Jacobs School of Music’s ballet majors twirled across the Musical Arts Center’s stage Tuesday night for evening one of “The Choreography Project,” an annual showcasing of student works within the department. From April 28-29, ballet students will premiere 40 original choreographed ballets.
“The Choreography Project” is the culmination of a required course for the Bachelor of Science in ballet degree, serving as the final grade for MUS-J 410 Choreography Workshop led by Sasha Janes and Sarah Wroth.
The class aims at teaching ballet majors the art of choreographing their own movements, giving them insight to the other side of the form of dance.
The semester is split up so that in the beginning of the semester, students work on a choreography solo. Then, after the Spring Ballet April 3-4, the casts begin working with choreographers. So, the dances came together in about three weeks.
Choreographers picked their own music at the beginning of the semester, then, as their choreography and vision came into fruition, they helped decide lighting, costuming and props. Janes and Wroth picked casts for each piece, but choreographers decided how many dancers were in the dance and how many of those dancers were feminine or masculine presenting.
The first evening of “The Choreography Project” showcased 26 student-choreographed and danced works between four and nine minutes long.
The evening began with American disco singer Donna Summer’s soft voice singing “Last Dance (12" version).” Purple lights illuminated the MAC stage, ballet dancers dramatically entered with soft movements.
As the music transitioned from the soft beginning to the traditional disco beat, 10 dancers energetically showcased ballet student Arnon Gafni-Kane's disco-ballet choreography, "Last Dance.”
When the 8-minute disco-inspired piece came to an end, ballet student Delaine Tyler’s choreography titled “Singular” began immediately after, transitioning the lights and music to Ólafur Arnalds’ “Brotsjór,” after a bow from Gafni-Kane and his dancers.
Each student-choreographed piece was performed back-to-back with short bows and immediate transitions to the next dance.
The 14th piece on the program, performed directly before intermission, was choreographed by junior Lola Mayo, who is majoring in ballet and marketing and minoring in psychology. Mayo’s piece, "The Announcement,” featured six student ballet dancers moving to “Hauntingly Silent” by Hugo Kant.
The piece began with a green backdrop lighting up the MAC’s stage from behind, with Kant’s mystical music coming in soon after. Dancers, dressed in a black top and shorts with a white undone button-up on top, crowded around the ballet bar in the middle of the stage, using the prop to elevate the visual experience.
Mayo said her main inspiration in creating the dance was Kant’s “Hauntingly Silent,” which she found scrolling through SoundCloud. Inspired by the sound, she thought to try something different with her choreography this year, having choreographed for this project last year as well.
“And it’s, like, challenging because it’s kind of neoclassical and not necessarily classical at all,” Mayo said. “So, it’s like, not ballet.”
After the short intermission, 12 more pieces glided across the stage, showcasing classical, R&B and rock music through ballet movement.
The last piece was “The Adults Are Talking,” named after The Strokes’ song that eight student dancers moved to throughout the 5-minute piece.
Sophomore Ella Snavely, a pre-medical student majoring in ballet, choreographed the piece. She dressed the cast in street clothes and showcased pedestrian-like movements throughout, straying from the ballet style.
Snavely said she was inspired by watching people dance out in the wild, moving carefree and strong.
“I was just walking down the street one day and I saw people dancing in the street,” Snavely said. “I fell in love with the way that they just, like, looked so human and relaxed in their movements.”
Senior Trey Ferdyn was one of the eight dancers in Snavely’s choreography, helping to execute Snavely’s vision through movement.
Ferdyn is studying ballet with an individualized outside field in dance design and production, aiming to become a choreographer himself one day. He said participating in “The Choreography Project” as both a dancer and choreographer shows him a new perspective on dance, putting him in the shoes of both the choreographer and the dancer.
“I think through all this process, I can see sometimes, like, from the eye of the choreographer,” Ferdyn said. “I think this process has really given me a different perspective, even from the perspective of a dancer, like the canvas.”
Ferdyn’s choreography will be shown April 29, the second evening of “The Choreography Project.” His piece “Fine Motor” serves as his capstone project for his individualized major, showcasing his skills in choreography, lighting design and costume design.
Of the 14 pieces that will be shown Wednesday night, and of the total 40 choreographed pieces, “Fine Motor” will be the longest with a 30-minute run time. The dance will feature 22 dancers and a blended-genre electronica music background playing artists like Aphex Twin and Björk.
“It’s really exciting. There’s so much great work,” Ferdyn said. “I think for everyone to either dip their toe in, if it’s their first time choreographing, or to continue on with stuff they’ve been working on and just on this stage is incredible.”
There will be one more free night of “The Choreography Project” 7:30-9:30 p.m. April 29 at the Musical Arts Center.
