Auditions express African culture

A square of neon paper marked with a hand-drawn 10 dangled from her fingertips.
“Ten. Who’s number 10?” said Iris Rosa, a professor in the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies, over the noise.

Someone stepped forward to collect the number. Surrounded by barefoot students waiting for their assignments, Rosa distributed the numbers in an orderly fashion.

A group of 18 hopefuls, including six returning dancers, wore neon numbers pinned to their chests while they stretched. Rosa clearly stated her expectations: professionalism and passion.

“One, two, three, four,” Rosa said. “Stay on beat. Don’t lose count.”

Over the rumbling beat of Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep,” students pliéd, swung their arms and stretched their necks, each vying for a spot in the course.

Despite what the pop-music genre playing in the room might suggest, the African-American Dance Company performs what allows them to express the culture of the African Diaspora.

The auditions for the African-American Dance Company took place Tuesday in the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center.

The dance company is a semester-long course worth two credit hours and makes up one-third of the African-American Arts Institute.

The Institute includes the Dance Company, Choral Ensemble and Soul
Revue.

Serving as company director since 1974, Rosa is familiar with the possible misconceptions of the dance company.

“Our company is open to students of all races,” she said. “In fact, each year we have quite a diverse group of students.”

Rosa shared the second semester schedule, which is filled with workshops and performances.

“Along with our formal program that runs in April, we will be performing at a local elementary school, Stonebelt Center and Ivy Tech (Community College),” she said.

“The students really enjoy dancing at Stonebelt. It’s usually the favorite performance of the year.”

Rosa said the company means a lot to her.

“The ability to come in and learn to express feelings of the African Diaspora are key,” she said. “But, we really are a family, and if you work hard and have passion, we give you all the keys to success.”

Fourth-semester participant Alexandria Rhodes said she agreed with Rosa’s sentiments.

“I chose to get involved with the company because one of my good friends who had graduated had done the company in the past and really loved it,” Rhodes said.
Rhodes, a dancer since age 3, said she uses the company to stay involved with dance.

“Even though I’m not a dance major, I have hopes of always dancing,” she said. “Whether it be teaching, performing or both.”

Rhodes said she vividly remembers the nerves of auditions.

“The very first audition I was terrified,” she said. “I hadn’t auditioned for anything yet at IU. Being a freshman, it was very intimidating, and I felt desperate to be chosen.”
Rosa said she was unsure about the number of students that would be
selected.

“It really does vary by semester,” Rosa said. “Because we perform in smaller places like the Buskirk-Chumley (Theater), we have to be mindful. We can’t take more than 20.”

On Tuesday evening, 24 dancers ran combinations.

First-year director Raymond Wise is hopeful about the growth of his choral ensemble group.

“I’ve been doing this for 30 years now,” Wise said. “I came here specifically to grow and build.”

While the ensemble uses music written for, by or about African-Americans, there are no limitations placed on members.

“We’ve got students of all grade levels, graduate and undergraduate,” Wise said. “We allow students to participate for as many semesters as they’d like.”
Though auditions have happened in the past, this year the ensemble did not have them in order to encourage students to participate.

“What we’ve found in the past is that students get afraid of auditioning and end up not participating,” Wise said.

“But, if students love to sing and are really serious about singing, they are more than welcome to join.”