Students and faculty collaborate in preparation for Spring Dance Performance

Dance student Eric Garcia gives us a sneak peak at one of the upcoming dance pieces that will be featured in this year's Spring Dance Performance.

It is now around week 8 of rehearsals and it is exciting to see the progression of this piece. Going into this, I was told very little about choreographers Amie Dowling and Eli Nelson’s plans. As director of the dance department and adjunct professor, respectively, they are a creative team of unquestionable caliber, notorious for their out-of-the-box approach. They gave us strange clue words such as light bulbs, curtains, and ballroom. Whatever you are thinking right now is exactly what I was thinking; I wasn’t quite sure how all of these things would come together to make a cohesive, contemporary dance piece… but then, I must have totally forgotten who I was working with. Of course Amie and Eli would incorporate obscure things like that—shame on me! I wouldn’t expect anything less from those two. 

Photo by Kat Cole
 

      Having previously worked with each of them separately in two different pieces at USF, it has been really exciting to see how their minds work together. The other dancers and I go into every rehearsal not knowing what to expect, which keeps the process fun for both the choreographers and the dancers. We try a little bit of everything: learning set choreography, improvisational structures, and using material generated by us, the dancers. A major part of this process is experimenting with what different types of qualities each dancer can bring, allowing for personal style to blend with collaborative movement. Fortunately, we get to rehearse in Presentation Theater (the actual theater we will be performing in), so it allows us to really explore the space. Interestingly, it has sort of evolved into a site-specific piece to the theater itself, evoking curiosity from all of us about both the space and the movement. I’m sure the audience will enjoy watching it just as much as I have enjoyed performing it. Stay tuned.   

Amie Dowling and Eli Nelson's dance piece is part of the upcoming Spring Dance Performance featuring USF's Dance Ensemble. The show will take place at Presentation Theater on April 30th and May 1st at 8pm.