VCU Dance Thrives in 30th Year

By Tom Gresham

For February's VCU Dance NOW concert, the annual showcase concert of the VCU Department of Dance, guest choreographer Rick McCullough created a new work of contemporary ballet. The piece, “The Clarity of Absence,” involved eight dancers – four male and four female – and it highlighted the kind of diversity of talent that the department boasts in 2012, the 30^th anniversary of the inception of a dance department at VCU.

“The Clarity of Absence” was the first contemporary ballet performed at a VCU Dance NOW concert. The piece bridged modern and traditional dance techniques and styles, and it also wedded the two bachelor’s programs within the Department of Dance, providing a fitting way to demonstrate the program’s breadth of options and its strength as it reaches the 30-year milestone.

“These kinds of works show what a great university dance program we have,” said Martha Curtis, a professor of dance at VCU who has been part of the program for more than 20 years.

The bulk of VCU dance students pursue a bachelor of fine arts degree in dance and choreography. The program emphasizes the modern dance idiom, though it also includes a ballet curriculum, and it educates students not only in the performance aspect of dance but in the creation of originally choreographed pieces.

The track culminates with the annual Spring Senior Project performance, a capstone experience for senior dance majors that is equivalent to a thesis. The project consists of original pieces choreographed by graduating seniors. This year's event, "INNER ECHOES," will be held April 26, 27 and 28 at 8 p.m. at the Grace Street Theater, 934 W. Grace St. Tickets are $15 general admission and $10 for students with valid ID and are available at http://www.showclix.com/ or by calling (804) 828-2020.

The event exhibits the strength of the student experience in the dance program.

“It’s very comprehensive,” said Lea Marshall, assistant chair of the Department of Dance. “It’s more like a graduate program than many BFAs because of the emphasis on creating work.”

A newer, second track in the dance program is the bachelor of fine arts degree that is available exclusively to Richmond Ballet trainees. Through this program, these trainees may work concurrently on their degree at VCU, giving them the opportunity to join the trainee program of a regional ballet company while simultaneously getting started on their college education.

Quincie Hydock, a junior in the Richmond Ballet trainee track, said that “the best part is that you’re getting professional ballet experience, but you’re also getting modern experience that you can take into the ballet work.” 

Hydock said VCU Dance is committed to accommodating the Richmond Ballet dancers and integrating them into the larger department in myriad ways.

“They really work for this program to be successful,” Hydock said. “They work hard to make sure that the students in it are going to succeed, and (Richmond Ballet and VCU) work together to make that happen.”

“The Clarity of Absence” offered a first major performance that brought together the two tracks on stage in such a clearcut way. And, by chance, Richmond Ballet trainee students were paired with students from the standard dance and choreography track for the piece’s duets.

Courtney Harris, assistant professor of dance, tutored the performers of the piece in rehearsals for several months. She said the process of the two types of students working out the piece together, bringing their different backgrounds to the work, proved to be rewarding for everyone involved.

“It was really beautiful to see them work it out together,” Harris said. “It was a great experience to watch it unfold.”

Harris said the collaboration on the piece benefitted both sets of students.

“It was interesting to see students who were comfortable in one world being exposed to another one,” Harris said. “They were challenged. They had to work to stretch themselves.”

The VCU Dance NOW concert, which was held on Feb. 16, 17 and 18 this year, typically includes one headline piece that is developed by a visiting artist, such as McCullough this year. Last year, the piece was a performance of “Shelter,” a powerful work originally created by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar in 1988.

Zollar visited VCU last year with members of the Urban Bush Women, Zollar’s dance company, to re-stage “Shelter” through the lens of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. “Restaging Shelter,” a documentary film about the performance that resulted, was shown earlier this year to plaudits at the New York Dance on Camera Festival 2012 at Lincoln Center. 

VCU Dance NOW each year also showcases faculty work performed by VCU’s student dancers. This year the concert featured new work developed by faculty members Curtis, Robbie Kinter, Autumn Proctor, Scott Putman, Judith Steel and Christian von Howard. In this way, the concert demonstrates not only the skill and experience of the student dancers but the ongoing creative evolution of the faculty members.

Curtis notes that VCU’s dance faculty members are an engaged group, thriving as teachers, practicing artists and dance advocates. She said most of the faculty are active in the broader dance community, such as in the case of James Frazier, the chair of the department, who is the co-dean of the American Dance Festival and the president of the Council of Dance Administrators.

Many of the students have remained loyal to the program and to the Richmond dance community after graduation. Marshall said there are a number of dance companies and other related efforts in the Richmond area created by VCU Dance alumni. Other alumni are thriving elsewhere in the country. And the word has gotten out to prospective students. Each year, the auditions for admission to the program become more competitive, according to Curtis. 

“It’s pretty amazing to see how the program has grown and become so highly respected in its evolution,” Marshall said.

Curtis said the growth of the program has been a joy to be a part of.

“It’s been an exciting, inspiring and satisfying process,” Curtis said.