GOUCHER COLLEGE
a student publication of the goucher college dance department
VOL. 29, NO. 1 | SPRING 2013
Connecting with Concerto Barocco© Sarah Eckart ’16
(left and right) Dancers performing Concerto Barocco© at Meet the Artist (photo credit: Sarah Muskat ’13)
When I first heard that Goucher had acquired the rights to set Concerto Barocco©, I knew I had to audition. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I could not pass up. I heard the ballet was extremely difficult, precise, and quick from multiple people, so I went into the experience with nervousness and dread in addition to my excitement. But I never expected what a rewarding and lifechanging experience working on this piece with Deborah Wingert, a former soloist with the New York City Ballet and Balanchine répétiteur, would turn out to be.
Deborah is amazing. She is an incredible teacher, patient rehearsal director, and a very funny and genuine woman. She enters the room with such grace and poise and then proceeds to make dozens of food analogies and crack jokes throughout class. Working with Deborah is probably what was most lifechanging about this experience. She has been one of the most influential teachers I have had in my dance career, even for the short period of time she visited. Her vibrancy and passion is contagious.
certainly the most challenging ballet I have attempted to learn. Balanchine’s movement mirrors the music exactly. The sharpness of the first movement contrasts the serenity of the second movement. The second movement also serves as a breath before the attack needed in the final movement. Deborah noted that the two soloists are the two violins in the music and the corps is the rest of the orchestra: Both parts must come together perfectly for the music to be seen throughout.
As for the work itself, Concerto Barocco© is Concerto Barocco© continued on p. 3 1
Dyads — A Dance of Duos Emily Patricia Polasik ’13 Can two people really define a social group? Dyads, a contemporary ballet work that will be performed in the Goucher Repertory Dance Ensemble Spring Concert April 1921 in Kraushaar Auditorium, was inspired by Associate Professor Elizabeth Ahearn’s research on dyadic communication and the relationships that occur between two people. Through abstract movement, Ahearn and the twelve dancers in the cast explore the mutual ideas, thoughts, and behaviors that occur between two individuals. The six duets in this piece investigate the communication between strangers, group constructions and deconstructions, the intricate details in the dyad known and understood only to the two people, and the different, almost stronger emotions that are found in a dyad opposed to a large group. Ahearn describes this choreographic process as very different than her norm. This is the first piece she has ever choreographed in which she has allowed her students to have some involvement with the choreographic process. Each dancer manipulates Ahearn’s phrase-work at some point in the piece in order to communicate his/her own thoughts on dyadic relationships. “They are using their voice but my words,” says Ahearn. This is also a much larger cast than she planned on working with, but Ahearn was very impressed by the dancers in the audition and decided to challenge herself with using more bodies in space to create her piece. The first movement sequence introduces the dancers within their duets, highlighting each couple’s unique conversation as a dyad. The second movement consists of two highlighted duets and some ensemble work, followed by a pas de deux to create the third movement. The final movement highlights three other duets and concludes with a final group phrase to end the piece. Ahearn says this final group phrase is her way of depicting how dyads can exist in a larger group setting in addition to their own small group. Top Left: Eve Holmes ’13 and Omari Contasté ’14 in
rehearsal for Dyads Bottom Left: Goucher dancers in rehearsal for Dyads Top Right: Sarah Eckart ’16 and Gretchen Funk ’13 in rehearsal for Dyads Middle Right: Eve Holmes ’13 and Omari Contasté ’14 in rehearsal for Dyads Bottom Right: Goucher dancers in rehearsal for Dyads (photo credit: Dorie Chevlen ’15)
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A Week Full of Dance: American College Dance Festival Association’s 2013 Conference Megan Simon ’13 On the Tuesday before spring break, Goucher dance students and faculty packed into two vans and a couple of cars and caravanned their way down to Greensboro, NC, for the American College Dance Festival Association’s Mid-Atlantic Conference. This meant four busy days of classes, performances, feedback, and the chance to connect with the wider college dance community. Goucher’s department presented The Inside of a Shadow, choreographed by Hayli Throckmorton ’13, and Wien, a piece by Pascal Rioult staged on Goucher dancers last fall, for adjudication. Both pieces were given positive feedback from adjudicators Seán Curran, Shani Collins, and George de la Peña. They were captivated by the agitation of the performers pulling at and stretching their faces in Shadow and impressed by the group awareness of the ensemble in Wien. The Goucher team was also thrilled to receive compliments on the choreography and performance from other students at the conference. At the informal performance, Goucher presented Erupting Light by guest artist Melissa Barak, another audience favorite.
Students also enjoyed a wide range of technique classes every day, not just ballet and modern, but also African, Pilates, tango, Chinese fan dance, and many more. The conference theme was “Thinking Bodies/Dancing Minds,” so many of the classes focused on somatics, awareness of the mind/body connection, and communicating with the body. Although some of the classes were packed and therefore difficult to engage in, all enjoyed dancing with a diverse group of professors and students. Goucher dancers also watched multiple performances from other attending colleges, and spent most of their free time discussing others’ choreography. The dancers also learned a great deal from the adjudicators’ feedback—both their thoughts and how articulately they phrased them. Although neither of the Goucher pieces made it into Saturday’s gala, the group wasn’t too disappointed. They had seen and learned so much, felt confident in their performances, and satisfied in their experience. They packed back into the vans feeling exhausted, bonded as a group, and happily full of dance.
Connecting with Concerto Barocco©
Continued from cover
In Concerto Barocco©, the work for the corps is much more extensive than in other ballets, where the soloists get most of the time dancing. Concerto Barocco© has eight women in the corps de ballet, who start the piece and never leave the stage during the entire 18 minutes. Being a member of the corps is demanding, both in terms of stamina and staying in line with both the dancers in one’s own group and the rest of the corps on the other side of the stage. Groups, partnerships, and lines must all be accurate for spacing to look right and stay on the music.
Dancing in Concerto Barocco© is truly an honor, especially considering all of the top companies that have performed this work and those that never got the opportunity. Though it required a great amount of effort on the part of the cast and our rehearsal director, Dance Instructor Karissa Horowicz, it was an amazing experience to perform and a memory that will last forever. Concerto Barocco© will be presented as part of the Goucher Repertory Dance Ensemble Spring Concert, which will be held April 19-21 in Kraushaar Auditorium.
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Linda Garofalo: A Vibrant Life Dorie Chevlen ’15 Linda Garofalo looks somehow out of place in her office. Sitting at her desk in a black shirt, black jacket, and black yoga pants, she seems incongruously monochromatic amid the colorful posters and artwork adorning the walls. Indeed, with her silvering hair neatly tied back, and the steady timbre of her voice, Linda seems an odd juxtaposition to the visual exuberance surrounding her. But then, as she speaks, you start to notice the way her blue eyes crinkle at the corners with mischief, and how her ready smile widens just a bit more when she talks about dancing, and the way she throws her head back in laughter when something’s really funny, and very suddenly you realize that you were wrong. This colorful office doesn’t just suit Linda; it is an extension of her polychromatic personality. Not that she was always this colorful. Growing up in Fairfield, CT, Garofalo spent much of her childhood in a black leotard and pink tights. A devoted student of ballet, it wouldn’t be until she started studying at Texas Christian University that she would first truly experience modern dance. While enrolled there, Garofalo started taking daily Graham-influenced technique classes. “I fell in love with it,” she says with a smile. After a year, she decided to leave TCU, since, as she explains, “I just wanted to dance.” And dance she did. Garofalo moved to New York to study under full scholarship at the Harkness Dance Center. While there she also discovered the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, and it wasn’t long before she was there taking class daily. “Sometimes twice a day,” Garofalo adds, then laughs. “It was a lot of Graham.” It wasn’t just a lot of Graham technique though; it was also a lot of Martha. Garofalo remembers she and her friends would even be able to sense, from a block away, when Martha Graham was in the studio. “You could just feel she was in the building,” Garofalo recalls. Even now Garofalo is still in awe of the experience. “Aaaaamazing!” she laughs. “It was amazing.” Sadly, however, that amazing experience was to be cut short. Garofalo’s mother fell ill, and she stopped dancing to move back home to take care of her. A whole year had passed, Garofalo recalls, “and then I got the phone call.” A friend from the Graham School was calling because the faculty had been asking around for Garofalo, and they were thinking about offering her a scholarship. There was no question: “I gave my two weeks’ notice, and that was that!”
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Linda Garofalo in performance (photo courtesy of Linda Garofalo)
Garofalo’s first week back dancing, though, she auditioned for a professional company and got hired, halting her plans of returning to the Graham School. Though it was a difficult decision, it was ultimately the best one. Working with Danceworks proved to be an incredible experience, largely because of its accomplished director, former Paul Taylor dancer Geulah Abrahams. Though Garofalo sometimes can’t help but wonder what would have happened had she stayed at the Graham School, she doesn’t regret her choice. “If I had stayed I probably would have gotten the scholarship, and so it’s always kind of like this ‘What if?’ thing…But it didn’t matter,” she asserts. “I had an amazing experience working with Geulah.” Not that that was the only work she was doing. Between waitressing, hostessing, and commuting back to Connecticut to teach, Garofalo rightfully summarizes that time as “crazy, crazy, crazy.”
And it was only about to get crazier. After five years with Danceworks, Garofalo moved to Baltimore, danced with practically every start-up company in the area, and then started teaching at Goucher in 1998. She accomplished all this while also juggling motherhood and going back to school herself, completing her degree at Towson University in 2002. It was a hectic time, but it was worth it. “I love it here,” she says, “I love the students here.” Back in her office, at the close of our interview, Garofalo stands (in perfect terpsichorean posture, of course) to escort me out, and suddenly I notice something I had missed before. Peeking from beneath her jet black pants are bright rainbow legwarmers. For the full version of this article, please visit www.goucher.edu/dancenewsletter.
A Week with Darrell Grand Moultrie Julia Larcenaire ’16 Darrell Grand Moultrie, a Juilliard graduate and one of the country’s most soughtafter choreographers, visited Goucher’s Dance Department as a modern guest artist in residence in February. During his stay, Moultrie created a new work on Goucher dancers and taught many modern classes throughout the week. Although his choreography requires very advanced technique, Moultrie really focused on the quality and performance of the movement in both his classes and his piece. The audition process for Moultrie’s residence work was a unique one. The dancers were asked to perform two fairly short phrases, but the focus of the audition was not on the actual choreography, rather the dancer’s commitment and emotional investment. Moultrie had each group perform the phrase with a different emotional intent such as joy or frustration, and one group was asked to scream while violently rolling on the floor. At one point, every single dancer in the room belted out their loudest and heartiest laughter. He had one dancer talk in a stream of consciousness about whatever came to her mind as he pretended to be disinterested. He wanted the dancer to get truly frustrated and to express that emotion from a real place – for the feeling to be genuine. Moultrie asked many dancers to talk not because he wanted speaking in his choreography, but because he wanted to test their limits. He wanted to see which dancers would allow themselves to feel vulnerable and step outside of their comfort zone. Vulnerability and surrender were two common themes throughout Moultrie’s choreography and classes. He did not show or explain the movement beforehand, one simply had to follow along by watching, listening, and trusting. In each class, dancers sat in stretches for almost 10 minutes and were asked to “surrender to the floor” and focus on breathing. The students talked about breathing to warm up their bodies faster and help them to release their muscles, allowing their skeletons to do the work instead of gripping. The dancers also focused on breathing in conjunction with the movement, and visualized sending the breath to their muscles and out through their toes and fingertips. This allowed them to achieve a soft quality in their dancing. Moultrie also used breath in his choreography as a means of keeping the dancers moving as one unit. He actually choreographed breath with certain movements. Hearing each other’s breath while dancing connected all of the
dancers and helped them feel each other’s presence, enabling them to move as one. This sense of community was a main concept in Moultrie’s choreography. Moultrie’s work begins with one dancer entering the stage and one violin playing. Slowly, as more instruments are added, more dancers fill the stage in larger groups. The tension and energy continues to build as the third and final movement begins with all 24 dancers perfectly still, staring straight out at the audience as pulsing strings play a powerful melody. All 24 dancers move in unison for a great portion of the piece, working together to create a community. Moultrie, a native of Harlem, NY, wanted to add some of his own community into his work. He was really inspired by the hustle and bustle of the city and that even among all of the disorder there could be harmony. Moultrie wanted to expand on this idea of the beauty within the chaos in his choreography, which was partly why he chose such a large group of dancers with which to work. It could easily be complete chaos with all of those bodies onstage at once, but moving in sync it can be beautiful. Moultrie’s choreography also contains many small details, such as intricate finger and hand movements. These details reflect specialness and individuality among the masses, such as New Yorkers or a large ensemble of dancers. Although tired, sore, and bruised after the week was done, Goucher dancers were extremely grateful to have worked with Moultrie, and are excited to perform his work in the Goucher Repertory Dance Ensemble Spring Concert, which will be held April 19-21 in Kraushaar Auditorium. Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance Trebien Pollard coordinated Moultrie’s residency at Goucher and served as rehearsal director for his work.
When They Aren’t Teaching Us… Department Chair and Associate Professor Elizabeth Ahearn has choreographed a work for the Goucher Repertory Dance Ensemble Spring Concert and two works for the Carver Center for Arts and Technology in Towson. She also taught master classes at the Regional High School Dance Festival in Norfolk, VA, in March. In June, she will travel to Paris, France, to present her research “The Benefits of Pilates for Ballet Dancers and Its Application in Higher Education” at the CORPS de Ballet Conference. In addition to directing Chorégraphie Antique, Professor Chrystelle Bond has been training her beloved toy poodles, Jean-Andre and Louis-Phillipe, writing a book on the history of dance as a manifestation of dance in higher education, and developing a sacred dance philosophy and performing group. Instructor Laura Dolid teaches at Sudbrook Arts Center, trains Labrador retrievers, and grows tomatoes. Instructor Kathi Ferguson accompanied a group of her dancers from the Howard County Ballet to the Orange Bowl in Florida. She is also in the process of rehearsing the Howard County Ballet’s spring production of Hansel and Gretel. Professor of Dance and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies Amanda Thom Woodson has been working with a physical therapist three times a week after tearing her MCL, ACL, and meniscus in a skiing accident. The silver lining of the situation is that she is gaining a new appreciation for her body by working with a physical therapist that is a former dancer and has had the opportunity to get back to the fundamentals of movement. She will have reconstructive surgery in April.
Julia Corrigan ’14: Accademia dell’Arte, Arezzo, Italy
WHERE ARE OUR DANCERS THIS SEMESTER?
Mariah Halkett ’14: Accademia dell’Arte, Arezzo, Italy Drew Santoro ’14: Accademia dell’Arte, Arezzo, Italy Leslie Niederberger ’14: Roehampton University, London Bryonna Odhner ’14: Barcelona, Spain
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Dancing in Taiwan Eve Holmes ’13
Ashley Daigle ’14 and Eve Holmes ’13 taking a dance class in Taiwan (photo courtesy of Eve Holmes ’13)
For starters, I have never been more exhausted – physically, mentally, emotionally, and every other word that ends in ally – in my life than during my recent study abroad experience in Taiwan. My classmate, Ashley Daigle ’14, and I spent four-and-a-half months training in Eastern and Western movement forms at Taipei National University of the Arts, a conservatory known internationally for its excellence in music, fine arts, theater arts, and dance education. During our time there, we lived a dancer’s dream – intense training among a group of incredibly passionate, determined students and master teachers, the likes of which I had never seen and may not ever see again. And no homework.
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We didn’t know the language (we can now count to eight in Mandarin Chinese), we had never danced a step of traditional Eastern dance, and I had only been exposed to martial arts via YouTube, where I once watched Bruce Lee do pushups on his fingertips. In spite of all this, Ashley and I found ourselves among these dancer/ gymnast/martial artist phenoms whose discipline, on top of it all, redefined the meaning of that word for me. Our classes consisted of classical ballet and pointe, pas de deux, contemporary movement, release technique, traditional Chinese opera dance, and (my favorite) kung fu. Since most of our classes were taught in Chinese – occasionally our teachers would
speak to us in English, or students would be kind enough to translate – movement became our language, our way to understand and be understood, our only connection to these people we so admired. For me it became like home; it was the most familiar and comforting thing I had there. Everything clicked for me in late December. It was the night of the students’ winter dance concert and the third work on the program was excerpts from Martha Graham’s Acts of Light. There was one section where the lead male entered stage right and ran, circling the stage completely, with his arms outstretched and his face turned up into the light. This dancer, my classmate, was running around the stage in a yellow unitard (yes, a
yellow unitard) and there was so much joy, so much freedom in him, in the music, in me; I could have been running around the stage myself. That was when I understood for the first time that hard work, dedication, and love are the wings that help a dancer soar and set him free in those most sacred moments onstage. What followed Acts of Light was undoubtedly the most impressive physical feat I have ever witnessed by a group of dancers – a fusion of traditional Chinese dance, modern dance, theater, and gymnastics called Legacy – but the legacy for me was one boy running around the stage in a way that only someone who really believes in his art (and all of the work that comes with it) can. I believe now, too. So when my friends ask me what Taiwan was like, I can’t answer because I don’t know. I can only say what it was like for me, a dancer, to be transplanted to a place to do just that – to dance (with a little living on the side) – only to return to a coming back that was no less sudden, no less shocking on the system than the leaving. If they want to know, still, what it was like, I can tell them it was me sitting in the back of a dark auditorium days before Christmas all teary and overwhelmed by the music, the dance, the hard work, the homesickness, everything. I can tell them it was me on the last day of class when the teacher said, “Dance and show me who you are,” and me not knowing but being okay with it. I went there and thought I would “find myself,” but what I found instead was dance and this tremendous amount of work to be done. I loved it, every moment. I can tell them now it is the voice of my ballet teacher, old and wise, saying that the greatest gift his teacher ever gave him was the feeling that he could dance, that he was worthy of being a dancer. And I realized, with his old voice echoing in my ears, that I, too, have felt these things before. Taiwan was that gift to me, and what I am left with is the struggle of trying to hold onto it. Top: Ashley Daigle ’14 and Eve Holmes ’13 in Taiwan Middle: Eve Holmes ’13 dancing in Taiwan Bottom: Ashley Daigle ’14 and Eve Holmes ’13 in
Taiwan (all photos courtesy of Eve Holmes ’13)
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Dancing in West Africa: An All-inclusive Experience Hannah Fenster ’15 Consider the full spectrum of roles you play during a typical day. Student? Employee? Consumer? Speaker? Thinker? Consciously or otherwise, you are also a mover, in each of your handshakes, waves, and friendly pats of encouragement. And 5000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, you’ll encounter that idea’s continued relevance. In January of this year, eight other Goucher students and I embarked on a three-week journey to Ghana, Togo, and Benin as part of the intensive course abroad “History, Society, and Culture of West Africa.” The trip was led by Goucher Assistant Professor of Dance Rick Southerland and Associate Director for Community-based Learning and Community Service Programs Lindsay Johnson ’05.
dignitaries into movers who communicated the beauty and regality of their beliefs through full-body motion. “Dance can also be a language,” says McDonough. “It does not have to be just a performance – it can mean so much more.” Brilliantly, West African culture uses an art form that hinges on the present moment to communicate the enduring significance of tradition.
A challenge for you, in the West African spirit: Notice your day-to-day movement. How do you dance? Is it when you skip down the stairs, released early from work or an afternoon class? How about when you clean your room, twisting to reach the forgotten pair of socks under the bed? When we witness how movement links the various aspects of our lives, we can understand its power to connect us to others around the globe.
Over the course of our travels, we participated in five dance and drumming workshops, with the goal of using art as a lens through which to view the juxtaposition of modern and traditional culture in the region. We all came from a mixture of traditional “dance” and “non-dance” backgrounds, but we quickly learned the insignificance of those two labels as we established strong interpersonal bonds while avoiding the stumbles of speech. At our first workshop in Cotonou, Benin, we became creatures of childlike capability and curiosity – “blank slates” ready to be filled with knowledge of a radically different range of physical motion. We abandoned preconceived notions of West African dance; my years of ballet background only resulted in a desperate and futile attempt to analyze my pelvic placement. Instead of subjecting the movement to analysis and control, I realized, I would have to allow the weighted, rhythmic sequence to carry and pull my body. It was as much a mental release as a physical one. Soon it became clear that the colored floor tiles of the workshop room in Cotonou represented an even starting point for those with and without past dance experience. Dylan McDonough ’15, who had no formal dance training before he left for West Africa, describes the movement as “all-inclusive, for the inclusion of all body parts, but also for the fact that it had a dance for every aspect of life.” Indeed, labeling “dancers” and “non-dancers” has no function in a society where dance and movement are considered fundamental expressions of religion, community, national pride, and individual personality. Our group witnessed the transformations of tour guides, musicians, schoolchildren, and religious
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Top: Assistant Professor Rick Southerland and Dylan McDonough ’15 dancing during a workshop in Keta,
Ghana (photo credit: Hannah Fenster ’15) Bottom: The Dance/History 272 class in Accra, Ghana (photo credit: Lindsay Johnson ’05)
Fun Facts about the Goucher College Accompanists
An Online Survey of Dance History
Grace Harman ’13
Ellen Bast ’14 A curriculum policy change at Goucher now allows students the opportunity to receive credit for online coursework. Rick Southerland, assistant professor of dance, first proposed the new option for students at a faculty meeting. This summer, Southerland will teach the Dance Department’s inaugural online course — “Dance 153: Survey of Dance History.”
Jerome Herskovitz accompanying Linda Garofalo’s Dance 218 class (photo credit: Ellen Bast ’14)
Goucher dance students see them every day, and they dance to their drumbeats and piano keys, but most do not know much at all about the various accompanists in the department. If you have ever wondered what one of Zak’s favorite vegetables is (hint: it’s green and leafy) or why Tatyana likes working here, read on. Percussionist Zak Fusciello may seem somber at 8:30 in the morning, but he is a man of hidden talents. For fans of the movie Enemy of the State starring Will Smith, you probably never guessed that he was a photo double stunt driver in the film, did you? Or how about that he once had a gig as an Italian chef who played the pots and pans while singing? He’s also a dad to 20-month old Oscar, and he enjoys sauteed spinach. While he’s been playing drums for years, percussionist William Goffigan is no stranger to dancing. He used to partake in social dancing many years back and also took beginning tap at Towson University for two semesters. He even got to meet the legendary tap dancer Gregory Hines backstage at the Apollo Theater many years ago, and describes him as “very congenial and accessible with a great sense of humor.” Finally, he enjoys comic books, particularly Batman. This is the story of how Jerome Herskovitz, percussionist, learned to play music for dance classes: While playing for Pearl Lang’s class for Alvin Ailey back in the 70s in New York City, he was commanded to play Chinese wedding music. He responded that he didn’t know how to play Chinese wedding music. She then told him to play Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, which unfortunately he didn’t know how to play either. To this she responded with a gruff, “Oh, just play whatever you want.” Later when the famous Graham dancer
Bertram Ross asked Herskovitz to play for his class, he said he wasn’t sure what to play. To this Mr. Ross responded, “I’ll tell you what to play!” Pianist Vera Karpushova has a daughter who is a doctor. She also has two grandchildren, one of whom goes to college at the University of Maryland, College Park. As you might have guessed, she loves all kinds of piano music. Something you may not have guessed? She also loves fish. Above all, pianist Saryana Lebedev loves people and being open. She grew up in the Soviet Union, but formed lasting friendships once she came over here that still exist today, 50 years later. “I’m loud, I talk too much, and I’m very extroverted,” she says. She also says she truly bows to the real artists. For fans of swing dance, percussionist Alan Munshower plays the bass in a local Dixieland band called Sac Au Lait, named for the state fish of Louisiana. The only accompanist who attended Goucher, he graduated in 2002 and was a community assistant in Dulaney during two of those years. Also during his time at Goucher, before study abroad was mandatory, he managed to create a study abroad experience that consisted of a music tour and internship in France. (Jealous, anyone?) Finally, he’s a vegetarian and has been for 15 years. Everyone could learn something from pianist Tatyana Slonevski, who still enjoys working at Goucher today as much as she did her first day on the job, 17 years ago. She is very happy, as many are, that Goucher has live music to dance to because it allows her to improvise and play something new every day. She describes herself as a serious person and has three grandchildren who call her Nana.
The course will provide students with a generalized understanding of dance’s function in social and creative history. The course description notes: “This course is an historical overview of the earliest traces of dance to the present day. Students will develop an understanding and appreciation of dance as a vehicle of expression in multiple facets of society from social and world dance forms to the theatrical stage.” The class also has the potential to be more accessible to and engage the general student body, members of whom may be apprehensive about stepping into a technique class with no background knowledge about dance. Though it does not count toward the history requirement of a dance major or minor, the course will fulfill the Textual Analysis and Critical Perspectives Liberal Education Requirement (LER). Currently, there are no other Dance Department courses that fulfill this LER. Southerland is excited for the department’s new ability to provide innovative dance coursework. “This kind of course using online tools for instructional delivery from the Dance Department keeps us at the forefront and ahead of the curve investigating emerging pedagogies through practice,” Southerland explains. “Even though delivery is via the Internet, assignments will require students to go away from their computers and out in their communities to observe dance in studios, social settings, and live performance to report back on,” he says. “They will have to have conversations with others about dance.”
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Keeping History Alive: Chorégraphie Antique Ellen Bast ’14
‘Tights are empowering!’ Lessons from Intro Ballet Ellen Bast ’14
Chorégraphie Antique (CA), the dance history ensemble of Goucher College, has been busy this semester with performances on and off campus to promote and preserve dance history as a cultural metaphor. Off-campus appearances this semester include a performance in St. Leonard, MD, by invitation of the National Parks Service; another one at Hampton Mansion in Towson; a collaboration with the Peabody Renaissance Ensemble at the Peabody Conservatory in downtown Baltimore; a Civil War Ball hosted by the Carroll County Historical Society; and a show for Oak Crest Village, a local retirement community. On campus, Chorégraphie Antique was active with the library’s Jane Austen bicentennial celebration, held in March to commemorate the 200-year anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice. The ensemble demonstrated regency-era dances as part of the festivities. Professor Chrystelle Bond leads the group, which is composed of alumnae/i, current students, and community members. The ensemble rehearses on Monday nights in the Lilian Welsh Studio. Additionally, there is an academic course offered on Wednesday and Friday afternoons, where students can learn about historical dances and reconstructions.
Andrew Deal ’14 and Owen Lehmer ’13 show off their sweet dance moves. (photo credit: Ellen Bast ’14)
This semester, three male beginning ballet dancers lined up at the barre for “DAN 120: Elementary Dance Technique I: Ballet.”
never knew he had. As for Deal, he is unsure if it is healthy to twist in so many different ways.
Designed as an introductory course for those who have never before studied ballet and taught by Dance Instructor Laura Dolid, the course allows any Goucher student the opportunity to take advantage of the Dance Department during her/his academic career.
In Deal’s opinion, stretching is both the best and worst part of the 80-minute class. His favorite step is galloping because it “makes [him] feel like [he’s] in Monty Python.” Lehmer prefers travelling steps, such as big jumps and glissades, his favorite ballet step; he thinks he might actually do them somewhat correctly.
Two men in the class, Andrew Deal ’13 and Owen Lehmer ’13, shared their experiences. Both Deal, a political science and business management major, and Lehmer, a computer science major, registered for the class because they thought it would be a good challenge, especially for 1.5 credits. Neither had any previous dance experience — “other than middle school dances,” Lehmer jokingly interjected. Deal said that his only prior dance knowledge was “Martha Graham hands,” which sadly will not assist him in Dolid’s class.
Alumna Cora Provins ’07 and Paul Schou in costume from a recent Renaissance dance performance with Chorégraphie Antique (Photo courtesy of Cora Provins ’07) 10 | goucherdance
Though both enjoy the class, they were quick to point out that it is much more difficult than they had anticipated. Lehmer noted that it looked so easy when he watched the advanced class. As an athlete on the track team, Lehmer thought that moving though space would not be too hard. He is now discovering muscles he
Though they are graduating soon, Deal and Lehmer will not abandon dance at the end of the semester. Lehmer hopes to continue to take classes after graduation, and Deal is curious as to whether or not he will be promoted to the next level of technique. He is also intrigued by another Goucher Dance course, “African Drum and Dance Ensemble.” Dance 120 has been a learning experience for both Deal and Lehmer, who have been immersed in the world that is Goucher dance. Lessons in the Todd Dance Studio will stay with them as they continue into the real world. As Lehmer so eloquently described from his experiences: “Tights are empowering. That’s why superheroes wear them.”
Senior Choreographic Works Dorie Chevlen ’15
A performance piece by Hayli Throckmorton ’13 (photo courtesy of Ben Mayer’13) Goucher will be presenting two shows featuring student-choreographed works this spring. Senior Hayli Throckmorton’s piece will be performed at the Goucher Repertory Dance Ensemble Spring Concert in Kraushaar Auditorium from April 19 to 21. The independent study showcase—featuring the choreography of Charlie Markham ’13, Sophia Kurek ’13, and Carly Calahan ’13—will be held May 3 in Todd Dance Studio. Markham’s inspiration for his project came from an experience eating dinner with a friend. Markham explained he wasn’t eating pork because of his adherence to the dietary restrictions of Islam, and the friend was baffled. He recalls, “She said, ‘But you’re gay.’ That really stopped me dead in my tracks because it was like she was saying, ‘You’re gay so you don’t have the right to believe in God or claim a religion.’ It really stunned me because I had struggled with this conflict when I was younger and had not given it thought in some time. So it really got me thinking about the duality of one individual.” Despite the difficulty in bringing to stage such a sensitive subject, Markham has greatly enjoyed the process. “My favorite part is working with the dancers and watching the process unfold,” he says. “It’s like watching a baby grow.” Kurek’s choreography aims to depict the different ways people connect to one another:
“It’s about an exploration of relationships in a very simple level—physical and emotional.” In creating this dynamic, she has placed a strong emphasis on duets and solos, relying on many of the contact improvisation techniques she picked up while studying abroad in Italy last spring. In choreographing the piece, Kurek allows her dancers to tap into their own experiences with friends, lovers, and family. “I’m directing them in terms of movement,” she explains, “but asking a lot of them artistically.” Luckily her cast has been accommodating; Kurek says her favorite part of creating the piece has been working with her dancers. “I have a great cast,” she says with a smile. “They’re so open to ideas—they just go for it!” Callahan’s piece also relies on the enthusiastic cooperation of her dancers. “My process is definitely collaborative,” she says. “I come in with some phrase work and a lot of ideas, and my dancers bear with me as we try out a bunch of different manipulations until we find something that is just right.” Callahan’s piece is titled Words Unsaid and offers further exploration into the psychology project she started last semester on the subject of family secrets. “It is really intriguing to me the differences in family dynamics,” Carly explains, “especially surrounding this idea of secrets or the words that family members don’t say to each other and how
that affects their relationships.” Adding to the collaborative aspect of her project is the music, which will be performed live onstage by fellow Goucher student David Bridgeman ’13. Throckmorton’s piece was originally performed at last semester’s 361 Concert, and then again at the American College Dance Festival. Her inspiration for the piece, titled The Inside of a Shadow, was to explore the unconscious, and she collaborated with her cast in discovering what that concept meant to each of them. Through structured improvisation, Throckmorton worked with her dancers to create movements that were personal to each of them. In one particularly effective rehearsal, she recalls, “I had them move in a way that they thought was beautiful, and then in a way that they thought was ugly—more than ugly—grotesque.” After watching each other they discussed their thoughts and, to Throckmorton’s surprise, “They all thought that the movement that was ugly was more interesting.” Making the piece even more collaborative, Goucher musician Sami Arefin ’13 has provided musical accompaniment for every showing and will be playing again at the spring dance concert.
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Calendar of Events
Goucher Summer Arts Institute Sunday, July 7, through Saturday, July 20 This two-week intensive day and boarding summer arts program offers training for intermediate through pre-professional dancers and musicians, ages 12 through 18. Visit www.goucher.edu/summerarts or e-mail linda.garofalo@goucher.edu for information.
Faculty Adviser: Rick Southerland Editors:
Ellen Bast ’14 Hillary Blunt ’14 Dorie Chevlen ’15
Writers: Sarah Eckart ’16 Hannah Fenster ’15 Eve Holmes ’13 Julia Larcenaire ’16 Emily Polasik ’13 Megan Simon ’13 Photographers:
Hannah Fenster ’15 Eve Holmes ’13 Lindsay Johnson ’05 Jason Lee Kate McKenzie ’15 Sarah Muskat ’13 Cora Provins ’07
13303-J1750 12/12
Chorégraphie Antique Final Dance Performance and Celebration Monday, May 13, 7 p.m. Lilian Welsh Studio Join Chorégraphie Antique, the dance history ensemble of Goucher College, in its final performance of the semester. Dancers will make history come alive through reconstructions of dances from the Baroque era to the 20th century.
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A Night of Independent Projects Friday, May 3, 7:30 p.m. Todd Dance Studio Theatre Goucher dance majors present independent works in choreography. In her work Words Unsaid, Carly Callahan will express the changes in dynamics family secrets can cause; Sophie Kurek’s work explores the disintegration of relationships; and Charlie
Markham delves into a personal journey of religion and its acceptance of sexuality. Free and open to the public. www.goucher.edu/dance.
GOUCHER COLLEGE
Goucher Repertory Dance Ensemble Concert Friday, April 19, and Saturday, April 20, at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, April 21, at 2 p.m. Kraushaar Auditorium Enjoy ballet and modern works by guest artist Darrell Grand Moultrie, Goucher Associate Professor of Dance Elizabeth Ahearn, and Goucher senior Hayli Throckmorton. Goucher students will also perform George Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco©, staged by Deborah Wingert, former New York City Ballet soloist. The artists will discuss the evening’s choreography at 6:45 p.m. on April 19 in Rosenberg Gallery. $15 general admission; $5 for students with ID, senior citizens, and anyone with a valid Goucher OneCard. www.goucher.edu/tickets.
GOUCHER COLLEGE