ACDC presents Student Choreography Concert

BRONWYN MCALINDON
STAFF WRITER

2/12/2024

Over the past weekend, the Student Choreography Concert was performed three times by the Alma College Dance Company (ACDC). The concert was a beautiful display of student-choreographed work representing messages and themes chosen by the student choreographers. 

The concert featured twelve pieces, all of which were student-choreographed; there were 19 choreographers and 35 dancers in total. From August to February, the parties collaborated to create the artistic pieces. 

“[We spent] thirty minutes per week since the very first week of the school year. [However] this doesn’t include the extra time that choreographers could have spent creating material, and the extra time dancers spent reviewing before and after rehearsals,” said Ava Kelly (‘25), an Education/Dance major and member of ACDC.

“I think that most of us felt a mix of stress and excitement. Stress, because it almost felt like we were running out of time preparing for the concert, but excitement to show everyone what we had been working on all year. It personally felt very bittersweet as well, since it was my last SCC concert ever as a senior,” said Zoe Dawson (‘24), a dancer for ACDC

The show was intricate and moving; it was clear that the preparation process for this concert was nothing short of intense. But in watching the dancers there was no doubt that their hard work paid off. The connection between them and the pieces they performed made it a unique experience.

“My favorite piece I was in is called ‘Freedom from Letting Go,’ choreographed by Abby Strait (‘24). I loved this dance because it was jazz, which is a style I haven’t gotten to do in a long time… This piece is about straying away from attachment, and the freedom and opportunities that come from letting loose from all the worry of trying to control things we can’t,” said Dawson.

Many of the performers participated in multiple dances on top of choreographing. They showed a high level of energy and enthusiasm throughout their performances and overall sent a message about the nature of dance through their performances.

“I would say the message to take away from the concert would be that undergraduate college students are capable of creating incredibly thorough pieces with amazing choreography. We are lucky that Alma Dance Company allows us dance company members to choreograph every year since most bigger dance programs do not,” said Dawson.

The dancers are already diving into their next project, which will be the Spring Dance Concert. If you missed the Student Choreography Concert or want to see more of ACDC, this will be a great way to do so. 

“I’m very excited for the Spring Dance Concert in March. I am in Kayt MacMaster’s, and guest artist Anna Rogovoy’s. piece. There are also going to be three or four SCC pieces, a hip-hop piece by another guest artist, Alyson Hurd, and a Dance Team jazz performance. I think the show is going to be exciting from beginning to end,” said Dawson.

The dancers had three fantastic performances over the weekend. The dances had powerful messages that were shown throughout the pieces. The artwork showed the lens of the choreographer, and it was an excellent performance by all the dancers involved in putting these pieces together. It will be exciting to see what comes out of their upcoming concert next month.