RACHEL BAYER
Special to The Leader
From left to right, Kaylee Brott, Kory Randles, Gianna Dobrich, Angelina Rand, Eleanor Fish, Nicolena Treasure, Mackenzie Phelps. Photos via Douglass Osborne-Coy.
This spring, the Fredonia Dance Ensemble put dance majors in the spotlight for two days. On March 24 and 25, the FDE performed their annual show in the Robert W. Marvel Theatre located in the Rockefeller Arts Center.
The show was directed and choreographed by Professor Paula Peters and featured several guest choreographers including Dale Merrill, Sumi Clements and Ryan McMullen.
“Rehearsals for this performance began the first week of classes,” said Valentina Duic, a freshman dance major and FDE performer.
Duic said the most challenging aspect of the rehearsal process was “the long hours” because she was a part of two routines in the show.
“Being in the studio all day for multiple days in a row can take a toll on you if you don’t get enough sleep or fuel your body correctly,” Duic said.
The show featured four pieces, which didn’t have, “any one centralized theme, but had a throughline of the passage of time,” Peters said.
Peters also said that the show had the “idea of the human experience” and how “we all have humanity, but it’s expressed differently.”
This show was really important to both the dancers and choreographers, which was evident to the audience through each piece.
“Being a part of this show opened so many new opportunities for me,” Duic said.
The show was Duic’s “first experience being in a professional setting and it gave [her] so much knowledge on how the professional world works.”
This experience was extremely different from other performances Duic has done in her home studio.
“The pieces I was a part of in FDE had so much thought that was put into them and were truly amazing,” Duic said.
Duic was very excited to get the opportunity to work with new choreographers and to “learn from new people and gain connections within the field.”
Peters admires her students and expressed her gratitude for all of their hard work preparing for this performance. She knows that when necessary they will always rise to the occasion.
“I think probably the biggest thing about them is how adaptable they are. They can take an idea, embody it and collaborate,” Peters said.
The dancers’ adaptability and resilience were extremely important aspects of the FDE performance, as it premiered earlier than usual.
Duic admires her professors and choreographers who put a lot of effort into this show.
She enjoyed seeing the behind-the-scenes production aspects of the show that normally wouldn’t be as evident to performers. She expressed how amazing it was to see all of the hard work pay off.
“I also learned so much more about being a professional and how to act in a show so that everything runs smoothly,” Duic said.
The dance program at Fredonia is open to new students getting involved. There are many ways for students to join the program. The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Dance program teaches students who are interested in working in the professional performance area of dance.
Recently, a new major was added, the Bachelor of Science in Dance, which is mainly encouraged for students interested in double majoring and incorporating dance into another field.
This new program allows students to still have the opportunity to perform but is half of the credits required for a BFA because it is mainly for double majors. There is also a dance minor students can add to their degree.
Outside of majoring or minoring, students across campus can also audition for senior BFA dance projects.
For more updates, follow SUNY Fredonia Dance on Instagram @fredoniadance.