Virginia Repertory Dance Company to perform this weekend
After months of preparation, nine JMU students will showcase artistic talent
By Kelly Fisher, a&e editor
Posted on December 7, 2006

Imagine taking a final exam in front of hundreds of people. That’s the reality for nine JMU students as they take the stage this weekend as the Virginia Repertory Dance Company.

This weekend’s show features original choreography from JMU faculty, including artistic director Kate Trammell, who founded the company in 1983 and resident choreographer Suzanne Miller-Corso, as well as several guest choreographers, including Isabel Gotzkowsky, Keith Thompson and the late Ed Tyler.

The company, comprised of students enrolled in DANC 212, is an advanced class offered by the school of dance. The nine students have spent months preparing for the production.

The company is only open to upper-level dance majors. To get a spot in the prestigious company, students must audition and go through an interview process. The company is designed to give students an opportunity to experience what it is like in a small company in the professional world.

Students in the dance program like the concept of the company.

“It’s designed to give dance majors a taste of what it’s like out in the professional world,” senior Jaymie Boudreau said.

“We look for artists whose work we admire and people who will provide something for the dancers to further their career,” Trammell said of how guest choreographers are selected. “We also look for a variation of creative processes.”

Trammell’s original dance, “mama daddy nurse nurse,” will be featured in the show. The solo dance features senior Jess Burgess and focuses on the emotions and strife of recovering from a trauma.

“It’s an exploration into the creativity of the body,” Trammell said of the dance.

Miller-Corso’s piece, “Cafes Cantantes 2006,” introduces a Spanish flamenco feel to the production.

“The other modern dances are contemporary, fun and uplifting but [‘Cantantes’] brings a jazz dynamic that we haven’t seen in while,” Larson said, who is featured in Miller-Corso’s dance.

The company will also perform “Zero Grid,” choreographed by Gotzkowsky, an artistic director of a dance company based in New York City.

“It’s all about movement around a grid and the physicality of movement,” said Boudreau.
The company will perform “Vignettes,” by Thompson, who is based out of Philadelphia, as well as “I Am Not My Little Black Dress,” choreographed by Tyler.

“[‘Vignettes’] has fantastic music and a very different structure in it that doesn’t end with the full company on stage,” Boudreau said. “It’s all about the folding and unfolding of space.”

The company will pay tribute to Tyler, who passed away suddenly last month. His dance features only a trio on the stage and focuses on the importance of a split second.

“He described the dance as being about blinking and how much you miss when you blink,” Boudreau said of Tyler’s interpretation of his dance.

Larson hopes the audience will conjure their own interpretations of the dances that she and her eight classmates have spent months practicing.

“Art can exist in its own nature,” Larson said. “It can’t always be explained. It’s what it means to the individual.”

The company still has work left to do after this semester’s final performance. Next semester, the company will tour both local Harrisonburg schools as well as schools outside of the community,

The Virginia Repertory Dance Company will perform tonight through Dec. 9 at 8 p.m. at Latimer-Shaeffer Theatre. Tickets are $12 for regular admission and $6 with a JAC Card.