Every year we take a break from our regular programming and help MCLA Dance Company produce their Spring Show for their friends, families, and the community. This year they sent us a press release about the event and we thought we would share it with you!
MCLA DANCE COMPANY PREPARES A DIVERSE PERFORMANCE FOR THE MASS MOCA STAGE ON FRIDAY, APRIL 30TH AND SATURDAY, MAY 1ST
NORTH ADAMS, MA—For the past few years, MCLA Dance Company has been featured on the MASS MoCA stage every Spring. Bringing a lively dance performance completely student run, MCLA always brings a diverse performance for the MASS MoCA Audience. This year, the Company will be showcasing their works in Lyrical, Ballet, Modern, Broadway, Tap, Hip-Hop, Belly Dancing, and even some Swing.
The students of the Company have been working together for the past four months to create a show that not only they would be proud of, but one that everyone would enjoy. Working day in and day out, student choreographers have been studying both music and various movements in order to create a comprehensive bond between beats, rhythms, and their own bodies. Some dances present a deep and compelling story about love and heartbreak while others are simply just for fun or the joy of performing.
One choreographer, Megan Blocker, has high hopes for her Belly Dance piece. “I’m so excited to have my piece in the show. I have worked really hard all last semester with my group of my girls to present something new, fresh, and original.” With an impressive display of body isolations that compliments Blocker’s music of choice; her Belly Dancing piece is one that everyone should enjoy.
MCLA Dance Company is a fully student run club that has developed a large mass of followers of both participants and audience members. Some dancers such as Jacqui Panasian have been active members since their very first semester. Displaying skill, technique, and passion, Panasian is also excited for the show considering that she is a first time choreographer. “I have been a member of Dance Company all throughout my time at MCLA. Come this April, I will finally be presenting a piece of my own. I sat back… watched, learned, and studied from others and I just feel that now is the perfect time to show what I can add to the Company.” Panasian’s piece properly introduces the Bob Fosse style to the collection of MCLA Dance Company genres which has most recently included the additions of West African and Bollywood.
In recent years, the Company has seen a rise in skill level not only in individual dancers, but the choreographers as well. Kayla Hollins and Amanda Schuler combined their artistic knowledge and vision to create a story of love. A sequel to a piece presented by Hollins from this past Fall’s show at MCLA’s very own Venable Theater stage, it casts two returning Freshmen dancers, Rebecca McCauley and Paul J. Miranda, as the leads of a heartwarming love story. Choreographing and directing an impressive fusion of both Ballet and Hip-Hop, the other dancers on the stage act as narrators for the audience so that they may successfully follow the story without missing a beat. At the start of the semester, Hollins exclaimed, “You can never have too many love story dances.”
MCLA Dance Company is a completely student run club that promotes dance as a serious performing art form for the MCLA Community. As the largest club on the MCLA campus, the Company serves to both teach and perform various genres of dance at MCLA while promoting student involvement and campus activity. Students not only learn from one another by participating, but help to create a lasting bond and a community amongst each other. Entering its 10th year in the Fall, the Company has seen various dance styles and techniques ranging from Ballet, Modern, Lyrical, Tap, Jazz, Hip-Hop, West African, Bollywood, and Belly Dancing.
