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)

A Letter To The Stage

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

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

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

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)

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

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)