Senior dance and ballet majors had to plan an entire show, from start to finish, all on their own.
The TCU School for Classical and Contemporary Dance will host a special show next week. The show will take place Dec. 4 and 5 at 6 and 8 p.m. in Erma Lowe Hall Studio Theatre.
Susan Douglas Roberts, a professor of dance, said the seniors have been planning this show since the end of their junior year. She said the seniors do all the production work themselves.
Ashley Bomm, a senior ballet major, said the show took an entire semester of hard work and planning.
“We worked consistently in class every week to choreograph dances, compose costumes, design posters, print programs and set up publicity,” Bomm said. “This show is 100 percent planned, organized and created by the members of the senior class.”
Jessica Ho, a senior modern dance major, said the process was stressful. She said they began by deciding what their dance would be like and the type of movement quality they wanted. Next, they picked which dancers in the department would be best to cast in their piece.
Taylor Semin, a senior modern dance major, said this senior class is unique this year because it is large, containing twenty-two students. Semin said with that many people, agreeing on decisions was somewhat of a challenge.
“It would get a little messy,” Semin said. “We always had to communicate with each other during the process.”
Ho said that with such a large number of seniors, many of them had the same dancers in mind to perform in their pieces. The dancers are underclassmen and seniors in the program. She said they had to sometimes draw names from a hat to keep everything fair.
Roberts said the students have had other coursework helped in the planning of the show. Roberts said the students are receiving real life practice and skills that could translate into future jobs.
Sara Paull, a senior ballet major and arts administration minor, said that because of the large senior class, they had to divide the show into four performances over two days.
“By doing this, we hope we can reach as many audience members as possible,” Paull said. “Both nights have equal amounts of talent and a variety of dance styles.”
Bomm said senior choreographers have crafted unique pieces with their own personality. No matter what night you attend you are sure to see a range of styles and creativity, she said.
“An amazing amount of work and dedication was put into planning this show," Bomm said. “It would mean so much to the SCCD senior class for people to come out and support our senior choreography."