As the Tower Dancers twist and twirl across the stage this weekend, they will present the work of six different choreographers, embodying six unique approaches to ballet and modern dance in their only professional-caliber concert of the year.
“Each choreographer has their own particular style, their own choreographic DNA,” Hobbs said.
After months of practice, the Tower Dancers will perform at 8 p.m. this Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. this Sunday in Markel Auditorium at the Sage Center for the Arts.
The concert will showcase seven pieces separately choreographed by one guest choreographer, two faculty members, and three students.
According to Holly Hobbs, director of the Tower Dancers, each work stands alone — the absence of a central theme in the concert creates an opportunity for each choreographer to express their creative differences.
“Instead of looking for the familiar, we welcome the unexpected,” Hobbs said. “I encourage the audience to allow images to resonate rather than search for meaning.”
Sophomore dancer Rachel Watson said the many switches between choreographers and styles pose a challenge to the dancers.
“In rehearsals you
have to get used to the quirks of each choreographer: how they run rehearsal, how they move, small things like that,” she said.
Despite these challenges, the array of choreographers helps the dancers to grow by diversifying their training, according to Hobbs.
Five dancers had the opportunity to work with guest choreographer Samantha Shelton, an affiliate professor of dance at Grand Valley State University who works with American Ballet Theatre.
“It was a such a gift for our students to work with her,” Hobbs said.
The dance department has brought in guest choreographers in the past. Shelton worked with members of the Tower Dancers during the first weekend in November, teaching them an entire dance on Saturday, and polishing the performance on Sunday.
Shelton’s piece explores classical and contemporary ballet, and is set to music meant to highlight different aspects of both styles.
“I am interested in using the technique and training of classical ballet as a springboard for new movement and new ways of tweaking the classical base of movement,” Shelton said. “I enjoyed working with the Hillsdale Tower Dancers because they are trained in ballet but were open to exploration. It was also very rewarding to be at Hillsdale and see how the American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum was being implemented.”
Senior dancer Heather Linder said she enjoyed watching the dance during rehearsals.
“It is intense,” she said. “It had my heart pounding at some points in combination with the music and the performance aspects that the dancers put on top of the movements.”
Hobbs choreographed two pieces, a ballet work and a modern dance, both of which incorporate abstraction.
Jessica Post, dance instructor at the college, choreographed one work.
“Jessica’s piece is gorgeous and I’m always amazed at the things she gets her dancers to do,” Linder said. “Jessica just has a gift and a talent for how to find and use the breath in your core.”
The concert also features the work of Linder, Watson, and Priscilla Larson, who created their works in the Choreography II class, a part of their dance minors.
“We learn the tools to create dances in that first semester in the fall,” Hobbs said. “Then they create the dance and they can refine their ideas, develop their ideas, and consider the full production of that in a full setting.”
In this full production mode, choreographers can consider music, costuming, and lighting — all components of a professional-level concert.
Immense time and effort is required to execute all elements of a concert at this level, according to Hobbs. Thus, the Tower Dancers begin rehearsals in September for their March concert.
“It’s really an opportunity for campus to come and see our student dancers at their best,” Hobbs said.
The chance to see the Tower Dancers in a full performance comes once a year, and according to Watson, there is no other talent like them at the college.
“It’s the only time you can see something like this on campus,” Watson said. “We work all year to make this look beautiful and effortless, and you can’t find this anywhere else.”