LSU Dance Concert

features student choreographers and performers

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By Kayla Falgoust

Over the years, dance has struggled to find its home at LSU - first as part of the kinesiology department and more recently as part of the theatre department. However, for almost a decade now, LSU's dance program has been a hidden gem in the menagerie of minor degrees offered at the university.

According to Molly Buchmann, director of the university's dance minor, LSU's dance program was originally part of the kinesiology department until it was cut completely in the mid-1980s.

"There was absolutely no dance here when I was hired in 1998 to teach one class for the department of theatre," said Buchmann. "The late Dr. Bill Harbin was chair of the department at that time and with his help and the help of Dr. [Terry] Worthy - now retired from the department of kinesiology - the performance dance classes were moved to the department of theatre."

"I became fulltime in the fall of 1999 and was charged with getting the dance minor started for the spring of 2000," she added. "We had our first 'Evening of Dance' that year."

The "Evening of Dance" Buchmann is referring to is LSU's Spring Dance Concert, held annually at the university. This year, the concert will feature ballet, jazz, modern and tap dance, with performances by the LSU Dance Ensemble, the LSU Tap Dance Ensemble and students enrolled in the theatre department's intermediate technique classes. The concert will also include a number choreographed by instructor Dina Melley and performed by LSU students who are also Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre dancers.

"The Dance Ensemble is a group of select dancers who audition in October to participate," said Buchmann, who is also directing the concert. "They are active participants in our technique classes, and most have studied and continue to study dance outside of LSU...Many have danced with professional and pre-professional companies in their hometowns, and some continue to dance professionally with companies here, like Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre and Of Moving Colors."

"Dance Ensemble is pretty much dedicated to the spring concert," added Christina Persaud, LSU dance minor and Dance Ensemble member. "We warm up and rehearse for almost six hours per week. The first few weeks consisted of auditioning for student choreographers' pieces, and then we jumped right into learning choreography after we learned whose pieces we'd be in."

Buchmann selects about six student choreographers each year to work on pieces for the dance concert. To become a student choreographer, a dancer has to have completed a three-hour dance composition class and have danced with the LSU Dance Ensemble.

Moreover, the three LSU dance instructors - Susan Perlis, ballet, Dina Melley, modern and Christine Chrest, jazz - also create pieces for their respective technique classes to perform in the concert. Last year, Chrest's intermediate jazz class performed a musical theatre piece to "Jet Song" from the Broadway hit "West Side Story."

"I really enjoyed performing in [the] 'West Side Story' [piece]," said Persaud. "Christine is an amazing choreographer and dancer, and came up with a really fun piece. I think it was a great closing number for the concert."

The Sixth Annual LSU Spring Dance Concert will be held at the Baton Rouge Magnet High School (BRMHS) auditorium with performances at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Sunday, April 26. Normally, the concert is held on campus, but this year, it had to be relocated because of unfinished construction on the Union Theatre and the Claude Shaver Theatre in the Music and Dramatic Arts Building.

"We chose BRMHS because it has a large stage - our main concern - and a comfortable house for our audience," said Buchmann. "It's also convenient to LSU."

"Certainly, not being in one of our previous theatres will have an effect on our production values, as lighting equipment will be limited," she added. "So this year our emphasis is on the dancing and the choreography, and we're pleased to have such a big stage to dance full out on."

Originally Published: Issue 762 - April 22, 2009

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