Dance ensemble is anything but ‘disengaged’

‘ ‘ ‘ The student dancers of the Pitt Dance Ensemble will take a step away from reality and… ‘ ‘ ‘ The student dancers of the Pitt Dance Ensemble will take a step away from reality and invite its audience to do the same in its latest performance, ‘Disengaged.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ The formal dance concert will feature ballet, jazz, tap and modern dance with choreography both by students and professional guests, 12 choreographies in all. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘The students voted on a title for the concert. They thought that would be like disengaging from normal life, something different and exciting,’ said Susan Gillis-Kruman, adviser and director of Pitt’s Dance Ensemble. ‘ ‘ ‘ This year’s guest choreographers were local Dance Alloy Theater education director Greer Reed-Jones and former Dance Alloy Theater dancer and adjunct Pitt dance instructor Michelle Hall Dawson. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘It deals with the whole Hurricane Katrina situation, the reality of that whole incident, but at the same time it tells of the strength of the people of New Orleans,’ said Reed-Jones about her choreographed work, ‘Hot Jambalaya.’ The piece, a blend of African and modern dance styles, includes 18 ensemble dancers. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘It was awesome. I wasn’t familiar with these particular dancers so I had to see what they could handle,’ she said. ‘ ‘ ‘ Dawson’s piece, ‘In the Station,’ is set to Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata,’ featuring seven ensemble dancers. ‘ ‘ ‘ Dawson said that her original inspiration for the piece came from the experience of being informed of a friend’s death in a crowded public area and realizing that no one around her was aware of her grief. She said that it made her aware of the importance of simple acts of kindness of strangers. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘You don’t necessarily talk to someone on a train or know what they’re going through, so you never know what effects even a simple gesture of kindness might have on them,’ she said. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘In the Station’ uses straightforward movements as a metaphor for these ‘simple gestures.’ The work has been performed several times since Dawson choreographed it in September, including earlier this month at the American College Dance Festival at Penn State. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘It’s given us the opportunity to really examine the piece over and over and think about what it means,’ said Dawson. ‘ ‘ ‘ Student choreographers include Pitt students Christiana Thurton, Leah Dowdy, Kelli Gabriel, Liz Chebra, Lauren MacLaughlin and Kaitlin Weaver, who all choreographed modern dance pieces. Pitt student Lauren Brune choreographed a ballet dance, Greg McCummings choreographed a hip-hop work and Kristin Haughney choreographed a tap-dance piece. ‘ ‘ ‘ Any Pitt student can participate in the ensemble, but each choreographer decides with which dancers he or she wants to work. There are nearly 60 student-dancers performing in ‘Disengaged.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Every year the ensemble presents an informal concert in the fall and a formal concert in the spring. The formal concert has a limited program that would-be choreographers must audition for in front of a panel of professional choreographers. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We try to keep the performance to around an hour, the bleachers [in Trees Hall] are not exactly comfortable for the audience,’ said Gillis-Kruman. Of the 18 people who auditioned for this year’s performance, 10 were accepted.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ The informal concert, however, is open to any choreographer who wants to present his work. This fall’s program included nearly 90 student dancers. ‘ ‘ ‘ The turnout at previous ensemble performances has been so good that this year it added an additional performance in the hopes of accommodating everyone who wanted to see it. ‘ ‘ ‘ The Pitt Dance Ensemble offers free weekly dance classes, workshops and dance production classes, some of which can be taken for credit. Dawson said, ‘Students come away [from dancing in the ensemble] with a clear appreciation of what performance means and, I hope, an appreciation of the process we went through to get where we we’re going.’