UofSC Choreography Showcase Set for April 26-27

Original works by University of SC dance students will be in the spotlight as the UofSC Department of Theatre and Dance presents the semi-annual Student Choreography Showcase April 26-27 at Drayton Hall Theatre.

Show times are 7:30pm on April 26 and 2pm on April 27. Tickets are $15 for students, $20 for USC Faculty/Staff, Military and Seniors, and $22 for the general public, and can be purchased online at dance.sc.edu or at the door. Drayton Hall Theatre is located at 1214 College St., across from the historic UofSC Horseshoe.

University dance instructor Cindy Flach is directing the concert and has led the adjudication process through which the student works have been selected. At the beginning of the Fall semester, students submitted partially constructed works to a panel of dance faculty. Once selected, the students have continued to create and refine their works in advance of the end-of-the-semester showcase.

The concert will feature eight diverse works from student choreographers. Six of the works were originally presented in the Fall 2018 Showcase. Participating choreographers are Stuart Dickinson, John L. Green, II, Jhada Kahan-Thomas, Maria Maccaroni, Rylee McCormick, Michael Miranda, Meredith Price, and Abigail Slade.

Flach says that it's not just choreography for its own sake that the student artists are encouraged to develop over the semester.

"Communication is the key," she says. "Getting across what they're thinking, saying or feeling, and letting their dancers perform it, not just dance it. That's been the instruction from the beginning - to make sure you're reaching out to somebody in the audience, to somebody who's experiencing or thinking the same thing as you. And to make it clear enough that that somebody wants to see more of your work."

For more information about the Student Choreography Showcase or the dance program at the University of South Carolina, contact Kevin Bush by phone at 803-777-9353 or via email at bushk@mailbox.sc.edu.

Photo: Shown: Senior UofSC Dance Performance major Meredith Price performs in the Fall 2018 Student Choreography Showcase. Price's original choreography will be presented in this concert.

Photo by Jason Ayer.