More than 40 USC dance students will show off their ability to compose motions and perform them in a choreography showcase on Tuesday.
The event, hosted by USC's Betsy Blackmon Dance Program, will be performed for three nights and will highlight the choreography skills of a small group of students.
The students, who are in a class called "Dance Company," have spent the semester learning and practicing, all leading up to this week’s showcase of their work. The showcase is choreographed by six different dance students that have completed Choreography I and Improvisation I.
After completing those prerequisite classes, students can choose to become choreographers through a self-directed class, said Beth Bryerton, a fourth-year dance performance and choreography student.
The choreographers learn the details of planning a performance in the class and are the put in charge of orchestrating everything from auditions and rehearsals to lighting and costumes. The choreographers often help each other out, Bryerton said.
“We're always bouncing ideas off of each other," Bryerton said. "We're like, 'What would you think about this? Do you think this is a good idea?"
The choreographers hold auditions, select dance students for their piece and set a practice time for the dancers to rehearse together, said Eduard Forehand, a USC dance instructor.
For choreographers such as Jennifer Hanson, a third-year dance student, getting to choreograph their own pieces means getting to express themselves in ways they haven't been able to before. She said that, while she loves dancing, choreography allows her to express herself more.
“Sometimes you're in pieces that you really love, but it's not exactly everything you want to express," Hanson said. "And so I think that doing the choreography showcase … I'm able to bring out the choreography that I want people to see, and my dancers get to dance that and show it off to everyone."
Forehand said that giving students a chance to choreograph their own pieces has inspired uniqueness.
“The student choreographers are usually quite ambitious, and they will throw a lot of unique movements at the dancers," Forehand said. "(The students) really have to put on their thinking caps."
For Bryerton, choreography is simply what they are passionate about.
“Last semester, when I choreographed my first piece, it was the most fun I've ever had," Bryerton said. "I would leave the studio literally just smiling and giggling because I was having so much fun."
The showcase welcomes anyone with a heart for dance, not just dance students, Forehand said.
“To be involved in the piece as a dancer, it can be anyone. You don't even have to be a part of the dance department," Forehand said. "You can be a biology major. That doesn't really matter."
Another one of the dance program’s goals, as well as one of her own, is to provide more accessibility to the fine arts, Hanson said.
“Here at USC, I think that both the faculty and all of us are very determined to give people the highest quality that we can," Handson said. "I think it's a good opportunity to get involved and to see the arts without having to pay $100 to go see a performance."
The Betsy Blackmon Dance Program choreography showcase will be held from Dec. 5 to Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. at Drayton Hall Theatre.