Thursday marks the beginning of the 2009 Senior Project Dance Concert, which will be held at the Grace Street Theater through Saturday.
“7 Stages,” presented by the department of dance and choreography, represents individual points of view that contend with different stages of life. Mourning, family comfort, spirituality and dreams are but a few of the topics the department seniors explored through choreography.
Lea Marshall, who teaches the senior project class with Judith Steel, said the dance numbers vary in range and topics, making for a unique experience.
“What’s always nice to see is how individual each of the works end up being,” Marshall said. “They really do reflect the characters of the choreographers who are making them.”
Marshall said the students organized the concert. They brainstormed how to market it, picked dancers, and came up with their own personal choreography and themes.
Dance and choreography major Megan Thompson said she explored the grieving process of losing a family member in “Commit to Memory,” which shows that one should not forget that the person they lost is there in spirit, even though they might be physically gone.
Thompson said she based her piece on the experience of losing her mother to cancer. She has characters in her choreographed piece representing her family members.
Thompson incorporated contrasting strong and soft movements to express the characters’ emotions.
Thompson said she carefully selected dancers she trusted to be vulnerable on stage and capable of recreating themselves through the choreography.
“I wanted technically trained dancers-great alignment, nice extensions and long legs,” Thompson said.
Ryan Drosche, a dance and choreography major, incorporated a mix of Irish and modern dance into his piece, “Celtic
Confusion.”
Before his freshman year at VCU, Drosche was a competitive Irish dancer. When he arrived at the university, he was told to try and fuse Irish dancing with modern dance-a concept that fueled his senior dance project.
Drosche was also able to incorporate new elements, including lighting and putting his choreography on stage for the first time.
“It’s very exciting,” Drosche said. “I have a big smile on my face the entire time I watch my dance.”
“7 Stages,” will show this Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 for the general public, $5 for students with a valid VCU I.D. They can be reserved by calling the Grace Street Theater box office at 828-2020. The Grace Street Theater is located at 934 W. Grace St.