Juniors Moriah Mitchell and Jillian Golden in an April production of “The Wild Wild West.”
Courtesy | Michael Besom

Almost 20 dancers are performing in about a dozen student-choreographed works at the Tower Dancers’ Informal Showing Nov. 23.

The performance will feature a wide variety of music, according to junior and Tower Dancer Mercy Franzonello.

“There is going to be a very classical ballet piece, some contemporary, some modern,” she said.

Sophomore Sophia Kyba said one of her dances is Flamenco-inspired, while the other is more of a jazz piece.

“I have only been trained in ballet, so it is fun for me to learn these different choreographies,” Kyba said.

Junior Moriah Mitchell said student choreographers usually spend a semester choreographing their pieces and teaching them to the dancers but may begin choreographing earlier if they wish. She began the process of choreographing a dance to Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets” in the spring semester of last year.

“Every time I heard the song play over the summer, I would always have movement flowing in the back of my head,” Mitchell said. “When I got here in the fall, I had a ton of stuff that I was already ready to give my cast and my dancers, which made the whole process a lot easier.”

Making changes to the choreography once rehearsals start can be stressful, according to Mitchell, but it’s a part of the process.

“The things that I imagine myself doing in my living room don’t necessarily translate the same way to other people,” Mitchell said.

According to Kyba, choreographers have two different options for rehearsing during the semester. Either the choreographer can do residency style, where they’ll spend a single weekend teaching their entire choreography to the dancers and then rehearse briefly every week, or the choreographer can teach the dancers incrementally, for an hour and a half each week.

Mitchell said wanted to do residency style but ended up teaching week by week due to scheduling.

“It’s nice because you see it happening in real time,” Mitchell said. “It also gives you more time to gain creativity from your cast. I can give this idea to them, and they can spit it back to me and tell me if it’s realistic or not.”

Mitchell said choreographing a dance requires a lot of individual initiative, but students also work closely with Assistant Professor of Dance Holly Hobbs and Lecturer in Dance Sean Hoskins.

“They watch videos of how far we have come and what each rehearsal looks like, and they give us tons of feedback,” Mitchell said. “It’s definitely not something where they leave you alone. You go hand in hand the whole time.”

Mitchell said she is excited to have people come out and support Tower Dancers this weekend.

“The choreographic process is so long and fulfilling in and of itself, so actually getting people to come out and see what you’ve worked on is great,” Mitchell said. “It is, in a way, greater than the process itself — it is the culmination of it.”