By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
The Footlights Dance concert on campus tonight (April 26) and Friday, April 27, will be bittersweet for some of the dancers.
Among the 30 or so dancers on stage will be three graduating dance majors — Adla-Marie Burke, Cincinnati, Alexa Piccirillo, Findlay, and Salon Gegel, Wapakoneta.
Alda-Marie Burke with Sarah Drummer in “The Place We Were Made”
“It is bittersweet,” Burke said. “We’re closing a chapter, but we’re all moving on time to start our professional careers.”
Footlights will be staged at 8 p.m. both nights in the Whitney Studio room 222.in Eppler North on the Bowling Green State University campus.
The three dancers said they benefited from a strong support system within the dance program. “Our instructors are helpful making sure we’re doing everything we can to be able to succeed,” Burke said.
“One of benefits of small program is you can find your own path. You can find how dance works for you, and they will find ways to help you,” Piccirillo said.
Piccirillo said they know they can tap into that support system even after they’ve left campus.
Salon Gegel performs her solo piece.
The three graduate as the dance program is in transition. The program, now part of the School of Human Movement, Sports, and Leisure Studies, is being shifted into the Department of Theatre and Film, an administrative move from the College of Education and Human Development to the College of Arts and Sciences.
As part of the move, the dance major will be eliminated, though the dance minor will be retained. Piccirillo said at first they were sad to hear about the end of the major, but after talking with dance instructor Colleen Murphy, they were reassured.
“It’ll be a really good transition for the program,” she said.
Burke said that she anticipates that will lead to more of the kind of collaborations that now mostly happen at ArtsX and Bravo! BGSU. At Bravo! this year, she danced with the Combustible Ensemble. She and two other performers moved to sounds the musicians were improvising in the moment. “That was absolutely so much fun.”
The University Dance Alliance, a student run group, has been essential to their development on campus. The student-run organization, which has doubled in size to 110 in four years, is open to all interested in dancers, whether they are formally studying or not, whether they’ve been dancing since they were toddlers or just started.
The UDA gives students the opportunity to choreograph their own pieces, and dance in works created by their peers. “It’s good to work with different people who have different backgrounds,” Burke said.
Alexa Piccirillo in “Never Enough”
The performances “are little more laid back” than the official dance concert, Piccirillo said. “It’s kind of nice way to do something different.”
Gegel, a double major in dance and business as well as being in the Honors College, hasn’t been able to participate because of her schedule – she also works at Goodwill. But she tries to go to all the UDA shows, and makes note of the songs played. “They always have really cool music.”
Each graduating major has choreographed a piece for the Footlights program, and fittingly each piece reflects on their experience on campus.
Gegel’s solo piece is Alpas Sine Cancellis, or to break free without limitations. “It’s a reflection where I started, where I’ve come, and where I’m going.”
Gegel wrote her honors thesis on using dance techniques to assist elderly people with balance issues. The thesis was based on her work with a county Committee on Aging program presented in the Montessori school. Her last session next week with the group next week is “going to be my heartbreak.”
Gegel will work in BG this summer, then will look for jobs in human resources. She’d like to end up in dance studio production, developing her interest in costumes, lighting, and sets.
She’s also talking about doing the choreography for a rock band’s music video.
Alexa Piccirillo choreographed “Youth.”
For Footlights, Piccirillo created an ensemble piece to the song “Youth.”
The piece touches on personal memories and experiences. “I try to pick dancers who have gone through the same things as I have or can relate to them.”
This summer, Piccirillo will teach at a dance camp for girls in Pennsylvania, and then will look for a job with dance competitions, which will give her a chance to travel.
Eventually she’d like to go into arts administration, or possibly open her own studio.
Burke’s piece is choreographed and performed with Sarah Drummer, a graduating dance minor, with the fitting title, “The Place We Were Made.”
“BG is a place where we’ve grown up a lot. It formed us into who we are. It’s good to look back and reflect on it all.”
She’s been an intern at the Toledo School for Arts this year, a position she’ not ready to leave, she said.
After graduation, Burke plans to audition for cruise ships, so she can travel and dance.
With a minor in business, she would like to pursue arts administration. But that’s “down the line when my body tells me no more. I want to perform as long as possible.”
