into its new home in the Music and Speech Center, the School of Theatre and Dance was all under one roof. This made a big difference during tech week of Dance 2010 because the dancers were able to warm up in our brand new dance studios. After warm-up, it was a short walk to the theatre. I really noticed the difference on Sunday, the first day of tech week. My call was 45 minutes before I had to be onstage. During those 45 minutes, the dancers had access to the studios for warming up. Each of us had our own unique way to warm up and prepare our bodies for the rigorous week ahead of us. My warm-up process included both physical and mental preparation. I try to prepare myself for specific movements in my pieces as well as my performance quality. I also make sure my muscles are warm and ready to go! Last year, the dance studios were about a five minute hike across campus, so we could not warm up in the studios during concert week. What a difference a year can make! Every day the dancers learn new things about our new home in Music and Speech, and we really enjoy being under the same roof as the rest of the school!

In these photographs are some of the Rainbow Concerto dancers preparing for our rehearsal on the Sunday of tech week for Dance 2010.

--Jessica Kinsey (BFA Dance Major)

Space and Opportunity

2010-12-07T08:27:00.000-08:00

Junior year is coming to a close-- from all the ups and downs, big papers to write, and exercise prescriptions. We approached the Dance 10 concert weekend with excitement about getting to show off the hard work and dedication that we put into this show. It's very exciting for the School of Theater and Dance, for this was the first concert with the dancers being moved in to our new studio space, even though we are performing in the same theater as in years past. This gave us the choice of either warming up on stage or in the BRAND NEW studios. Having this choice is simply amazing. Having the new space that is bigger, more body-forgiving and with an amazing sound system won my heart over. Also this allowed for us to be warmer too, because in the past, the Stump stage is not only unforgiving on the body but you may also remain cold because of the air control on the stage. So this meant that layers of clothes would stay on. Being a third year dance major, having the opportunity and choice is something I did not imagine would happen before I graduated. It was nice to have the opportunity to try out warming up in the studio vs. the stage. I look forward to senior year and knowing that that experience might become apart of the the new tradition. It was definitely worth the test run.

--LaRonica Southerland (BFA Dance Major)

Masterclass Benefits

2010-12-06T14:55:00.000-08:00

A couple of weekends ago I heard about a masterclass that was going on at KSU. The great thing was that the masterclass was free so anyone could go. That’s one of the great things about going to a university or college: you can get great opportunities, for very cheap or even free. Outside of the college world, you don’t run into that very often.

So after seeing the email about this masterclass I thought to myself why not try it, it could be fun! On Sunday I went to the Music and Speech building and went to the dance studios on the first floor. There I met a local choreographer, Desmond Beasley. He had contemporary and hip hop routines ready for us to learn.

First we stretched out our bodies so we were nice and warm. Then he got right to work teaching the contemporary routine first. It was a very interesting contemporary piece. For me I have been doing contemporary for a couple years and never encountered this style before. I would say it had an afro-jazz flair to it. We learned the whole routine then Desmond broke us up into two groups so we could practice it full out, since there were many dancers who showed up. After that we broke up into smaller groups so we each could strut our stuff.

Next was hip hop, which was great fun. The piece was very diverse-- there were spots where you had to hit everything hard and make it powerful and then parts where you could make it playful and flirty. I really enjoyed this dance, and I just wanted to keep dancing! I even remember now and run it in my head whenever I hear the music because I love it so much. With all of these styles in the hip hop routine it really allowed the dancers to show off their different styles and we got to be creative with it also. We also broke off in two groups and then in smaller groups to showcase what you can do.

Masterclasses are just one way you can make yourself a better dancer. Learning different choreography can help you learn how to pick up routines faster in auditions, and they also let you see different choreography that you have never experienced before. That’s why you should take every opportunity given to you. You can always learn new styles, become more diverse, and maybe even get your name out there someday.

--Samantha Bertolino

Dance '10

2010-12-06T14:40:00.000-08:00

This weekend was the premiere of Dance '10: TranscenDANCE. The show had a really great turnout, and was even sold out on opening night. This concert had six very diverse performances choreographed by our very own full- and part-time faculty members. I was in three of the six dances in this concert and it was quite an experience. Aside from the Kent Dance Ensemble concert last year, I have not danced that much in a faculty dance concert. It wasn't remembering the choreography to three different dances that was the hard part, it was maintaining my stamina and energy. I got the oppurtunity to dance with some amazing fellow dancers and also got the experience to partner with some very talented and marvelous men (Sabatino and Dominic). As a senior, it was very bittersweet to think that this was my last faculty concert that I will be performing in as a dance major at Kent State. I am sad to leave but very excited for what the future will hold! I want to thank the faculty for allowing me to perform in this concert and leave it all on that stage one last time this semester. I also want to thank all of my fellow cast members... you all kept me going and I couldn't have done it without you guys, I love you all!!!

Check out this picture that has almost all the performers involved in Dance '10 TranscenDANCE.

Until next time...

--Katie Naso (BFA Dance Major)

Verlezza Dance Concert

2010-12-06T14:35:00.000-08:00

As a freshman dance minor at Kent State University, I knew that I would be affected by my experiences in the dance program, but I had no idea that one concert would have such a huge impact on my life.
The concert that I am referring to is the Verlezza Dance concert, which took place in September for DisAbility Awareness Month. This particular concert was performed by the Verlezza Dance Company, consisting of dancers of all types, including those with physical and mental handicaps. Because my modern dance instructor, Barbara Verlezza, was one of the founders of Verlezza Dance, I had the opportunity to dance in a piece, not knowing exactly what to expect.
The performance was absolutely stunning…it began with a duet between Sabatino Verlezza, the co-founder of the company, and a girl who was confined to a wheelchair. They twirled around the stage with such grace that by the end of the dance, I forgot that she even had a disability. This piece was followed by an ensemble that included woman with cerebral palsy dancing as Lady Gaga. It was uplifting to see that these people were able to overcome their so-called limitations to dance for us.
The piece that I had the privilege to be a part of was a large group number comprised of elderly dancers. It incorporated sign language and audience participation, to a song entitled “Angel.” This piece was dedicated to the members of the company who had passed away that year. I was especially moved by the brilliance of the choreography and the power of the movements. I was personally affected by this concert, as my aunt passed away from cerebral palsy this past year. She had never had the chance to dance, or walk for that matter, but I was honored and amazed to see just what those we perceive as disabled have the ability to do.
One elderly disabled gentleman had an important message: just because he has a disability, doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have dance in his heart. This statement moved the majority of the audience, as well as me, to tears. The Verlezza Dance Concert was an eye-opener for all involved, and was nothing like what I expected to experience through Kent State’s Dance program.
I recently changed my major to Psychology, and combined with my dance minor, I plan to pursue a career in dance therapy. I had always been uncertain as to what I want to do with my life, but those dancers were my inspiration. If I can change one life with the power of dance, or make one person feel what I did the night of that concert, then I will have had a successful life.

--Shayna Fischer (Dance Minor)

You’re the One That I Want?

2010-12-01T14:33:00.000-08:00

Grease is the word! I’m beyond thrilled to get the amazing opportunity to be the assistant director for our Visiting Artist’s production of the musical. After waiting impatiently all November, auditions finally arrived. I’ve never AD’d a production of this size before (in the past I’ve worked on small basement lab shows), and I’ve never worked on the production side of a musical. I felt a bit at sea, having no clue what to expect.

This audition was run differently from past KSU auditions. The style was closer to a professional cattle call; everyone danced first, then they were divided into groups to sing. It was strange to see how nervous the change in routine made everyone. There were rumors that Mac, the director, was going to cut people before they would be allowed to sing, and that only superior dancers would be looked at. Everyone looked terrified as they entered the dance call, but the choreographer, Todd, was amazing at making everyone feel at ease. My favorite quote? “Okay. You’ve learned the choreography…now screw the choreography! Entertain us! ... If you’re going to fall on your face, fall with panache!” My main duties during callbacks were to keep headshots and resumes straight, and occasionally offer my opinion. It was interesting to see the way I saw auditions from the people I knew, in many cases my friends, and they way they were looked at by an outsider.

Throughout the whole process, I was so nervous I was shaking occasionally. Nervous for the show, for the actors, everything. I looked at Mac partway though auditions to ask if he still got nervous too… and he told me he was a wreck. Maybe some things never change…

--Sarah Coon (Assistant Director, Grease)

Hair, Make up, Costumes, Lights...Showtime!

2010-12-01T14:29:00.000-08:00

It's unbelievable that it is almost time for Dance '10: TranscenDANCE! This semester has flown by, and I cannot believe we have been working on this concert for almost the entire semester! Now it is tech week, and the days seem half as long as usual. The fact that winter break is right around the corner doesn't help anything.

One thing that amazes me about concerts (and musicals) is that a week before tech week everything seems to be far from ready. The pieces are either not finished or far from perfect, the costumes have yet to be fitted, and the space is far from everyone's mind. But during tech week a miracle occurs: everything falls into place. The piece is now finished and ready for the audience, the costumes are fitted and beautiful, and the stage is lit and ready for the dancers. Every production goes through the same steps and falls into place the same way. This procedure just adds to the magic and stresses of live performance.

-Jessica Kraft (BFA Dance Major)

Freshman Reflections: Elizabeth Kneiss

2010-12-01T14:25:00.000-08:00

My first audition in the dance program was the faculty dance concert audition. I was nervous watching all the other dancers, who were upperclassmen, get the choreography easily. I was stuck in the back of the room, knowing little to nothing about modern dance. After learning all four dances, I was eagerly watching the clock waiting for it to all be over. I would say that I was very unprepared for the talent and experience everyone else had. After a month and a half of being in a Modern class, auditions for BFA were near. Going into these auditions I felt more prepared and knew what to expect. I went into the room knowing more about body placement and "feeling" of modern dance. Overall, being in new styles of classes has helped me to grow as a dancer.

--Elizabeth Kneiss (BFA Dance Major)

Art & Movement in the Museum

2010-12-01T14:21:00.000-08:00

On Saturday November 13, fellow dance major Diane Skerbec and I went to the Collision: Art & Movement in the Museum MOCA Cleveland Workshop led by Jill Sigman. Included in this post is the flyer for the workshop. It was from 1-5pm, and if we were involved in the workshop, we received free tickets to see Danceworks perform that evening in the Trinity Cathedral.

This was a new experience for both of us and we were not sure what to expect. We were a little early for the workshop so walked around the museum for a bit. One exhibit utilized multi-media and was the combination of different pieces of art. The work showed black and white video footage of a man investigating the site of a serial killer. It was silent so there would be a few seconds of footage followed by text describing the situation. Also in this exhibit were drawings, sculptures, and clothing from the footage. It was very eerie, but I hoped that we would be able to explore it further through the workshop.

There were about fifteen of us. Most were dancers, but a few were artists or dancers dabbling in art. We began our study with Jill in the back room. This room contained artwork that could be touched, which was a relief. There were two walls and two pillars covered in a wallpaper style graphic art that had many shapes and colors. This piece really livened the senses and imagination. Along the wall on the other end of the room were four pieces of art created by students from four different universities, including Kent State University. When dancing “with” the Kent State artwork, I felt a sense of cameraderie because the dance program and art program were being connected in some way. We explored different structured improvisations before joining in groups and creating a short study that we showed everyone. We formed multiple groups and multiple studies with interaction with artwork and dancing “cinematically.”

After a short break, we moved into the exhibit I described earlier and created another short study that exemplified the atmosphere of the piece. There were four groups of 4-5 people and each study was no longer than 3 minutes. One group including the audience, and another used a curtain as a means of controlling what we saw. Because the exhibit featured such a heavy topic, every study was mysterious and melancholy. After this final activity, we had a short discussion before ending the workshop.

The opportunity to observe art in a museum and dance how it makes me feel is so rare, and I’m very grateful I went to the MOCA workshop. Experiences like that are not common and Jill was such a wonderful leader and guide. I would recommend a workshop like this to any pre-professional or professional modern artist.

--Jessica Kraft (BFA Dance Major)

Pilobolus Summer Intensive

2010-12-01T14:16:00.000-08:00

Over the summer, I attended the Pilobolus "Serious Movers" Summer Intensive in Washington, Connecticut. The Intensive took place from July 19-23, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (usually we went until 5:30 or 6:00 p.m.). The teachers for this Intensive were Renee Jaworski, Rehearsal Director and Pilobolus Dancer, and Matthew Thornton, Adjunct Dancer. Matthew Thornton, as many of you may know, is the husband of a former KSU Dance Instructor, Alicia Diaz. Alicia attended the Intensive for three days, as well.

There were approximately 30 individuals who participated in the Intensive. The participants came from all over the world – Texas, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maine, Mexico, Canada – with a variety of “movement” backgrounds – professional dancers, college dance students, Pilobolus dancers, martial artists, theatre professors, college theatre students, acrobats, athletes, and many more. The diversity of this group was amazing and everyone contributed a wealth of knowledge.

The five day intensive focused on Pilobolian technique utilizing both individual and partnering work. The individual work included endurance exercises such as running exercises, individual improvisation, spatial awareness exercises, and many other movement explorations. A former Pilobolus dancer also conducted a “rolling” workshop that included techniques for getting into a roll from standing as well as rolling forwards and backwards across the floor smoothly. The partnering work was extensive and challenging. Throughout the workshop we changed partners to learn to work with different bodies. We learned over 15 different lifts and weight-sharing movements. All of these lifts and weight-sharing movements are a part of Pilobolus repertory. The partnering work was particularly eye-opening for me. I have a new understanding of my own body as well as how to share my body weight with others. We also separated into four groups to address choreography. The second piece of choreography that we created aimed at employing what we learned throughout the workshop and was presented in a showing on the last day.

The Pilobolus Intensive was a life-changing experience. I met extremely talented and inspiring individuals, a number of whom have become life-long friends. I discovered new muscles that I never knew existed and gained a new understanding of my body. This truly was one of the greatest experiences of my life and I plan to attend the Intensive again next summer!

--Jessica Mego (BFA Dance Performance Major)

My Time In Arizona: NDEO Conference

2010-12-01T14:12:00.000-08:00

From October 20-24, 2010 I attended the National Dance Education Organization National Conference in Tempe, Arizona. This was my second time attending the conference (the last one was in NYC) and each time I have had a wonderful experience. During the previous conference I had been voted to be the incoming national student representative that would sit on the board for the following conference. This year was what you might look at as my introduction to my position and duties. Working alongside former KSU Dance Education Professor and NDEO Board Member Melanie George, I began to learn some of the inner workings and administrative aspects of the organization.
I also, for my second time, got to participate in the Passing on the Legacy workshop in which I got to work with renowned dance educator and choreographer Bill Evans. We worked with self made compositions as well as repertory Bill gave us and put them together into one large piece. The workshop culminated in a performance which was presented at the closing reception for the entire conference. It was truly an exciting experience and I met many other wonderful students from colleges and universities around the nation. I would truly suggest anyone interested in the elements of dance education to attend this conference. The organization does a great job of bringing so many wonderful master artists from around the country into one location. Below is a photo of the closing reception performance where I had the chance to partner with a student from Brigham Young University in Utah.

--Sabatino A. Verlezza (BFA Dance Major)

SDF Student Director: My Experience Thus Far...

2010-12-01T14:10:00.000-08:00

For the 2010-2011 academic year, I am the Student Artistic Director of the 2011 Student Dance Festival. Working alongside Assistant Professor and Faculty Artistic Director Joan Meggitt, I have been given the chance to lead a wonderful group of 14 choreographers (one being myself) who will premiere 14 new works in March 2011!

My main focus for the semester was to set up and produce the audition, in which anyone enrolled in a KSU School of Theatre and Dance studio dance technique class (majors and non-majors) could attend. Going into the process I was unaware of how difficult it could be to organize and find 28 different rehearsal times (2 per choreographer) that fit into the Spring 2011 studio schedules. However, the audition, which took place on October 27, 2010, went extremely well and every choreographer was able to choose a suitable cast that worked with everyone’s schedule.

This wonderful leadership opportunity has already taught me so much, and we haven’t even got into the thick of things yet. Next semester I will be working on other projects such as writing the press release for the concert and creating my premiere piece to contribute to the concert. Again, this position has been great and challenging all at the same time and I look forward to seeing it through to opening night!

--Sabatino A. Verlezza (BFA Dance Major/SDF Student Artistic Director)

Grand Opening at KSU Tuscarawas

2010-12-01T14:06:00.000-08:00

On Friday, November 19th, the Kent Dance Ensemble had the privilege to partake in the grand opening of the new Performing Arts Center at Kent State University-Tuscarawas campus. We were absolutely thrilled to be a part of such an incredible event. The most exciting aspect of this performance was the fact that we were the first group to dance in their brand new and breathtaking theatre. We performed two pieces: “Show Business,” choreographed by Kim Karpanty, which was also performed at the Roe Green Center grand opening, and “Rainbow Concerto,” choreographed by our Artistic Director, Andrea Shearer. When looking out over the immense crowd, I realized how lucky I was to be there. It was also a reminder of how blessed we all are to be in the Ensemble, which has given us so many great experiences and opportunities such as this. The energy present in the new building was outstanding. It was quite refreshing to be within an environment, other than our own, that supports and appreciates the arts to such a degree. I hope to return to the beautiful new Tuscarawas Performing Arts Center many times and embrace the wonderful arts events soon to come! I advise anyone and everyone to make the trip and take advantage of this incredible space!

The Kent Dance Ensemble backstage and ready to perform Rainbow Concerto!

---Jordan Deckert (Dance Performance Major/Kent Dance Ensemble member)

KDE at Performing Arts Center Grand Opening

2010-11-30T10:52:00.000-08:00

The Kent Dance Ensemble, KSU’s select student touring company was one of the two surprise guest performers at the Nov. 19 Grand Opening of the new Performing Arts Center on the KSU-Tuscarawas campus.

It was a truly memorable experience for us! The day started at 11:30 AM when 13 company members and guests drove south an hour and 15 minutes to the campus. After settling costumes and dance bags in the chorus dressing room, the dancers explored the facility, checking out the view from the stage (the theatre seats 1,100 people!) and the stairway on which they would be performing. Student Director Katie Naso lead the company in an hour long warm-up and then the real work began.

We had one hour to re-choreography Kim Karpanty’s showpiece “There’s No Business Like Show Business” down two flights of stairs in the lobby, then an hour to rehearse and set the lighting for my own “Rainbow Concerto” on the stage itself. What a joy to dance on a stage with a “sprung” floor! The P.A. Center is intended to draw musicians, comedians, actors, dance companies and even Broadway shows, so the theatre was designed to be attractive to touring groups. Resilient flooring is found in few theatres but what a treat for the lucky performers who find themselves standing (and moving) on this one!

School of Theatre and Dance Director Cynthia Stillings volunteered to accompany us and set lighting for the piece...in an hour...in an unfamiliar space...on new equipment. The result was another Stillings tour de force, as she made the most of the time she had to produce beautiful effects.

Right before the first dance, a photographer, Sean Palmer, from Solid Rock photos, was setting up his equipment to provide complimentary photographs to the guests. We grabbed the opportunity to take a company portrait. Ten minutes later, the dancers were on the staircase, much to the surprise of the 600+ guests in attendance in the theatre lobby!

But there was much more in store for them. The guests proceeded into the theatre where KSU President Lester Lefton, Dean Andrews of the Tuscarawas campus, the Mayor and various state and local dignitaries welcomed everyone and thanked the community whose support made the performing arts center a reality. They stressed that the center would be an engine driving the local economy forward, as people come to the region to enjoy performances, have dinner and visit the surrounding Amish countryside. At a time when so many people see the arts as a “frill” that can be cut from schools, grants and life itself, this came as a refreshing ray of true vision.

School of Music faculty member Jerry Wong performed several pieces by Frederic Chopin on the facility’s new Steinway piano and then it was our turn again.

To the music of Antonio Vivaldi, the 13 KDE members flew across the space as if this was their home theatre. The audience responded with extended applause and throughout the rest of the evening, dancers received many well deserved compliments on their performance. A mere 11 1/2 hours later, we were back in Kent, OH, and several of the dancers got just enough sleep to return to campus for a 9:30 rehearsal the next morning.

Many people think that going to college is “hiding out” from real life, but this day at the KSU-Tuscarawas Performing Arts Center was a very “real world” experience as far as dance is concerned. As a professional, you have little time to adapt to new theatre spaces; you just have to go in and get the job done and do it well. And that is exactly what the Kent Dance Ensemble members did on Nov. 19.

Thanks to Cindy and all of the people who made this performance possible: to the fine faculty members who contribute so much to all the students in the Dance Division; to Dave Burrington and the costume area who had to push to get the costumes ready; to the staff members who helped facilitate the transportation arrangements; and especially the folks at the Tuscarawas Campus, who were so helpful to us in rehearsals and backstage and provided food for the dancers. And my deepest appreciation goes to the dancers themselves—their hard work over the entire semester paid off with a beautiful realization of the choreography.

We get three more chances this semester to “dance the rainbow” at the Dance ’10: TranscenDANCE concert in Stump Theatre on the Kent Campus Dec. 3-5.

--Andrea Shearer (Assoc. Prof./Dance Division Director)

Stump Stage Welcomes Back Dancers

2010-11-30T10:50:00.000-08:00

November 17th marked the return of dancers onto E. Turner Stump Theatre as we all prepare for our upcoming concert.

Spacing rehearsals on stage are a very important part of the performance process so that we, as dancers, can reconfigure our movement patterns to the stage space before adding costumes and lighting.

I was thankful that I remembered how cold such a large theatre could get and brought lots of layers to warm up in. Thankfully warming up did not take much time as we run through the dance several times in order to work out pathways and patterns of movement to more appropriately fit this space.

Being that it was our first time on stage this season I was very impressed how little effort we had to put in when it came to changes of staging. This is probably due to the fact that our dance studios are now so much larger in our new space, so we did not have that much extra length to add to our previous movement patterns.

Please come see what we have been working on over this semester in Dance 2010: TranscenDANCE on December 3-5. It will be a very entertaining concert!

--Colleen Weiher (BFA Dance Performance Major)

Tamara Landry: Reflections

2010-11-30T10:47:00.000-08:00

Senior year seemed so far away as I was an incoming freshman in August of 2004, but here my senior year is filled with excitement, fear, and the willingness to survive in the business world of arts. When I was in my junior year I was in the dance education program, and one of my biggest fears while in the program was that I had to pass my Praxis exam to become a certified dance educator. After many attempts to pass the exam I had not reach my goal. Completing my junior year I decided that I would take a year off and work in the field of dance. Taking a leap of faith I decided to move to New York and was offered work in Brooklyn teaching dance at a YMCA. That year off from school, I was able to work on my craft as a dance educator while being able to adjust to corporate America. In 2010 I returned to college to finish my degree in dance performance. As I returned I understood the most important part of education is to complete what you have begun. One thing that I have learned from all the dance educators here at Kent State is, no matter what you do, it’s how you do it-- and to never give up on your goals in life.

--Tamara Landry (BFA Dance Performance Major)

Kent Dance Ensemble at the Roe Green Center Opening

2010-11-30T10:46:00.000-08:00

The Kent Dance Ensemble performed a piece of choreography at the Roe Green Center Grand Opening on Saturday, November 6, 2010. The piece, danced to "There’s No Business Like Show Business,” was fun and entertaining, but the preparation process was difficult. When a dancer steps onstage, the dancer understands that things may happen that are out of his or her control, but we, as professionals, learn to deal with the unexpected. For the Roe Green Center Grand Opening, KDE would be dancing in the lobby—the lobby that was expected to be filled with 300 guests. During rehearsals, we could not fill the lobby and practice dancing around the guests. We had to plan the best we could while understanding that the actual performance would be nothing like our rehearsals. Fortunately, the guests at the Grand Opening were gracious and allowed us to dance around them. The experience was like no other. The fourth wall did not exist in this performance; instead, the audience and the performers shared a very intimate space. Dancing in the new lobby and being part of this exciting time in the school’s history is an honor.

--Jessica Kinsey (Dance Performance Major)

Reflection: Hosting our First Audition

2010-11-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

A week ago, on October 27, the Junior class hosted an audition for the Student Dance Festival. Most individuals choreographing for this concert have attended many different auditions, but never been sitting behind the table analyzing the dancers. This was an entirely new experience. We had to come in with some kind of knowledge of either skills or quality of movement we wanted our dancers to possess. We also had to be able to look at and work around dancers schedules and work with our fellow choreographers so we could all have a cast that would work well for our pieces.

Also, for a select few of us, we had to create movement phrases that were simple enough to teach quickly but had elements that could show us what the dancers could do. Some elements used in the phrases were speaking, improvisation, both slow and fast movement, movement across the floor, movement on the floor, and some very basic partnering. Jessica Mego and I created a phrase that used a lot of movement on the floor and abdominal control.

Our phrase was only four 8 counts long but included an improvisation at the beginning and end. By both creating and teaching this phrase we had to learn to be both succinct and accurate in demonstrating what we wanted from the dancers, both in the choreography and improvisation sections.

Having this whole experience as part of our journey towards a degree is extremely helpful to my future. Whether I become a choreographer and use this beginning knowledge to build upon for future auditions, or at least to understand what all goes into the audition and selection process for a cast or company.

-Colleen Weiher (Junior BFA Dance Major/2011 SDF Choreographer)

Kent Dance Association Masterclass with Desmond Beasley

2010-11-02T10:58:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, November 21st the Kent Dance Association will be hosting a dance masterclass with Desmond Beasley. It will be held in the dance studio D123 from 1:00 to 3:00pm. Desmond will be teaching contemporary dance for the first hour and hip-hop for the last hour. The class is FREE to anyone who wants to come! All levels of students are encouraged to join, so come take Desmond's class and bring a friend. Even if you have never taken hip-hop or contemporary it is always good to try new types of movement and have experience with a variety of styles. His bio is posted below and if you want to learn more about him, you can visit his website here. There are photos, videos and his schedule of where and when he teaches. The Kent Dance Association would appreciate it if you can join us FOR this event, so that we can further awareness of the dance division at Kent State University.

Desmond Beasley's technical dance history began in Fall 2005, when he first enrolled at the University of Akron where he majored in Dance and Business. Originally from Cleveland, Desmond began dancing is his middle school and high school show choir. Desmond won many awards at various show choir competitions in and out of Ohio, including outstanding performer, most dynamite performer, and best male soloist. In spring of 2007 at the University Desmond was awarded a dance scholarship from one of the dance faculty members. Desmond’s first self-choreographed piece "State of Circumstances" was chosen to be part of The University of Akron’s Dance Company Fall performances. The piece was modern/contemporary dance, and was about everyday emotions, and breaking points in life. Each fall semester faculty members choose a student's work which they feel will fit best in the faculty show. Akron News Now.com wrote, " Once intermission started, the crowd looked and found that it was a student who choreographed the dance. The audience was surprised that a student could create something so professional. "State of Circumstances" was perfect." While in college Desmond has performed with the University of Akron Dance Company and various students works. He is also a member of the Akron based hip-hop group ILL’U’SYN. This group performs all around the Akron, Canton, and Cleveland area but has also traveled to New York, Florida, and Nashville for various hip-hop competitions. ILL’U’SYN has been seen on BET’s 106 & Park, BET’s Spring Bling, and BET’s Blaze the Stage. Desmond specializes in Hip-Hop but also studies ballet, modern, tap, jazz, african dance, and jazz phunk. Desmond was given the title of Artistic Director at his studio in Canton, Ohio, "The Turning Pointe School of Dance." Just recently moved back from Las Vegas, Desmond now does some choreography for the University of Akron's Dance Team and also Marietta College Dance Team and teaches dance at various studios and cities across the state of Ohio.

--Amanda Black (BFA Dance Major/ KDA President)

Student Dance Festival

2010-11-01T18:21:00.000-07:00

Being a Dance Performance major at Kent State provides a great number of opportunities and privileges. I am currently a junior, and I am quite thrilled about this entire year. The biggest event for the junior class is the much-anticipated Student Dance Festival (SDF). This annual concert gives us the opportunity to choreograph a three- to five-minute piece which is performed in the spring by other dance students within the University. This year, we will be presenting our work with the BFA seniors in a combined concert: BFA/SDF 3.14~Infinity. With a big thanks to Roe Green, our concert will be held in the brand new EZ Black Box Theatre.

This past Wednesday, October 27th, our group of fourteen choreographers conducted our first audition to cast for SDF. We have all been anticipating this experience for a long time! Many talented dance students attended the audition, and we felt very lucky with how many were interested in being a part of the performance. After the audition concluded, we chose our casts of dancers in an organized and successful fashion. Each choreographer, including myself, was more than pleased with the results. I personally cannot wait until January 2011, when we are able to begin rehearsing. Words can neither express my thanks to everyone who is involved in this process, nor describe my excitement for what is to come next. I hope to see everyone at the performance this spring!

--Jordan Deckert (Junior Dance Performance Major)

Kent Dance Association's Hula Masterclass

2010-11-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, October 30th, the Kent Dance Association held a Hula Masterclass taught by Vicki Hartkopf. Vicki is the President/C.E.O. of Perrysburg Academy of the Performing Arts, Inc. I found this class to be very challenging but I enjoyed every minute of it. It was wonderful learning a new style of dance. The key to Hula, as Vicki told us, "Is to always keep the knees bent." This allows the dancer to have more mobility through the hips.

We learned a series of five different combinations. Each and every hula dance had a story line with hand gestures that mimicked the words. In Hula the hands tell the story. One of my favorite combinations was called "keep your eyes on the hands." This hula dance was rather humorous. The story was, whenever you're watching a hula girl dance, don't keep your eyes on her hips, just keep your eyes on her hands.

In hula there are names for every step. The main one is the Kaholo, which is: step together, then step together to the right and left with swaying of the hips. Another one is Ami, which is rotation of the hips from the right, to the back, to the left and back to the right or vis versa. The main hula movement is a Kaholo with one arm straight and the other bent. Both hands move like you are petting a very tiny kitten. The motion is very gentle and soft. If you are moving to the right, the right arm is straight and if moving to the left, the left arm is straight. The head always followed the hands in the direction you are moving.

This class was an amazing experience, and I don't know when the next time will be when I can take a hula class. Vicki made the class fun and very interesting to learn about. We had a great time and I would recommend taking new styles of dance to everyone because it gives you more variety and makes you a better dancer!

-- Amanda Black (BFA Dance Major/KDA President)

A Message from the Kent Dance Ensemble

2010-10-28T11:06:00.000-07:00

Every spring the Dance Division holds auditions for a new Kent Dance Ensemble. Majors or minors in the Dance Division have the opportunity to audition and become a part of this pre-professional dance company. As stated by the Artistic Director Kimberly Karpanty, "KDE produces dance concerts every year, performs at other universities and in neighboring communities, presents lecture/demonstrations at schools in northeastern Ohio, offers movement workshops for all ages and abilities and participates in regional and national dance festivals." This year the Ensemble has 13 incredible members. As Student Director of the Kent Dance Ensemble, I get the opportunity to work with guest choreographers but also to facilitate the success of my fellow Ensemble members.

We have many exciting events throughout the year. This year we have already provided a Lecture/Demonstration at Twinsburg High School. We will be traveling back to Twinsburg next week to teach a jazz and hip hop master class. If you are planning to attend the Roe Green Center Grand Opening you just might get a glimpse of the talented Kent Dance Ensemble. You have to look closely though because at first glance you might miss us :)

Keep checking back throughout the year for more Kent Dance Ensemble news. Below you will find a picture of us...sadly one of our dancers was not present in the picture. If you come to one of our events you can figure out which dancer is missing!!

See you soon!

-Katie Naso (Dance Major/KDE Student Director)

E-Inside Profile of Dr. Yuko Kurahashi

2010-10-06T07:45:00.000-07:00

This week's issue of E-Inside has a fabulous article about Dr. Yuko Kurahashi and her enhancement of the Art of Theatre curriculum through a Transformative Learning Grant. It's a great read; congratulations to Yuko!

--Bill Sallak (Asst. Prof./Dance Music Director/Moderator)

Student Perspectives: Emily Perrott

2010-10-05T18:03:00.000-07:00

[Moderator's Note: Student Perspectives posts are meant to open a window onto student experience in the Kent State University School of Theatre and Dance. Thanks to Dance Division Director Andrea Shearer for encouraging students in her Intro to Dance class to use the blog as a forum for their experiences. And of course, thanks to Emily for writing.]

I've only been here a little over a month, but I'm already beginning to learn so much about myself as a dancer. One of the most amazing things I've witnessed thus far is the growth of my Modern I class on Fridays during Improvisation. At first, we each seemed a little bit unsure about putting themselves out there in front of the class. As the weeks went by, the class began to feel more comfortable, dancing from their heart in front of their peers. It's been a wonderful experience watching our class grow and find ways to use each other to create our own individual movement. This class was a great way to begin my journey at Kent State and help all of us to come out of our shells in this new and sometimes scary environment.

Upcoming Production: Cloud 9

2010-10-01T10:01:00.001-07:00

Make sure you get your tickets for the upcoming performances of Cloud 9! The box office phone number is (330) 672-2497.

You can read Director Eric van Baars' thoughts on the production here.

Guest Artist Spotlight: Melanie George

2010-09-29T08:42:00.000-07:00

Last week the Dance Division welcomed back Guest Artist and former KSU Faculty member Melanie George for a Sept. 21-25 Choreography Residency. Now running the Dance Minor program at American University in Washington, D.C., Melanie taught a Modern and Jazz class and worked every night (and all day Saturday) creating a new jazz work on members of the Kent Dance Ensemble.

With Student Artistic Director/Rehearsal Director Katie Naso taking notes, the cast includes Amanda Black, Jessica Kraft, Sharon Kriz, LaRonica Southerland and Sabatino A. Verlezza. Images of smoke, Audrey Hepburn and Leslie Caron, Edie Sedgwick, the Velvet Underground and beat chicks all contributed to the development of the work, which will be performed April 1-3 as part of the Kent Dance Ensemble concert.

Melanie was thrilled with (and a little jealous of ) the spaciousness of the new Roe Green Center dance studios, the proximity of the dance offices and our location with Theatre and Music just down the hall! A Friday night dinner with Dance faculty members gave a chance for us to catch up with one another and compare ideas about where our dance departments are heading. There was lots of laughter and wishes to get together more often.

In return for Melanie’s work on our students, Associate Professor Kimberly Karpanty will be creating a work on Melanie’s students this coming spring for their dance concert.

I guess we should now consider the Dance Department at American University a “sister (and brother) school!” Certainly we send out our thanks to them and again to Melanie George for all it took to get away and work with the Kent State dancers.

Note to Melanie: See you in April!

--Andrea Shearer (Assoc. Prof./Dance Division Director)

AOT Students: Cloud Nine Study Guide

2010-09-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

Dr. Yuko Kurahashi asked that I post the study guide for Cloud Nine on the blog for AOT student access. You can download the study guide through this link:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/361541/Study%20GuideCloud%209%20final%20draft.docx

--Bill Sallak (Asst. Prof./Dance Music Director/Moderator)

Director’s Statement about the Kent State production of Cloud Nine: How far Have We Come?

2010-09-16T19:49:00.000-07:00

This summer, I enjoyed the film The Kids Are Alright, written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko. The main plot concerns two teenagers finding their biological father, who was a sperm donor. The kids have been raised by their mothers, a lesbian couple. I caught a bargain matinee and sat among the retirees and the thrifty folks who enjoy bargain matinees. In looking around me while the previews played, I contemplated just how a middle aged, fairly conservative movie audience would receive the film.

Here is what I discovered: The central relationship, that a lesbian couple raising two children, is just not shocking in 2010. During the sex scene between Annette Bening and Julianne Moore, not one of the senior citizens got up and left or even voiced shock. It has become rather commonplace to see same sex couples engaged in sexual acts in mainstream film, from Showgirls to Brokeback Mountain. Yet, I was intrigued by the comic relief aspect of a sex scene between two major stars and how graphic sex, specifically cunnilingus, was used for humorous effect. The message I took away from this was simple: Laughter = Acceptance.

That reminded me of Carol Burnett’s quote: comedy is tragedy plus time.

Experiencing this film caused me to reflect on Cloud Nine and specifically the relationships between Betty and Ellen in Act I and Lin and Victoria in Act II. If the play uses these two same-sex relationships to illustrate how far we had come in 1979, then shouldn’t we be a lot further along by 2010? Or is just making progress the goal?

Regarding sexual repression: how important is it to one’s psyche to be sexually liberated? How important is our gender, to our identity? How much control does society have over sexual expression/repression?

There are many themes in Cloud Nine. While I do not see it as being primarily a feminist play, I do enjoy the way gender role-play is both reinforced and slapped around for fun. I think the comedy of the play results from how Caryl Churchill blurs the lines of identity. The ambiguity of gender and the one-dimensionality of relationships is both entertaining and unsettling. I envision the design of the show highlighting that ambiguity.

It is a play about identity and the challenges of fulfilling the roles we are given in life, i.e., sexless mother, all-providing father, dutiful child, and faithful servant. The characters in Cloud Nine are identified by only one aspect. For instance Betty is regarded as a dutiful wife, so she is the dutiful wife. Why must we be just one thing to all parties?

I am intrigued with the layers of the relationships in Cloud Nine. There is a pervasive ambiguity that allows the world of the play to bend both time and the nature of relationships. Both Acts contain acts of violence and are overtly sexual. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang!

I respond to the duality of the characters, not only in how they transform from Act I to Act II, but in how they relate to other characters in their time. Sexual repression is also a big theme in Cloud Nine. I’d like to play with the visualization of sexual repression in the architecture of the characters.

Ultimately, Cloud Nine is a period piece and a reflection of how far we, as a society, have come since 1980. I am interested in how this play will be received in 2010. Hopefully we are creating a piece of entertainment that will inspire reflection and cause reaction.

--Eric van Baars (Assoc. Professor/Director, Cloud Nine)

Auditions for Dance '10: TranscenDANCE

2010-09-04T08:08:00.000-07:00

Auditions for the Faculty Dance Concert (Dance '10: TranscenDANCE) were held yesterday. It was particularly exciting because of the new dance studio, where the larger space allowed the dancers to truly stretch their "wings" and fly! It also gave the choreographers a little more aesthetic distance by which to gauge performance.

It is always a marvelous opportunity for the faculty to see the new Dance Majors and Minors (AND one of our post-secondary option students), in the audition situation and this group threw themselves into the experience with a determination and enthusiasm that was palpable. I can't wait to see where these talented dancers are four years from now!

But what struck me the most was the growth and development of the dancers from last year to this. I remember the disappointment of some of the dancers last year when they weren't chosen for this experience. The faculty would say he/she "wasn't quite ready." What a difference a year makes!

The progress in technique, maturity, artistry and even just audition skills in these same individuals gave me chills. Truly we all advance in our own time, but it is sometimes hurtful when we don't quite keep pace with our peers. Then to see this beautiful leap past some of those same peers (in certain areas)...well, the dance faculty teaches for moments like these.

I think all of the returning dancers participated in either last year's Faculty concert, joint BFA Senior Concert/Student Dance Festival, Kent Dance Ensemble or "Oklahoma" last year and those experiences were obvious last night. Performing inspires and feeds the dancer's soul, fueling the desire to improve in the classroom throughout the rest of the year. The auditions are like a report card, marking progress.

Of course, we simply could not cast every dancer who auditioned simply because of rehearsal time conflicts. That's always frustrating to the faculty, but we have to cope with that just as the dancers do. Thankfully, at Kent State, there will be ample opportunities for them to perform this year.

The dancers truly inspired us and I look forward to the journey to December 3!

--Andrea Shearer (Assoc. Prof/Dance Division Director)

Edinburgh Fringe Festival Post #5

2010-08-29T15:55:00.000-07:00

My father continually asks me, “Stevie, if anyone would have told you in ninth grade what you would be doing right now, would you have believed them?” My response is always, “...Heheh.” Today, I asked myself that question: Would I have believed them? The answer today was a resounding “NO!” which I shouted from about 250 ft. up on the top of a mountain we hiked today overlooking all of Edinburgh. From there I could see the coast, Edinburgh Castle, and the much larger mountains behind me, making me feel simultaneously small and huge. I got the chance to think, atop the mountain, about what got me here and about the people who helped me do it. Sometimes, in the course of duty in the states, when I’m climbing 20 ft. in the air to fix some widget that absolutely must work for the show to go up, I think about the same question in my head. How did I end up here? I don’t think I want to tell you about it though, because I think I’d rather you thought about it yourself. Not about my experiences, of course, but about your own. I don’t want to turn this into some sort of self-help cathartic blog like PostSecret.com or anything, but here is an opportunity for self-reflection. What got you here? Are you happy here? What can you do to get yourself where you want to be? I know that had I not attended school, this opportunity would never have presented itself and I would not have been qualified to take it. I also know that if I want to achieve more in this career, I need to pursue more opportunities. This one has opened my eyes to a lot of possibilities and new experiences, and I am left wondering what new experiences I will find with opportunities in the future.

It’s difficult to believe we’ve only two more performances left! My apologies for not posting more frequently, but frankly I’ve been too tired! I mentioned that the Fringe is no cakewalk and I was not kidding! With over 2,000 individual theatre companies, some bringing more than one show, the audiences here are not in want of more choice. This makes things very difficult when you consider that we are only a four person team with one show. The advertising is never ending! Every day we walk the streets, handing out postcards to people we think might want to come to see our show. Occasionally, I instead install huge numbers of posters in the windows of friendly shop owners. Then, when a review comes out, I revisit every site like a squirrel revisiting it’s acorn cache, and post strips of paper over all of our posters with selections from the review and the number of stars that we received from them. I’ve worked out the numbers recently, and it looks like I’ve been walking approximately 6 miles every day!

Of course, the entire process would have been much easier in the beginning had I had my tools and office supplies available to me. I did not, however, for the first three days as both of my bags were lost somewhere in Amsterdam! So, unfortunately, we opened the show without the essential supplies that I had packed to rig a projection screen in the theatre, and we did what all theatre people seem to have taken coursework in: we improvised. Our wrinkled screen was ironed in the middle of our apartment and took up more floor space than we actually had! A broom handle briefly became a stiffening rod! Finally, three days later, I was reunited with my bags (containing all of my clothes)! And now I’m very tired. Although it is 9:00 PM in Ohio, it is 2:00 AM here. Until next time, Annyounghasseyo!

Edinburgh Fringe Festival Post #4

2010-08-12T17:57:00.000-07:00

Today, my Korean friend Jungi (pronounced, “Choon ghee”, by the way) told me, “Steve, you are a...now Korean!” I had just tasted the spiciest soup that I have ever tasted and in response I said, “...” “...” “...” “Cough!”. But what I meant was, “That means a lot.” They had found the most authentic Korean restaurant this side of France, and it only served takeout. The owner, however, being as nice as I’ve found all Koreans to be, had set up a special table for us inside of the small bathroom-sized establishment. There, he prepared a special meal for us on a hot plate in the middle of the fold-up table. We cut pork into small bite-sized pieces and seared them on the hot plate. Then, we dipped the pork into a sesame sauce and placed it into a large leaf of lettuce taken directly from one of the two heads on the table. We then put various condiments - bean sprouts, pickled radish, and bean paste - on top of the pork and folded the lettuce over all of it like a sandwich. Rinse, repeat, amazing. Why don’t Americans do this? I also learned that if you plan to “clink” your glasses together with a Korean friend, you first need to determine your friend’s age, as it is disrespectful to allow your glass to “clink” above theirs if they are older than you are. I’m learning all sorts of manners and words!

But when I left you, I was talking about hand signals and the fact that they totally worked...for the most part. I hold up my hand and put up either one, two, or three fingers. One finger means projections, two fingers means sound, and three fingers means both together. Then when I extend my arm, they push their respective buttons. Of course, I’ve never called a show this way, so it was a bit of a learning process for myself as well as my crew, and professor Jakyung Seo was instrumental in her role as translator while I explained and rehearsed the system. But we quickly realized that we needed a system in case there was a problem. What happens if they miss a cue? What happens if the actor jumps a line? And out of necessity, the emergency post-it system was born. If an operator believes there is a problem, they raise their hand. I then write on a post-it the number of the cue that I wish to be taken next and hand it to them. Then, the next time that I put my hand down, they execute that cue. Whew! And if I believe there is a problem, I just hand them a post-it with the number of the cue that I want to go next. Thank heavens both of my operators can quickly read numbers in English! The Korean language does not write the same numerals as we do. They have their own entirely unique numerical characters. They are “dok dok ke”, very smart.

The whole process would have been much easier, however, if I didn’t have to cope with having to locate my lost baggage containing all of my tools and supplies while simultaneously trying run and prepare for the tech and dress rehearsals! But that is a story for another time. Until next time, goodbye! Annyounghasseyo!

Very exciting!

2010-08-09T11:59:00.000-07:00

Mark your calendar for November 6, 2010 and celebrate the opening of the Roe Green Center for the School of Theatre and Dance!

Edinburgh Fringe Festival Post #3

2010-08-09T11:53:00.000-07:00

These things have something in common: Korean food is extremely spicy, luggage insurance is a good idea, and the Fringe Festival is no cakewalk. Give up? I’ve learned all of these things in...drumroll please...Hello from Scotland! I arrived on the 1st of August actually, but I’ve been so busy that this is the first time that I’ve been able to sit down and write. Even now it is 1AM Scotland time! So, my plan is to split up my experiences from my first few days into a multi-part blog that I will end with a cliffhanger, because I can.

Indeed we have all been very busy, all 7 of us. I joined an already-existing team of South Korean theatre students and teachers, along with Kent State’s own lighting design professor, Jakyung Seo and we have all been living in a flat in Edinburgh about a mile from the theatre that we rehearse and perform in. The day after I arrived - without my bags containing all of my tools and supplies, I might add - we went to the venue, called C Soco, to complete our tech rehearsal. A tech rehearsal, traditionally, is a rehearsal during which we add things like lights, sound, and projections to an already rehearsed show. Usually, theaters will take at least three days to complete this process. We were given four hours...yeah.

Some of the many responsibilities of a stage manager include organizing and conducting these rehearsals as efficiently as possible, and “calling” the show. Calling refers to the responsibility of the stage manager to instruct the various operators of the show - lights, sound, projections, scenery, lasers, pyrotechnics, pneumatic squirrel cannons, etc. - on what to do and when to do it during the show, usually via a headset system. I do not have the benefit of a headset system as our technical booth is open to the audience, and they would hear me talking. Not that it matters, because I do not speak Korean! Instead, I developed a hand signal system. Which totally worked...for the most part...

Also, I told you that I would set up a special email address that you can use to send me feedback, suggestions, or just to comment on a post. You can reach me at steveatthefringe@gmail.com. Until next time, so long from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival!

A Message from Dance Division Director Andrea Shearer

2010-08-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

Hello students!

With the beginning of August, we are only weeks away from the start of the 2010-11 school year. The date brings on a sense of urgency for faculty and staff as we scramble to prepare for your arrival on campus.

The Dance Division’s move to the new office and studio spaces in Music and Speech is complete, more or less. We are deeply grateful to Ms. Roe Green whose financial support made this move possible and whose love of Theatre and Dance continues to sustain and inspire us.

The studio space is huge, the sprung floors are more resilient than those we have had in the past and the whole place has a feeling of power and energy. Details such as sound systems, projection screens and projectors, a piano and bulletin boards still aren’t quite there yet, but for the most part, we are ready for YOU! DO remember to come to Music and Speech for your classes!

Just one reminder about the Dance Majors/Minors Meeting on Wednesday, September 1 at 6:15 PM in MSP 303. PLEASE NOTE: That is MSP 303, and not the Faculty lounge in the Annex! As usual, there will be pizza and beverages prior to the meeting.

Also, please pencil in Sept. 2 when Dance Majors and Minors are requested to meet in the Black Box Theatre at 6:30 PM. More info on that at our Sept. 1 meeting.

And, while you are at it, reserve Friday, Sept. 3 from 4:15-6:15 for Dance 2010: TranscenDANCE auditions. (Let your parents know you won’t be home for the long Labor Day weekend until a little later!)

This is a unique and special time for Theatre and Dance at KSU; I am so looking forward to sharing this momentous year with all of you.

See you real soon!

—Andrea Shearer (Associate Professor/Dance Division Director)

Edinburgh Fringe Festival Post #2

2010-08-02T08:41:00.000-07:00

Hello from Amsterdam! After a six hour flight from New York, I have arrived in Amsterdam and am waiting to board my final flight to Scotland. I am already having an excellent time! Let me tell you, KLM international flights are top notch...apparently. And of course, they are even better when you sit in an exit row. I could have swung a cat over my head in my seat and not hit anyone, had I remembered to bring my cat. And the airport! Oh, man the airport! Coolest airport I’ve ever seen! I’ll upload some pictures if I can figure it out. It’s like a Mall Of America in here! I’ve just returned from eating my honest-to-goodness Dutch Haagen-Daas, while viewing paintings from famous Dutch Masters in the airport art gallery. There’s a library here, where you can choose to read either via iPad or a real paper and glue book in plush 1970s style spherical lounge chairs hanging from the ceiling. Or perhaps you’d like to lounge around or sleep in front of a fire in a nice leather gentleman’s armchair, of which there are several. Or you can get an aqua-massage, where you lay inside of a plastic tarp and they pelt your back with high pressure water. Or...I was thinking on the plane about how bored I would be during my four hour layover, but now we’re forty minutes from scheduled boarding, and I have yet to begin the work I should be doing!

I’m amazed how much English there is here as well. In fact, my friend from the plane informed me that Holland requires that all official signs be in English. How spoiled we are! Almost everyone here speaks English and the few that do not are standing next to someone that does.

But alas, I have work to do. I need to make sure that the script that I will use to instruct the crew every night on what to do and when during the show - called a production book - is up to snuff. After it’s completed and I’ve spoken with the designers and the director, I’ll take a picture of that too. So long from Amsterdam, next stop Scotland!

Edinburgh Fringe Festival Post #1

2010-08-02T08:31:00.000-07:00

(Moderator's Note: Steve Meshenberg is a KSU Theatre student who is working with Professor Jakyung Seo and the FACE Theatre Company at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Steve's agreed to write some blog posts about his experiences there-- we all can't wait to hear how it goes. Congratulations to Steve!)

Hello from the Cleveland Airport! I am sitting in the terminal, waiting to board the first of three planes scheduled to take me from Cleveland, Ohio to New York, then to Amsterdam, then finally to Edinburgh, Scotland some twenty three hours later. When I arrive in Scotland, I will take a black cab to an apartment in the center of the city, where I will live for one month. After finally arriving at my apartment, I will sit down with three theatrical designers and a director/actor and will systematically work through each page of the hour-long play which I will stage manage at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for one month!

The catch(es): my crew of two, who will be doing the work of three, do not speak English as their first language. They, like the rest of the entire theatrical company - which will be one of over two thousand performing at the festival this month - are from South Korea. We will have one day to prepare, one day to rehearse, and we will open the next night! I have never seen the show and I do not speak Korean.

What I do have are experience and training, and I owe these to my experiences and professors in the Theatre Department at Kent State University. My name is Steve Meshenberg, I am an undergraduate senior theatre major at Kent State University, I am the Stage Manager for FACE, performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival during the month of August, I will be blogging about my experiences in working as a technician with an international crew in a foreign country, and I am so ready!

You can check back here for updates on my experiences. I’m not sure how often I will have internet access while I am away, but I will update as frequently as I can! Soon, I will post a special email address, where you can talk back, give suggestions and feedback, or ask questions about my experiences. I’m excited to undertake this experience, and I’m excited to share it with you. As our professor Terri Kent famously says, “Theatre is a communal art form, and our work is not complete until we share it with an audience.”

Theatre Alumna Publishes Book

2010-02-17T11:44:00.000-08:00

Dr. Rose Bank in the Theatre Division just let me know about a recently published book written by Alma Bennett, one of our theatre alums. The book is entitled American Women Theatre Critics: Biographies and Selected Writings of Twelve Reviewers, 1753-1919.

Dr. Bennett received her PhD from Kent State, and taught for quite some time at Alderson-Broaddus College in West Virginia. The book is published by McFarland and will be available in the spring/summer of 2010. The publisher's webpage for the book is here, and you can also pre-order it from Amazon.

Congratulations to Dr. Bennett!

-Bill Sallak (Asst. Prof./Dance Music Director/Moderator)

Music For Dancers: Body Percussion

2010-02-15T09:48:00.000-08:00

This semester I'm teaching a Special Topics course on Music For Dancers. We recently concluded a composition project where four groups of students compose short works for body percussion. Each group brought their skill and creativity to bear on the problem, and created a piece that demonstrated a knowledge of rhythmic theory and a kinesthetic awareness of themselves and their ensemble partners. Here are videos of the final project performances:

Body Percussion 1 from Bill Sallak on Vimeo.

Body Percussion 2 from Bill Sallak on Vimeo.

Body Percussion 3 from Bill Sallak on Vimeo.

Body Percussion 4 from Bill Sallak on Vimeo.

--Bill Sallak (Asst. Prof./Dance Music Director/Moderator)

More great news from T&D alumni!

2010-02-11T08:12:00.001-08:00

(Moderator's Note: Mary Vaccani graduated from the School of Theatre and Dance with BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography in 2006.)

All,

Hello! I wanted to give everyone back in Kent an update. I was just hired at Lebo's Dancewear working in sales and marketing. It's a full time position with a lot of potential growth. I'm very excited about this position because aside from the desk job portion, it will allow me to travel to dance conventions (and possibly take classes and make connections), help during photo shoots with proper placement/technique of the models, and have a small say in costume designs. The best part is working in a field that is connected to dance.

I also have been dancing for Split Second Sound DJ Company. We do high end corporate events and weddings. We are gearing up for our "Sinatra" gig. We are doing 4 jazz dances for a several corporate events next weekend. Then in April we will be traveling to Richmond, Virginia to perform.

I'm still teaching here in Charlotte. I choreographed my dream dance. It's called "Poison Ivy." We had a costume designer come in and create the exact image I had in my head. The "dance dads" down here built a large cage-like pyramid for the dancers to crawl in, out, and around. The whole experience has been a lot of fun.

I hope everyone at KSU is doing well. I want to thank all the Theatre and Dance faculty at KSU. From "Intro to Dance" to the internship at Porthouse Theatre, and EVERYTHING in the middle, I've been given the tools to start a new and exciting career path on this journey of life. Thank you again!

Mary Vaccani

--Bill Sallak (Asst. Prof./Dance Music Director/Moderator)

Exciting News from Alumna Kate Leishman

2010-02-04T08:24:00.000-08:00

(Moderator's Note: This was sent to us from KSU alumna Kate Leishman. Kate graduated in 2005 with a degree in Dance Performance.)

I just wanted to share a piece of exciting news with all of you. I will officially be joining the faculty of Kalamazoo College this spring! I will be teaching a jazz dance class through the P.E. Department. We do not have a dance program here at the College, and the only dance classes currently offered (both through P.E.) are ballet and ballroom dance. So, I proposed a class and it has been accepted.

I was also asked to advise our dance student organization, Frelon, this year. Frelon offers dance "workshops" which are like master classes throughout the year and produces a large dance concert each spring. I am choreographing a piece for their show that is scheduled for April.

It is really exciting for me to continue to work in Student Affairs/Student Activities, but still have an impact on the students through dance. Thank you for all you instilled in me in my four years at Kent. I am excited to carry on that legacy.

Kate Elizabeth Leishman
Assistant Director of Student Activities
Kalamazoo College

Director's Notes

2009-11-05T09:13:00.000-08:00

Happenings and celebrations in the School of Theatre and Dance!

Our production of Rent re-opens tonight and tickets are going fast! Call 330-672-2497. The cast and designers have done an outstanding job and the show is a “must see.”

Dance Performance and Dance Education BFA auditions for students entering fall semester, 2010 will be Saturday, November 14. See our website at www.theatre.kent.edu for information.

Musical Theatre BFA Auditions are Friday and Saturday, November 13-14. Download an application packet from our website.

The rest of the semester is packed with projects and student productions that include Six Characters in Search of an Author November 19-22, directed by Katherine Burke, presentations by students from Playwriting courses and student a production of Assassins.

One of our alums, Kaitlyn Black, starred in a recent episode of “Cold Case” on television. Great job, Kaitlyn!

--Cindy Stillings (Director, School of Theatre and Dance)

Blogs vs. Advertising

2009-10-05T08:08:00.000-07:00

Everyone should check out this excellent piece over at Greg Sandow's blog on artsjournal.com. (For those of you who don't know who Greg is, he's a music critic, composer, teacher, and and audience relations consultant for several classical music organizations.) Most of what he says about music can be directly applied to our efforts in the School of Theatre and Dance, but there are a couple passages that particularly struck me.

Regarding the use of student blogs as recruiting tools for universities:

"[H]igh school students trust these blogs. They want to know what various colleges are really like. That's how they decide where they want to go. And who better to tell them, than students already there?

Some schools resist this, though. They want to control their message. They want prospective students to have the school's own official view of itself. This, the piece seems to say, is a losing strategy. The students see through the official message, and want something more authentic, something that feels more like the truth.

(snip)

"[Y]ou can't use new technologies -- or at least not use them to their full potential -- without embracing the new culture. If you're on Twitter, you can't (as I've said before) just send out tiny press releases, as so many classical music organizations do. Your tweets can't be anonymous. And it's not enough to give them a tiny bit of ersatz sparkle, by saying things ("Hey, today is Mahler's birthday!") that you've manufactured because you think they might be fetching, even though you yourself don't even care about them much. Your tweets need to come from an actual person, and say things that this person cares about.

Students entering college today have spent their entire lives immersed in sophisticated advertising, and can distinguish advertising from other forms of communication very quickly. Blogs (like this one) can provide a window into the School of T&D experience that advertising cannot. Not to say that our advertising is somehow less honest, but it is a fundamentally different form of communication than what can be done here.

--Bill Sallak (Asst. Prof./Dance Music Director/Moderator)

Excellent Motivational Video from Katherine Burke

2009-09-26T06:10:00.001-07:00

Theatre instructor Katherine Burke posted a link to this video on Facebook; it deserves to be shared in as wide a forum as possible. It's short but powerful. Enjoy!

--Bill Sallak (Asst. Prof./Dance Music Director/Moderator)

Presentations and Powerpoint

2009-09-24T06:31:00.000-07:00

Students in the Modern I dance class are preparing class presentations on important figures in early modern dance. As part of their presentation, they are required to prepare a Powerpoint presentation. We've all seen good Powerpoint presentations, and we've all seen bad ones, and the experience of sitting through a bad one should be enough motivation to prepare a good one-- unless inflicting that sort of punishment is part of your goal.

There is one overarching guideline that appears almost anywhere someone offers advice about using Powerpoint, and you've probably all seen it before:

DON'T READ YOUR SLIDES.

If you're reading your slides during the presentation, your attention is away from where it needs to be: your audience. Not only will your audience notice right away that you're not looking at them, but you'll also look like someone who can't give the presentation without consulting giant wall-sized projected cue cards, i.e., like someone who doesn't know what they're talking about.

The problem with this one guideline is that it doesn't give you ideas for what you should do; it only gives you one more thing to not do. What are some affirmative corollaries that will actually give you ways to help prepare for the presentation?

1) There's no substitute for knowing what you're talking about.

You don't have to be the world's foremost expert on whatever-it-is. You do have to be able to get your big ideas across and make your salient points without looking over your shoulder.
You also don't have to memorize everything, but if you need notecards, keep them small and simple, and hold on to them. Your slides are not for you, they're for your audience.

2) Create a final summary slide: a bullet list of your main concepts.

Boiling your presentation down to a list of bullet points will make you clarify your ideas, and clarity is as important here as content. A great way to practice your presentation is to make your final summary slide, and rehearse your presentation using only that slide. Do that a couple of times, and pretty soon the main idea will trigger all of the little sub-ideas buried in it, and you can talk to your audience instead of over your shoulder.

3) Watch your slide presentation without talking.

If all of your content is contained in your slides, then either each slide has too many words or you have too many slides. By themselves, your slides should be woefully inadequate for the presentation, which is good-- you're going to fill in the gaps by speaking. This leads to...

3a) If a lot of people ask you for your slides, that means they contain too much information.

A lot of this comes from an excellent blog post over at Rands In Repose, which is one of my favorite blogs. The author is a software engineer, so while he's not involved in the arts per se, he gives (and sees) enough Powerpoints to have very clear ideas about what makes them effective or not. My favorite suggestion of his is to Invoke A Disaster. It's worth checking out.

--Bill Sallak (Asst. Prof./Dance Music Director/Moderator)

Tony-Winning Alum Returns for Visit

2009-09-14T12:55:00.000-07:00

John Moauro, a 2007 Graduate of KSU School of Theatre & Dance, who has been performing with the Broadway production of HAIR will be here September 21 from 12:30 pm to 2:10 pm in Room D205. This will be a question and answer session.

Anyone is welcome to attend.

The Broadway production of Hair won the Best Revival Award, and our own John Moauro was part of the cast.

Please join us if you can.

Recent CD Releases

2009-09-07T15:05:00.000-07:00

From the Department of Self-Promotion:

A CD release is a special event, representing the culmination of lots of work from many people. It's also a moment with some gravity-- you're sending a piece of your work out into a world that may be appreciative, critical, or indifferent in turn. I got to experience it twice recently...

The first album is from a trio I was part of back in Phoenix. The group is called Easy Worship Operator, and the album is called what looks like air. We're an electroacoustic free improvisation group-- we each play an assortment of acoustic instruments, but they're all fed into a computer that gently shapes (or mangles) the sounds into something else entirely. We played lots of small gallery venues and festivals throughout Arizona, but when I joined the KSU faculty in October 2008, we weren't sure how (or even if) we could make the group continue. Happily, we recorded the album this past May, and I spent a good deal of the summer mixing it and getting it ready for release. You can stream the whole thing (for free!) and download it at easyworshipoperator.bandcamp.com. That page also has a link to purchase the album on CD from our Kunaki site. (Anyone interested in great ways to release music on the Internet without tangling with record labels would be well-served to check out bandcamp.com and Kunaki.com.) The tracks are all improvised with no overdubs, and range from gently ambient to pretty violent. Any dance students looking for music for choreography might want to check it out...hint hint...

The second album is the New World Records release of the complete Links Series of Vibraphone Essays by Stuart Smith. Stuart has been teaching for several decades at the University of Maryland at Baltimore County, and is a leading American experimental composer. There are 11 Links; I recorded Links No. 3 last January in Baltimore. Working with Stuart was amazing, and his wife and publisher Sylvia is equally dedicated and talented. The 2-CD set was released last Tuesday; my copy should be arriving any day now, and I can't wait to hear it. The collection of other performers on the disc is impressive (I'm especially chuffed to be right next to Steven Schick, who recorded Links No. 4), and every element of production, from what I can see at this point, is top-notch. You can find out more about the album (and read Steven Schick's excellent liner notes) here.

I'm writing this from Phoenix, AZ; in two days, my doctoral foreign language test at ASU will be finished, and I'll be heading back to Kent. See you all soon!

--Bill Sallak (Assistant Professor/Dance Music Director/Moderator)

Kent Dance Ensemble: Prospect & Refuge

2009-09-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

This morning I had my first rehearsal with the Kent Dance Ensemble. We are working on a piece called Prospect & Refuge: Stray. Ultimately, it is an evening-length, modular, site-specific dancework for film and stage. I began the project in the spring with Verb Ballets as part of a works-in-progress performance the Cleveland-based company commissioned from nine local choreographers. At the request of KDE Artistic Director Kim Karpanty, I am continuing to expand on the work with the ensemble. My professional company, Antaeus Dance, will premiere the dancework in the spring on 2010. Select modules will be presented between now and then, including Stray which will be completed and performed first by KDE.

Rehearsal went well and I was pleased with how much ground we covered this morning. There are twelve dancers total. This is a larger group than I normally work with and comprises an even number of performers. I do not care for even numbers. I like odd numbers because they are imbalanced, usually leave one person out, and lend themselves to further asymmetry. When we left this morning I had four tidy groups of three. I will have to fix that. But, I digress...

The dancers were willing to try anything and we spent the morning working out the opening sequence, some basic lifts, and the set up for the next section. They are a jovial group, though not at the cost of focus, and asked lots of questions, forcing me to be clear about the work. I spoke to them at the beginning about my interest in the HOW of the dance versus the WHY. I anticipate that one will illuminate the other in the course of our work together.

KDE will present Prospect & Refuge: Stray, a module of formally staged choreography, April 9-11, 2010 in E. Turner Stump Theatre as part of the company's annual concert. Unfortunately, I cannot take the dancers on location to explore site-specific material with Antaeus Dance; but they will leave an indelible mark on the work with Stray. For more information about the piece at large, please visit my blog at AntaeusDance.blogspot.com.

Prospect & Refuge: Come see what's inside with KDE
Photo by Joan Meggitt

Check back here from regular updates on the work!

--Joan Meggitt (Visiting Assistant Professor, Dance Division)

USHERING FOR THE SCHOOL OF THEATRE AND DANCE IS A GREAT WAY TO GET INVOLVED AND TO SEE THE SHOWS FOR FREE!

2009-09-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

The sign-up sheet to usher is on office door (B149) in the main theatre office, in the Music and Speech Center, in a clear sheet protector. The list is for all shows this semester. Please come and sign-up to usher! The list is on the front of the door and accessible to all during normal business hours, Mon. to Fri. 9am to 5pm. Ushers must arrive 45 minutes before curtain go time, and stay for the entire performance and help clean up afterwards. We would like ushers to dress in a white top and black slacks or skirt. All clothing should look professional. Jeans, sweat pants, cut offs, bandanas, and baseball caps are not permitted.

If you have any questions please contact Rebecca Balogh Gates, Managing Director at 330-672-0103 or rbalogh1@kent.edu.

(A note from the moderator: I'm not sure how it functions for theatre students, but dance students can earn up to 4 production hours/semester by working as an usher. Sounds like a good deal!)

--Rebecca Balogh Gates (Managing Director, School of Theatre and Dance)

Proposed Policy for Comments

2009-09-03T20:56:00.000-07:00

Greetings-- it's great to see that there are already people posting! I haven't had a chance to check out Steve's link, but it's my to-do list for tomorrow.

One thing we never covered (neither at faculty meetings nor either of the student meetings) is a policy for comments on the blog. On the one hand, this is the Internet, where unexpected feedback from all corners of the globe can easily reach us, and give us all sorts of valuable information. On the other hand, this is the Internet, where there's really no way to stop someone from lying about their identity and saying wildly inappropriate things.

Blogger has several different comment settings; there are only two that apply to our situation:
1) Anyone can comment, or
2) Comments can only come from registered Blogger users, who must log in with a valid @gmail.com address.

Making someone sign up for an email account just to leave comments seems like a silly and unnecessary hurdle. As a starting point for the policy, I propose this:
1) Anyone can submit a comment.
2) All comments will be moderated, i.e., approved by the moderator (me) before appearing on the blog.
3) Comments that are malicious or inappropriate will not be posted.
4) Commenters who feel that their comment was unfairly not-posted can contact the moderator by email (wsallak@kent.edu) and make their case.
5) In the event that Step 4 fails to provide a satisfactory outcome, the comments in question will be referred to School Director Cindy Stillings, who may then make a determination in conjunction with the moderator and any faculty members she feels could meaningfully contribute to the decision-making process.

I don't anticipate this becoming a major problem (inappropriate comments are usually really easy to identify), but it's better to have the policy in place, discuss it, and adjust it to meet everyone's needs, rather than be caught confronting a difficult choice flat-footed.

Students and faculty: please feel free to write me with your thoughts about this policy, or begin a public discussion of the policy in the...ta da!...comments section. Cheers--

--Bill Sallak (Assistant Professor/Dance Music Director/Moderator)

A Bit of Theatre Tech History

2009-09-03T20:52:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I'm honored to be the first student poster here! I found this link to a couple of YouTube videos detailing what must be the first machine designed for computer aided drafting. We all know theatre history is important, but I think tech history is important too!

http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/09/03/sketchpad-the-worlds-first-electronic-drafting-program/

---Steve Meshenberg

My First

2009-09-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

The School of Theatre and Dance Theatre Majors/ Minors meeting had record capacity today. In all my eight years here, I cannot remember a time when there were more students packed in Wright-Curtis for the fall season “kick-off.” Alright, so half of them were grad students…the more the merrier! Add a powerpoint presentation and a Blog plug and it became a multimedia event! Well, a high bar has indeed been set.

OK- here’s a piece of information that I wanted to get out to the masses but I was not sure how. Since old EvB has never (no honestly) never blogged, I dip my toes into the lake of media with this trifle.

Recruitment and retention are big buzzwords used around many universities these days, KSU included. As a lover of Facebook, I want all Theatre and Dance students to know that I have started my own retention strategy. I, EvB, will not be Facebook friends with a student until s/he has become a sophomore or at least been here for a year. Harsh you might say. Darn right, theatre is a tough business, but I’m not willing to accept (or ignore) your little green plants, join your causes, or see which famous 18th century painter you most resemble until you have made a commitment to stay here in the School of Theatre and Dance.

So sorry all you incoming fresh-people. But keep those grades up and ask me again next fall. I promise not to ignore your
request. We will be friends for life.

--Eric van Baars (Associate Professor)

FREE DANCE CONCERT!

2009-09-03T12:57:00.000-07:00

Get a flier from Joan or Kim for a chance to win free tickets to future Playhouse Square events! Check out the following link: http://www.playhousesquare.com and click on “Upcoming Events for this month”/”Dance Showcase”.

--Kim Karpanty (Associate Professor)

From School Director Cindy Stillings

2009-09-01T05:57:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the School of Theatre and Dance. We hope that you will use this new Blog of communication to keep up-to-date on all the happenings of the School. It will be an exciting year with new construction and renovation. We are also making plans for the new Black Box Theatre in the School and welcome ideas.

Seize every opportunity to participate this year! Audition, join a student organization, volunteer to serve on a school committee, help out in the shops.

There are two school meetings that are very important for you to attend this week:
For dance majors, minors and musical theatre students in professional level dance courses, please attend a meeting on Wednesday, September 2 at 6:15pm in Room 272 Annex.
For theatre majors and minors, please attend a meeting on Thursday, September 3 at 5:30pm in Wright-Curtis Theatre.

See you there!

--Cindy Stillings (Director of the School of Theatre and Dance)

Congratulations!

2009-08-30T12:31:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to all of the dancers who auditioned for the program yesterday, Aug. 30. The Dance Faculty was impressed by everyone’s hard work, dedication and enthusiasm. Special congratulations to all Dance Minors and Studio dancers who have been accepted into the Dance Major Program: Jordan Deckert, Jessica Dickey, Edward “Ebby” Howarth, Jessica Mego, LaRonica Southerland, Samantha Salters and Imani Thomas.

Kudos to Studio dancers will be joining the professional level as Dance Minors: Rabab Al-Sharife, LaDonna Curry, Grace Bennett, and J.P. Makowski.

--Andrea Shearer (Dance Division Director)