By Shea Bove
The time of year has come when members of the dance company and the dance department are spending every moment in the dance studio or the drama workshop. Spring Concert season is coming, and there is no time to waste.
On Sunday, April 17, dancers adjudicated pieces for the Spring Concert, showing their pieces to a panel of five judges. The chair of the dance department, Heidi Echols and adjunct dance professor, Shawn Bowman-Hicks were the two well-known faces of the panel. The three other judges were made up of two Salem Alumnae, Victoria Lasley and Sarah Keech and a guest judge, Rose Sunila.
Twelve pieces of all styles were adjudicated this year. Styles ranged from jazz/hip hop to tap and ballet. Senior dancers Sarah Turner and Calleah Solomon and junior dancer Katherine Williams decided to adjudicate the pieces they created for their independent studies, while other dancers such as first year student and a transfer student, Jeniffer Padilla and Michele Diehl adjudicated pieces they created solely for the dance concert.
Soon after adjudications ended an email was sent out to let the choreographers and dancers know which pieces are going to be performed at the concerts. Out of twelve dances adjudicated, seven were chosen and added to the lineup. A dance choreographed by guest artist Helen Simoneau will also be performed in the show. Certain dances are still under consideration and will be informed as to whether or not they will be chosen by the end of this week.
The countdown has begun to May 5. The dancers will begin tech rehearsals on May 1 and will continue until they step on stage in front of the first audience that Thursday night.
The weeks leading up to the concert will be filled with studio rehearsals, costume designing, tech rehearsals, and finally the dancers will step on stage to perform. The Spring Concert will be held in the Drama Workshop on May 5, 6, and 7. The Thursday and Friday shows will begin at 7:30pm, while the Saturday show will begin at 2:00pm.
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