Ally Frosch said many pieces of dance choreography made on campus in the past year could be related to relationships.
Frosch, a senior psychology major and a member of the upcoming program Danceworks, also explained how the connection can be made from relationships to this year’s Danceworks theme, “Convergence.”
“We think about what the general theme of our pieces are,” Frosch said. “This year it is a lot about relationships. Either relationships coming together, or relationships splitting apart, and that really resounds in each piece.”
Danceworks is an annual production put on by the members of the Concert Dance Company, and features 11 choreographed pieces, nine of which are student led. The cast includes students and usually one or two professors choreographing.
Julie Fox is the director of Danceworks and a professor of dance at UW-Eau Claire. She said students prepare for Danceworks all year, and the show is the culmination of all their hard work.
“The show is big,” Fox said. “It’s the biggest. This is our annual program concert, so in a big sense everything we work for is preparing toward these three days.”
Six choreographers return to this year’s show, along with the addition of three new student participants.
Senior Caitlin Rathburn said she thinks the new cast members will bring a dynamic side of the performance that audience members may not have seen in previous years.
“I think this year is really special because we have some new choreographers who are evolving and then a lot of old choreographers that are expanding,” Rathburn said. “They’re trying new things and I think that is really exciting, and I think the work this year is extremely developed.”
Rathburn co-choreographed a piece called “Disconnected,” which she said has a somewhat comical feel to it. She also produced her own piece named “Morning Circumference,” in which the six females dancers portray a seemingly endless cycle of being a college student.
Both Fox and Rathburn encourage the student population as well as the general population to see Danceworks Thursday through Saturday, especially if they’ve never previously been to a dance performance.
Fox said dance is comparable to music and thinks people should give Danceworks a chance.
“Think about how you respond to music: responding to dance is very similar,” Fox said. “You are responding to motion, and how people connect … it can be a parallel relationship to how you make meaning out of music.”
Rathburn said anyone who attends the program could make a connection to one, if not many pieces in this year’s production.
“There’s a little something for everyone,” Rathburn said. “We want everyone sitting in that audience to take something different away from it and interpret it in their own way. We invite them to come to any understanding or conclusion of our pieces that they would like.”
The show takes place 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday at Kjer Theatre.
