The dancers of Movement Cooperative, dressed in various forms of attire ranging from leggings to sweatpants, shook out their limbs between songs. Some shed outer layers. Others already wore sleeveless shirts and used the time to stretch against the walls.
They took a break during their three-hour rehearsal and looked to Jaclyn Walsh, the group’s guest choreographer, who instructed them on where to go next as she moved throughout the black floor of the rehearsal space out to the edges of the bright-orange tape.
“You guys come down here — really use the space — come out as far as possible,” Walsh said.
Walsh visited IU this week as part of a residency program for the IU Contemporary Dance Program to prepare the dancers in Movement Cooperative for their spring recital, which takes place in April.
This is the third time Walsh, a choreographer based in New York City, has come to IU to work with dancers before. This is the first time she has come independently without a dance company.
“Being here as my own choreographer has been a blast,” Walsh said. “I’m creating a piece for their senior showcase, and I told them going into this that I’m not looking to make a masterpiece. I’m looking to make something they enjoy performing and that people enjoy watching and that they’re going to leave the stage sweaty and happy.”
The goal was to create a party on stage for the dancers and the audience, Walsh said. The performance begins with everyone in formation to Fred Astaire’s “I Won’t Dance” and shifts gears with Eats Everything’s “Dancing (Again!).”
“I wanted to start out with a song that was a little vanilla — kind of go a little ‘musical theater’ aspect in terms of the performance quality — and then have this kind of immediate shift into night life, partying it up, kind of a last hoorah,” Walsh said.
Elizabeth Burr and Hannah Briner, two seniors performing the piece, said their experiences with Walsh has been a great send off.
“She is a joy to work with and a firecracker,” Burr said. “I think we all build our energy off of her. She basically said, ‘I want to make a dance you guys enjoy. I want to make this a good piece to send you guys off into the professional world.’”
The recital will be the final performance for these dancers on one stage, and Briner said the thirteen girls in the cooperative are close as performers and friends.
“This is our last time dancing together,” Briner said. “Our last time dancing in college.”
“As the senior class, we’ve all been a family,” Burr added.
The performance follows a particular narrative, starting with the first song and working in elements of theatricality moving into the second, Burr said.
“It kind of bridges two different styles,” Briner said. “The first half has some musical theater inspirations, some jazzy, acting aspects, and the second half is a complete switch in energy and movement.”
Burr said the storyline was one that traces the trajectory of a night out.
“She conveyed it as we are at a dance, flying solo, without any dates, so at the beginning it’s like, ‘Oh, nobody wants to dance with us,’” Burr said. “Then we get to a point where we say, ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter if people want to dance with us, we’re going to have a great time.’ It’s fun, it’s very lighthearted.”
The passion to perform and the eagerness to learn the dancers exhibit are some reasons why Walsh said she has enjoyed working with them.
“I enjoy kind of fostering those relationships, because I’m here to support them and to support their journey,” Walsh said. “I’ve been through it, and I want to offer as much knowledge as possible. This group, in particular, is so much fun and so respectful and I wish I could work with them longer than a week.”
