Displaying items by tag: Student

Written by the School of Dance Ballet Choreography and Production Students

Seventeen Ballet Program choreographers will showcase their original works November 16 through 18, at the Marriott Center for Dance. This performance is the culmination of the Choreography & Production class, and includes pieces ranging from ballet to hip-hop. Although each work is unique, they explore common ideas such as harmonious diversity, the growth of identity, and the gray spaces between binaries.

 Many of the choreographers were drawn to the idea of individuality and the way that every person fits together peacefully. Tyler Piwowarczyk’s piece highlights each dancer’s unique strengths. He drew inspiration from the strong women surrounding him and from Coco Chanel’s quote, “In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.”

Sierra Govett drew inspiration from a Danish TV advertisement, and her choreography communicates the importance of recognizing the commonalities between individuals. Through a duet, Emily Chapman explores how “the acceptance of vulnerability allows us to connect with others.” Also exploring relationships is Natalie Dellutri, who invites her audience to discover that although an individual may feel lonely, he or she is never truly alone.

The choreographers were also interested in the concept of identity. Tia Sandman’s work explores the concept of “meshing multiple sides of you, into you.” While Madeline Jones uses her choreography to consider that all emotions must be present for an individual to be truly whole. Victoria Coleman reminds her audience that even though they are pulled in many directions, they must stay true to themselves. Emily Lowe’s piece for a solo artist investigates the confident feeling of “I am enough”.

Other choreographers explored the healing power of dance. Brooke Huebner encourages the audience to consider the importance of living in the now, rather than struggling with the burdens of the past and the pressures of the future. Savanna Hunter examines how distance from trauma affects time. In a classical piece, Kyle Cunningham emphasizes the happiness dancers feel when they are dancing for the sake of dancing. Jennifer Dzuranin, inspired by Shel Silverstein’s poems, creates movement hearkening back to a time of imagination. Tori Holmes choreographed in order to remind her audience that there is always hope in the face of oppression, using dance to depict the strength one must have to keep faith. Nell Josephine’s piece investigates the way three people use dance to overcome their anxiety and fear.

Lastly, choreographers explore the gray areas between hard and fast rules. The butterfly effect, in which one tiny action can cause an enormous effect, is the inspiration for Alex Sprague’s work. Lexie Cheyne questions the conventional gender roles found in most dance forms, deconstructing the preconceived notions of what is possible for every individual. Jalen Williams incorporates elements from ballet, contemporary, and hip-hop, declaring, “we are more than just ballet dancers”.

These seventeen choreographers invite you to grayspace at the Marriott Center for Dance, November 16 at 5:30P, November 17 at 7:30P and November 18 at 2P and 7:30P. Tickets are available online, phone at 801.581.7100 or at the door 30 minutes prior to curtain. For more information, please visit Dance.utah.edu. 

We spoke with School of Dance MFA graduate student and guest teacher Shane Davis, also known as Janice Janice Janice, about his evolution into dance, drag, teaching and self realizations about his true self.

By Noelle Sharp.

Tell us about yourself: Name, where you are from, what you do and how you got into in your field of work.

My name is Shane Davis. I also go by the performing name of Janice Janice Janice. I am most recently from Provo, Utah, where I attended Brigham Young University garnering a Bachelors of Arts in Modern Dance. I grew up near Seattle, WA, Houston, TX, and Albuquerque, NM.

What do I do?

Right now I am working on my MFA in modern dance and the graduate certificate in Gender Studies. I hope to be a choreographer for various venues, including music videos, Broadway and different dance troupes. Outside of academia, I perform as Janice Janice Janice around Salt Lake City. I have not become to proliferated in the Drag scene here in SLC but I hope to make my mark a little more pronounced in the coming months after graduation. I have been accepted as a performer at the Austin International Drag Festival which takes place in November. I am also currently teaching a course entitled "Dragging Gender into the 21st Century" that is a seminar type survey course that is part discussion of issues in and around Drag and part embodiment of the subject matter.

My sister Amanda, who is one of my best friends and mentor, encouraged me to go into both modern dance and Drag. I began my undergraduate career at BYU in the film program, but once one of my instructors said that my film art should primarily testify of Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ, I quit the program and drifted around for a couple of semesters. My older sister suggested that I take a modern dance class. I did and I fell in love. Years later, once I returned from an LDS mission and after coming out to Amanda as gay, she encouraged me to watch RuPaul's Drag Race. I got around to it and fell in love with that performance form and decided to try it out. I participated in the first (that we know of) Drag pageant in Utah county and won second place. I have since been involved with the scene here, and have won first place at the Miss City Weekly pageant that kicks off pride weekend each summer.

I decided to come to grad school after working a year in a dead end job after graduation with my undergraduate degree and I had a panic moment. That that job was not what I wanted to do with my life. I had more to learn. So I begged the director of the MFA program to allow me to audition (as I was a few months late) and the modern dance faculty granted me an audition and accepted me. I then also discovered the Graduate certificate in gender studies and decided to pursue that as I lacked sophisticated and critical thinking on the topics of sexuality and gender. I wanted to fill in holes of my understanding and to push my thinking.

What has surprised you the most in your life?

Uhf, that I'd be here of all places. Five years ago, I was still immersed in Mormonism and trying to adhere to their standards of compulsory daily drag. I had even gone back into the closet, telling my parents to disregard my previous coming out and that I was going to date women and make things work out in the path that they had chosen for me from the time the first ultrasound dubbed me a "boy." Now to see a crown and trophy hinting at my wins in a somewhat subversive art form, and also teaching a university course on Drag, is a tad surreal. I have traded in my missionary ties for high heels.

What do you wish you had known/been told?

I know this is kinda out of left field (what... a sports reference?), but I wish I had know or been told that I was not a freak and that I was ok to not be the same as the other "boys." I wish I had known that there were many ways to be a person in this world and to not have the yearning to put myself in a restrictive box. I wish I had come out at an earlier age and been stronger in my sense of self. I wish I had known about queer and feminist theories. Theorizing can be therapeutic and healing. I wish I had known that it was ok to experiment, ok to be fluid, and ok to fail.

Read about Davis's "Dragging Gender into the 21st Century" class here. Photos courtesy of Shane Davis. Photo credits: Anna Day @moabchica, Steve Conlin @steve_conlin_photo, and Gilbert Garcia @instaguygil

Interested in contributing to this series? Contact Noelle Sharp.

Amy McMaster, a School of Dance student in the Ballet program, has been invited to represent the USA in the Cecchetti International Classical Ballet Competition. As a freshman at the U, McMaster is both a ballet major and pre-occupational therapy student, and belongs to the Honors College. She has been selected to represent Cecchetti USA at the upcoming Cecchetti Competition this summer in Florence, Italy. Cecchetti USA is a society in a larger worldwide organization that includes members from Australia, Canada, South Africa, UK, Japan, and Italy.

The Cecchetti Competition takes place every three years. The latest editions were held in 2014 in Richmond, Virginia, where McMaster first represented the U.S. The Cecchetti International aims to preserve, promote, and spread the Cecchetti Method, keeping its essence and historical tradition alive. The Cecchetti Method of ballet training is a progressive system of training dancers from a pre-ballet beginning level to a professional level. The Cecchetti Method was designed with careful regard to the laws of anatomy to prepare a dancer’s body to bear the physical demands of public performance. The Method embodies qualities that are essential to the dancer; balance, poise, strength, elevation, elasticity, musicality and artistry. The progressive approach of the Cecchetti method has produced a long list of very well-known and accomplished ballet dancers. Famous personalities and guests will be invited to take part in the jury process of the competition. Dancers, choreographers, and directors of prestigious vocational schools, along with directors of companies will offer important scholarships and contracts of employment to competitors.

This will be McMaster’s second experience as a competitor for Cecchetti USA, and she has been using the last three years to prepare.

“When I competed in 2014, I knew I would still be young enough to qualify for the 2017 competition, so I viewed it more as a learning experience than anything else; I wanted to know the caliber of the dancers from the other countries so I would be prepared for the next one. For the last three years, my goal has been to become the best dancer I could be so that this time I can be as good as or better than the dancers from professional schools such as English National Ballet School, National Ballet of Canada, etc.”

The dancers are judged on two solos and a classical ballet class. The 15-20 dancers with the top scores will be invited to the finals. At the end of the Finals Gala performance, the jury awards scholarships and awards to the finalist dancers.

Fifteen College of Fine Arts students are among the U’s most articulate ambassadors, without ever saying a word. School of Music students in the Red Hots! program perform for events all over campus, sharing their talents and love of music and transforming the ordinary into something special. Their appearance ensures that the arts have a presence at the University’s most important events.

As Jacqueline Voland of the School of Medicine explains, they are “the hidden gem on campus.” In its fourth year, the School established the Red Hots! to provide freelance experience for its students, while exposing the campus community to its exceptional musical talent. With a string quartet, jazz ensemble, pianists, harpists and classical guitarist, plenty of options exist for those wanting to create just the right ambience for their event.

The University President’s Office is a frequent requestor of Red Hot! Performers. “They bring high caliber talent, class and elegance to any event and leave a wonderful first and lasting impression,” explains President David and Dr. Sandi Pershing.

The student Red Hots! gain professional experience and strengthen their resumes by serving as University ambassadors to alumni, donors and the community. They also receive payment for every performance, providing support similar to a fellowship.

“The Red Hots! offers me opportunities to perform for varied audiences and to move people by my music,” said pianist and Red Hot! Shanmo Guan. The School of Music’s Advisory Board funds the Red Hots! program through its annual Camerata Awards Gala. Events that qualify pay no charge for Red Hot! Performers.

For more information please visit Red Hots!.