Many people came out to show their support at the Movement Dance Concert, which was completely curated, performed and choreographed by students.
Twenty minutes before the doors opened, Amy Whitehead arrived at Putnam Hall after a two-hour drive to deliver a bag with surprises before her daughter performed.
“I’m so thankful that (my mom) drove all they way here,” said Azaree Whitehead, Amy’s daughter and performer in the Movement Dance Concert, which took place Thursday evening. “She still has to go back to work in the morning but I’m so happy she’s never missed a performance.”
Amy was a former dancer and Azaree’s older sister graduated from Ohio University’s dance division in 2013.
The dance concert is set apart by the high level of student involvement. The show is completely choreographed, performed and curated by student dancers.
“I just love the movement and the music,” Amy said. “It’s the students doing it, that’s what’s exciting.”
Amy said her favorite aspect of the show was the fact her daughter, as a student, was a part of something great.
“You can go to those big shows and nothing’s wrong with those but professionals, I mean, that’s what they get trained for and paid for,” she said. “These students are still in training and they’re still learning and they did a great job you can tell they love it.”
Nine pieces were part of the performance, which were all modern dance works.
“(The performance) was great. It just feels good that all of our hard work paid off because we didn’t really have a lot of time to prepare,” Azaree said. “So with just that short amount of time and all the work we put in it just feels good to perform for everyone and it just feels like we really made something out of it.”
Azaree performed in the piece “Seen and Known,” choreographed by Grace Nicklos.
“My favorite performance is between the one (Jon Lawson) choreographed and “Shattered Eyes on Me,’” said Sarah Reichert, a sophomore studying social work. “They seemed like a lot more fun compared to others, they had a fun side to them.”
Reichert is taking a dance class this semester taught by Jon Lawson.
Janae Boyles, a sophomore studying accounting and pre-law, came out to the concert to support her best friend Allison Bradley who choreographed the piece “Overload.”
She said she also really enjoyed “Shattered Eyes on Me” because it was more upbeat, with not as much to analyze so she had more time to enjoy it.
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