‘Fulfill your vision’: Dance, choreography students premiere capstone

Emily McCauley, Spectrum Editor

VCUarts Dance presents the VCU Dance and Choreography senior capstone project “INTER9” part one on Friday, Nov. 15 and Saturday, Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Grace Street Theater and part two on Nov. 23 at 5 p.m. and at 7:30 p.m. at VCU’s Dance Center, according to the VCUarts website.

 Kailah Doles, Mars Dunston, Armony Santos, Emma Wynkoop, Eliza Seaton, Olivia Gwinner and Imani Abbey will present their choreographed pieces in part one and Amaya Weston and Chynia Harris will present theirs during part two, according to the VCUarts website. 

Each student has their own titled piece performed by a group of dancers they chose from auditions, according to Autumn Proctor Waddell, an advisor for the project and assistant professor of dance and choreography at VCU.

All of the dancers are uniquely individualized and have their own special voice, Waddell said. She is excited to watch their pieces come to life after all of their hard work.

The process started with the students submitting a written proposal, getting approval and then working on their project throughout the semester, Waddell said. The students have to pass the project in order to graduate. 

“The students’ processes have really been well organized and put together, so it has been a really fun endeavor to work with them collaboratively,” Waddell said. 

All nine of the dances are individually created and choreographed by the Class of 2025 cohort made up of nine different students — hence the name “INTER9,” according to Chynia Harris, fourth-year dance and choreography student.

The choreographers of “INTER9” started auditions at the end of August with local dancers and other VCU dance students. They chose their own group to fit their vision and “vibe,” according to Harris. 

“You have to see who is dancing in a dynamic way to fulfill your vision,” Harris said. “I guess for me I look for people who looked confident in what they were doing — who have confidence within themselves.” 

Harris’ dances are focused on hip-hop music, she said. It is something she grew up on since listening to Jay-Z in her dad’s blue Honda Civic. 

In her dances, Harris uses Kendrick Lamar’s discography to emphasize how she has used hip-hop to process grief while utilizing dialogue from her cast to support their involvement, she said.

“VCU Dance gave me what it was supposed to give, and I am glad I chose here,” Harris said. “I just feel very content and excited for what the future can bring.”

The nine dancers started the planning and creative process during their junior year and began the auditioning process at the beginning of senior year, according to Kailah Doles, fourth-year dance and choreography student. 

“Our show ‘INTER9’ — it is involving all nine of us and our nine different lives and showcasing the differences between us all and allowing the audience to find that between us,” Doles said.

The title of Doles’ piece is “Forever Changing: SAOKO,” which ties into her journey changing over the past four years at VCU, she said. Saoko is a South African and Latin term that means rhythm, joy and music.

Dole said her choreographing style is more relaxed than the other eight in “INTER9.” 

“I tend to go based off intention in the moment — I don’t like to pre-choreograph my pieces,” Dole said. “I like to go based off the people in the room and when I am in the room with the cast so my piece is very on the happy side, joyous and community based.” 

Dole said she wanted her dancers to appreciate being on stage and appreciate performing with one another. “Forever Changing: SAOKO” involves aspects of rhythm and sound, and includes a tap dancer. 

“I want people to be so comfortable on stage that it feels like they are almost dancing in their room with a bunch of their friends, but also having that constructive concise movement quality throughout all of them,” Dole said. “The main idea is to have fun and to be connected with one another and being aware of each other.”

Ego is something we need as human beings to portray what we want, what our needs and what our morals are, according to Dole. Dancers go into this profession because they want to be seen, and that is a way to connect with other people.

Mars Dunston, a fourth-year dance and choreography student, crafted their piece on interpersonal relationship issues and romantic partners, they said. 

Their piece, “rushing for a wait, waiting for a rush,” is full of songs by artist Frank Ocean, and reflects on Dunston’s struggles with borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder, and how that has affected their relationships.

“I took aspects of relationships I had in the past and I allowed myself to find a new perspective when talking to each of the duets and telling them the intention behind the songs,” Dunston said. “That really helped me shape my choreography — I wanted to know how my dancers related to the experience even if they’re not diagnosed with anything, it’s relatable to have relationship issues.”

Dunston said VCU changed their perspective on dance as a whole.

“Like a genuine full 180 — I never enjoyed it as much as I do now,” Dunston said.

Observing upperclassmen’s projects and pieces come to life, being a part of them and seeing what VCU Dance and Choreography graduates create outside of VCU is inspiring, Dunston said.

“I never felt as inspired to create until I got to VCU,” Dunston said. “I am really interested in creating my own works and being a guest artist for companies — anything that deals with dance I am ready to be a part of. I just want to be a part of the dance world so bad.” 

Tickets are available for purchase here for part one on Friday, Nov. 15 and Saturday, Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Grace Street Theater. Part two on Nov. 23 at VCU’s Dance Center is sold out.