Students in GW's dance program were on a mission over the weekend to expose the community to modern dance through their semi-annual dance concert.
Danceworks Fall 2006, which attracted more than 240 audience members at each show, featured 28 dancers and seven student choreographers in the Marvin Center's Dorothy Betts Theater on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
"Many people are frustrated that they don't understand modern dance, but you don't need to necessarily understand modern dance to appreciate it and be touched by it," said dancer and choreographer Carrie Kerstein, a senior.
Danceworks Fall 2006 combines the talent of students and faculty with the help of professional lighting and costume designers from outside GW. Danceworks concert director and choreography teacher Dana Tai Soon Burgess along with production director Carl Gudenius oversaw the entire production.
"(Danceworks) is a wonderful opportunity for students to self-guide and explore their emerging aesthetics, but with a safety net of caring, concerned mentors," wrote Burgess in an e-mail.
Choreographers are all part of a class that is taken at the end of the dance major or minor. Everyone in the class must audition a piece for mainstage and perform it publicly whether or not it is chosen for Danceworks.
"It's a completely different experience being a choreographer from a dancer," said senior Marcía Elena LoMonaco, who both choreographed and danced in the showcase. "You learn so much about the whole performance."
Many of the student choreographers are seniors working on their thesis projects.
"I choreographed the first piece (in the performance) which will be developed further into my thesis project that will be performed at the end of the year," said senior dancer and choreographer Aliza Rudavsky.
Performers said they appreciate the chance to both build their skills as dancers while also becoming more involved in the entire dance community.
Danceworks Fall 2006, which attracted more than 240 audience members at each show, featured 28 dancers and seven student choreographers in the Marvin Center's Dorothy Betts Theater on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
"Many people are frustrated that they don't understand modern dance, but you don't need to necessarily understand modern dance to appreciate it and be touched by it," said dancer and choreographer Carrie Kerstein, a senior.
Danceworks Fall 2006 combines the talent of students and faculty with the help of professional lighting and costume designers from outside GW. Danceworks concert director and choreography teacher Dana Tai Soon Burgess along with production director Carl Gudenius oversaw the entire production.
"(Danceworks) is a wonderful opportunity for students to self-guide and explore their emerging aesthetics, but with a safety net of caring, concerned mentors," wrote Burgess in an e-mail.
Choreographers are all part of a class that is taken at the end of the dance major or minor. Everyone in the class must audition a piece for mainstage and perform it publicly whether or not it is chosen for Danceworks.
"It's a completely different experience being a choreographer from a dancer," said senior Marcía Elena LoMonaco, who both choreographed and danced in the showcase. "You learn so much about the whole performance."
Many of the student choreographers are seniors working on their thesis projects.
"I choreographed the first piece (in the performance) which will be developed further into my thesis project that will be performed at the end of the year," said senior dancer and choreographer Aliza Rudavsky.
Performers said they appreciate the chance to both build their skills as dancers while also becoming more involved in the entire dance community.
