Dance Concert Celebrates the Art of Movement

On Friday, May 1, the Taylor University dance concert Emergence opened, the first night of the three performances that weekend. The two-hour long show consisted of two acts: a faculty coordinated set of dances in a variety of styles, and a student choreographed senior capstone show.

Amanda Browning, Adjunct Instructor of Dance, directed the first act of the concert. Alongside managing rehearsals, Browning oversaw costumes, music selection, and light design. She choreographed several dances herself and helped polish dances choreographed by guest artist choreographer Brandon Welch and former faculty member Katie Roach.

Works featured in the show spanned classical ballet, contemporary ballet, modern, postmodern, and jazz. “Each style offers a distinct voice, yet together they reflect the beauty of creativity as a gift from God, expressed through the body in motion,” explained Browning.

Auditions for the show were held in December, and dancers began practicing in February. As part of the minor, Dance students are required to participate in one faculty-directed dance or musical theatre production per academic year. 

“The concert is an opportunity for our Dance minors to fulfill a performance credit outside of being in a musical theater production,” said Browning. “It offers them the opportunity to be immersed in a variety of styles and provides a place for them to work on different facets of the dance world and see it on a stage with lights and costuming.”

Senior Showcase

The second act of Emergence consisted of Grace Crews’ senior showcase. Crews, a Theatre Arts major with a Dance minor, participated in a senior showcase as a freshman. “Participating in that was so evocative and meaningful to me. It healed a part of me that needed to be healed,” said Crews. Ever since then, she knew she wanted to create her own showcase as a senior to represent her time at Taylor. 

Crews’ showcase was named The Life We Lead. It consisted of 12 dances, eight of which were choreographed by Crews herself, that explored the journey through grief and the strength and joy found on the other side. “The storyline is something that I wanted to be universal yet individual,” explained Crews. “So it was not the life I lead, but the life that we lead.” She hoped that every dancer and every audience member could connect in some way with her showcase.

A Growing Community

When Browning began teaching at Taylor four years ago, she developed the dance concert to provide an opportunity for dancers to showcase the skills they worked on in classes. “I am so proud of how hard the students work and the level of dancing that they aspire to achieve,” she said. 

Browning explained that Taylor's Dance minor is a special opportunity to continue one's dance education while pursuing another degree. The program offers expert technique courses in ballet, tap, jazz, or modern with the option to take advanced ballet and modern courses.

“The program has been a home and a really special community for me these past four years,” said Crews. “We're from all different majors across campus, but we're united by the desire to create art and express ourselves through it.”