KDE at Performing Arts Center Grand Opening

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)