The School of Dance Senior Dance Concert will take place this weekend, with performances taking place Friday and Saturday.
Senior dance students will have their last show as Ohio University students this weekend.
There are six dance students graduating with a BFA this year. Three of the six are choreographing and performing solos and the other three are choreographing group pieces that underclassmen will perform in.
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“It’s been a long four years filled with many lessons. I think that the school of dance does a really good job by instilling in its students the value of hard work and commitment,” Leah Crosby, a senior studying dance, said. “And also just being fiercely passionate about the work we’re involved in, every aspect of it.”
But the seniors aren’t the only ones feeling nostalgic.
“It’s a warm feeling just to know they’ve arrived here,” said Nathan Andary, a lecturer in dance. “It’s frustrating also because they have moments of frustration or moments of confusion and you just have to wait and see how they find themselves through those times.”
Bethany Logan, a senior studying dance, said the professors and administrators in the Dance Division have taught her valuable lessons that she’ll never forget.
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“(They taught me to) trust my instincts to go with my gut as a creator and a performer,” Logan said. “And (to) have that carried into my life. Just trusting what’s in my gut and going with it.”
Logan is one of the three soloists in the concert, and the piece, which she choreographed, is inspired by the idea of a black stallion. The grace, beauty and strength of a big black horse inspired her for the piece, she said.
Logan will be spending next year as a missionary in South Asia and will be able to dance while she’s there. After she returns, her plan is to go to New York City and pursue her career.
Travis Gatling, an associate director of the School of Dance, said this time of year is one of the parts of the job he looks forward to, but he misses every graduating class.
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“It’s almost like you build this mentor relationship with them — not quite on the same level as parenting, but you really become close and attached to the students,” Gatling said. “You are nurturing them into dance artists and then to see them go out into the world. It’s one of those things (where you simply) miss them.”
Gatling said he is going to miss this year’s graduating class’ enthusiasm, creativity, quirkiness and all the things that they struggled with earlier in their academic career that he saw them overcome.
“That you miss … that nurturing process with them,” he said.
Crosby, a senior studying dance said the concert has been a very emotional process.
“We’re dancers but were also choreographers we also do video work, we do back stage work,” Crosby said. “It’s a very holistic experience for us.”
Crosby choreographed “Count On/Wait For” one of the three group pieces in the concert. Crosby is working with intertwining bodies being held at strange angles as a main element in her piece. Crosby said she’s working a lot with playing with lights and fabric.
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