From Tap to K-pop: Evening of Dance Will Feature a Variety of Genres

II had the opportunity to spend time with a few of the dancers for the upcoming show “mOVEment” at Hartwick College as they prepped. The show itself will include students from Hartwick College, SUNY Brockport, Dean College, and SUNY Potsdam, along with dancers and choreographers from Sidney and Binghamton.

Between practicing different dances, two of the Hartwick students—maddi and Sameerah—and their instructor, Kathryn Smith, spoke to me about the work. I was struck during the rehearsal and our conversation by the quiet, joyful enthusiasm for dance and the amount of work they put in to bringing about a show like “mOVEment.”

There will be a variety of dance types during each of the two nights of this show. Each evening will be different, but one can expect a mixture of genres both nights. This will include tap, lyrical, hip hop, majorette, modern, contemporary, acro, and ballet styles of dance and moves. One piece I watched, danced by m addi, was choreographed by a teacher out of New York City who specializes in K-pop* style choreography. Another, danced by Sameerah, was also choreographed by Sameerah in the majorette-style. While I did not get the chance to see it in practice, the show will also include a ballet piece and a modern piece danced by Kathryn.

Like a writer gives an actor a script, a choreographer gives a dancer a script, Kathryn explained to me, with line-by-line of the performance scripted by the choreographer and the delivery of that script determined by the dancer. In her class, Kathryn teaches the students to use the beginning of a dance they are choreographing to “write their thesis statement,” e.g., set the motif for the dance. Then they express that motif throughout the dance. Kathryn went on to detail that there are other ways of choreographing that have been quite successful. She used merce Cunningham—an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years—as an example of a choreographer whose scripts left much up to chance, rather than a more rigid approach might.

Both maddi and Sameerah began dancing not long after they learned to walk, but both told me that although their interest in dance waned at one point while they were young (one from a very bad experience at a dance studio), they were both re-inspired to dance from the television show “Dance moms.” This came as a shock to me, as I

Stephen Timothy Kilty

1933-2023

COOPERSTOWN—

Stephen Timothy Kilty, almost 90, passed away peacefully on April 23, 2023 after a long, happy life filled with his family, his Catholic faith, work, golf, and travel.

Tim was born in Stillwater, minnesota on June 7, 1933 to Stephen macGregor Kilty and Harriet Ryden.

He attended the Stillwater High School and was involved in many sports, helping the Stillwater Ponies to a sectional championship in basketball in 1951 as a senior.

As the salutatorian of his graduating high-school class, he was awarded a scholarship to attend Princeton University where he majored in economics and music, graduating in 1955. He was an avid golfer and met the love of his life, Dorothea Laura Simonet, at the Stillwater Country Club. They married in July 1955 and he was promptly drafted into the U.S. Army.

Stationed in Chicago, he served in the Counter Intelligence division for two years with an honorable discharge. He began his career as a successful salesman with 3m and other manufacturing indus- am willing to admit that I saw at least part of one episode of this series. (If I am being more honest, I may have seen an entire show. And if I were prepared to be completely honest, I’d admit to having binge watched three episodes. However, I am not willing to be that vulnerable in such a public forum as this, so let’s just go back to the part where I have admitted to having seen part of a show, once.) What I focused on while watching the show was that the dance moms were stereotypes of the showbiz I-didn’t-make-it-but-my-daughter-is-going-to-make-it-atall-costs-so-I- feel-better-about-myself-and-I-don’t-carewhat-other-young-kids-I-have-to-crush-to-make-that-happen mother. However, what maddi and Sameerah focused on in the show were the young dancers who inspired them to continue dance. maddi and Sameerah both laughed when they heard my perspective of the show but assured me they didn’t pay attention to that momma drama, they just cared about the dancers’ progression. The conversation with maddi and Sameerah reminds me that I see, hear, and interpret based on my own roles and experiences, and at the time I saw this show I had three young daughters. Hearing someone else’s perspective can bring new colors into my world and I look forward to someday watching an episode of “Dance moms” just to try to see it through