Over 400 votes later, here are the winners from our profile picture contest! Each of these pictures will be our Facebook Profile Picture at some point this semester. We decided to use the two top choices from ON THE TOWN, as they were the two most popular pictures out of the whole bunch, and only came in one vote apart.
Hello all! After a crazy, long, and stressful week, I’m back to tell you about my awesome experiences in my first Muhlenberg production, Moving Stories! This past week consisted of long hours of dress rehearsals, cue-to-cues, and lots of practice, which all came together in an overwhelming success. Before I get to that though, I’m going to start at the beginning.
Beginning late last week, dress rehearsals and tech began on our Baker stage. Each night, a few dance pieces got an allotted time slot to test out their spacing, experiment with stage lighting, and run the dance in costume. This was the time to fix any problems, whether it was a late lighting cue or my ill-fitting pants. While not on stage, the rest of the cast had some time to relax in the lavender lounge (Muhlenberg’s version of a green room) and bond before the show. As any dancer could guess, this time was filled with lots of jokes, songs, and of course back massages.
Once Thursday rolled around, this relaxing backstage atmosphere was transformed into a bubble of excitement. Before the show, I was introduced to many of the Muhlenberg dance traditions, including gift giving, kiss the cast, crew dance, pass the squeeze, and “the shakeout.” An hour before the show, all dancers were calling onstage for a fun warm-up led by professors Jeffrey Peterson and Teresa VanDenend Sorge, or Meredith, our Muhlenberg Dance Association president, to calm our nerves. We were then sent back upstairs, where we put the finishing touches on our hair and makeup and got into costume.
Before we knew it, it was show time. Every night of performances, the audience filled the theatre and the dancers were ready. Each performance went incredibly smoothly, and every dance piece looked even better on stage than it had in rehearsals. The piece I was in, “Self-Mediation” by Sean Vanin ’13, was third in the show, giving me just enough time to enjoy the rest of the performance.
Although shows ended Saturday night, I was lucky enough to get one last chance to perform Sean’s piece… in New York! Sean and Emily Ancona’s pieces were both chosen to go to a College Connect dance showing in the city at Dance New Amsterdam. At 7 a.m. Sunday morning, our two casts boarded the bus for a day filled with dance. After watching and performing pieces, all of the dancers and choreographers gave feedback on each other’s works and suggested improvements.
Quite obviously, my week was filled with dance, but it’s not over for me yet. Now that I have checked Moving Stories off of my to-do list, I am moving on to my next show, the informal dance concert. Come check it out in December! I’ll keep you updated on all of my dancing news, but until then, here are some backstage shots from Moving Stories!
Left/Top: “Self-Mediation” cast practicing their “virus” pose.
Right/Bottom: The freshmen in Moving Stories! (minus Tommy)
Moving Stories opens tonight! “Merde” to all the dancers and choreographers!
Tickets are still available for all performances: 484-664-3333 or http://bit.ly/VOf3ru
Hey there, friends!
I’m excited to finally be posting! I can honestly say I’ve simply been trying to get a picture to add to this coming spiel, and I finally did! Hooray! Now, onto business…
I can’t believe it’s almost Thanksgiving break already… where did this semester go?! BUT before you pack up your dorm rooms and slip on your Turkey Day aprons, be sure you pick up some tickets for the dance department’s Moving Stories production! I can tell ya, from an insider’s perspective, it’s something you won’t want to miss.
So a little about the piece I’m performing in. My choreographer is Nina Pongratz, and for three hours a week I find myself in the company of not only her positive and go-getting attitude, but an additional eleven wonderful cast members. I know what you’re thinking: sheesh, that’s a gigundo cast! And indeed, we are a large group, but we work rather wonderfully together! Rehearsals are a blast and a half, and I can always count on all of them to make me smile. The piece in itself is a musical theatre-y/jazz piece set to a beautiful, upbeat score that makes everyone around want to get up off their tushes and dance because of its “life is beautiful, everything is perfect, and I feel like a ray of sunshine” effect. And guess what? WE’RE FINISHED! HOORAH! Next step: practice on practice on practice.
Tonight happens to mark the end of the third showing for this production. This basically means that earlier in the evening, all of the choreographers lined up with their dancers (for the third time) this semester to get feedback from the faculty on the progress of their pieces thus far. Since we’re getting closer to the big day, a few of us got to play dress up tonight too! It was a real good time—that is, until I ended up half dead on the floor of the Dance Studio Theatre. This dance gives new meaning to the saying, “It takes my breath away.” You never really appreciate the simple luxury that is water until your lungs seem to have taken on the weight of three bricks in approximately five minutes.
I’ll be sure to keep you all posted as we get closer to show day! But for now, enjoy this picture of (the majority of) the cast. We have: Sean at the top, then me, Tommy, Tyler, Dahlya, Kevin, Bryan, Emily, and Chelsea! (Jess, Ali, and Britt had to make a run for it seeing as they had other rehearsals. What talented little gems they are!) Also, notice the curlers in Emily and Chelsea’s hair? They’re performing in On the Town! Merde to you, my beautiful cast mates! Show ‘em what you’re made of!
PS: Want to know more about the show? Well, you’re in luck because Moving Stories was just featured on talkdanceworld.com. Check out the article here!
Hi everyone! I’m Natalie, a freshman dancer here at Muhlenberg. The last few months have been a whirlwind of exciting new experiences. Crazy new dance classes, opportunities with amazing choreographers, countless auditions and brilliant shows are only the beginning of what I have found Muhlenberg has to offer. If anyone has a love for exploring dance, I promise you that this is the place to get involved.
After the nerve-wracking first week of auditions, I was super excited to hear that I got cast in one dance piece in Moving Stories and two pieces in the fall informal dance concert. Ever since this news, my weeks have been filled with rehearsals for both shows. I am delighted to say that just this week we completed the piece for Moving Stories, and received our eye-catching costumes from Constance Case, the show’s costume designer.
For the informal dance concert, we have spent much of our time in rehearsals during the last couple weeks exploring a wide array of movement, music selections, and storylines. I can truthfully say that I already can see some amazing dance works coming from this process, varying from energetic jazzy numbers to lyrical ballet styles. I praise these choreographers for taking the time to explore these innovative new ideas.
I also encourage you all to come see these two awesome shows here at Muhlenberg! Moving Stories runs from Nov. 15-17, and the informal show is Dec.5-6! That’s all for now, but I attached a picture you can see below of an informal dance rehearsal. Here you see a still shot of a rather comedic piece. I hope you’ll come to see the rest!
