As the semester comes to a close, most students prepare to hit the books and study for finals. For the seniors in the dance department, they’re preparing to hit the stage for one of their final shows at Winthrop.
The Senior Choreography Showcase is the chance for senior dance students to display all the skills they’ve honed at Winthrop one final time.
Kelly Ozust, an assistant professor of theatre and dance, is directing the show for the fourth time now. Ozust has been a professor at Winthrop for five years. She teaches the senior dance education course. This show’s group of seniors was one of the first group of students Ozust got to see through college.
“I taught them in their first choreography class and now I am getting to see them through their last,” Ozust said. “It has been a really incredible transformation.”
All seven seniors choreographed their own pieces. The style of show is primarily modern based and portrays “all general different themes,” according to Ozust.
“The students had strong ideas about what they wanted their dances to convey,” Ozust said.
Katelyn Arledege is a senior dance major and one of the seven choreographers performing in the show. Her piece is titled “Centered.”
“It is about finding balance in both in movement and in life,” Arledge said.
The reason she chose this piece is because she is used to having to be at a certain location in the piece at a particular time and being balanced. Arledge’s main style of dance is modern contemporary.
“I originally chose this just to explore my movement,” Arledge said. “I wanted to play with falling off balance.”
Dancing and performing is a release for Arledge.. She loves that it is “challenging,” and pushes her in a good way.
“I started in dance when I was three years old, my parents put me in dance classes and I kind of never stopped,” Arledge said.
Now as she is about to graduate, Arledge hopes to work on the administrative side of dance while continuing to perform.
Erika McLendon, a senior dance major in the show, started dancing when she was five. McLendon enjoys contemporary and jazz dancing. She focuses on her dance classes and escapes the stress of everyday life.
“I really liked all the performances and having a schedule,” McLendon said. “Dance is a stress reliever for me.”
Her piece for the show is titled “Angular Language.” Usually her dance is “ballet like and flowy” but this piece is more “stop and go.” McLendon chose it to challenge herself as a dancer.
“It is about abstract body language and how communication happens within the body,” McLendon said.
After college she wants to perform for as long as possible and then open a competition studio.”
Throughout this process Ozust has found many reasons to be proud of the students, but is most proud of how they take feedback.
“I think they have done a really nice job taking feedback, Ozust said. “It can be a tricky thing taking feedback. I am really proud that they can figure out what feedback to take.”
The Senior Choreography Showcase has been in production since the second week of the semester and is an accumulation of what all these students have developed in their time at Winthrop.
“Choreography is a way to express my emotions.” McLendon said. “I like that you can never get it perfect, you can continue growing. You feel accomplished but there is always something more you could work on.”
The show is Friday Nov. 30 through Sunday Dec. 1. On Friday and Saturday the show starts at 8 p.m. and on Sunday it starts at 2 p.m. The performance is being held in Johnson Theatre. It cost $5 with a Winthrop ID and $10 for the general public.
