Student Dance Festival Rehearsals

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)