On Thursday, students of the University’s dance department plan to captivate and engage audience members in this year’s annual StudioDance II Concert. 

The StudioDance II Concert, a performance consisting of graduate and undergraduate students, will be hosted at the Krannert Center for the Performing Art’s Studio Theatre. Its two shows will start at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Tickets are $8 to $15 and can be purchased anytime on the Krannert Center’s website or at its box office. 

Kirstie Simson, concert director and assistant professor in dance, said the concert is a celebration of the choreographic collection of a future generation of artists. 

“It is a very exciting concert because you can see the students’ individual voices,” Simson said. “You get to see their own artistic visions.” 

Simson said that the show is not subjected to just one style of dance, but is a variety of different movements and pieces depending on the student.

“The program is incredibly diverse,” she said. “We have some more technical works in this one, working with the technique of the body, and then some of them are real personal explorations.”

Students in StudioDance II will showcase their “dance-making investigations” on stage, which Simson said is a way for students to get more in touch with their creativity and follow their own interests through movement. 

“Each one of them will have their own interest that they explore,” Simson said. “It is absolutely on their own and very much their own exploration of what they are interested in.”

Katie Williams, sophomore in FAA, is looking forward to presenting her piece for Thursday’s show.

“I have been working on this piece since the beginning of this school year,” Williams said. “This work is a continuation of ideas I had been working on in my choreographic process class last semester. My peers and professors gave me a lot of feedback and encouraged me to audition this work for StudioDance II.”

Williams’ solo entitled “Concentering” was inspired by her own personal experiences and is a compilation of her own ideas and theories about the world.

“‘Concentering’ is an ever-evolving solo that can only truly live and breathe in the present moment,” Williams said. “The spine of this work tests the possible levels of vulnerability and honesty from both the mover and viewers. I really wanted to test the boundaries between watching and being watched.”

Williams said that in her piece she has the lights turned up for a majority of the time so she can make eye contact with her audience.

“There are moments in my work where I stop and look at each audience member in an attempt to know each individual a little better,” Williams said. “This also gives the audience time to absorb information about me. My overall attempt in this piece is to present my genuine self on stage, which is emotionally exhausting since I am allowing strangers to enter into a vulnerable place with me.”

Angie Pittman, second year graduate student in dance, is also ready to perform her duet with fellow graduate student and friend, Jessica Pretty, in Thursday’s show.

“I’m excited about it,” Pittman said. “The prep for the show has gone relatively smoothly so far, so I hope this means for a smooth show run.”

Pittman and Pretty started their collaboration for their duet, entitled “About[mess],” in October, and have been rehearsing and building the piece since then. 

“Instead of our dance supporting one emotion or story, we like to think of it as supporting a multitude of emotions or stories,” Pittman said. “So part of experiencing the piece is witnessing a multitude of feelings. So as you watch, just go with it and see where you end up.”

The show has eight student-choreographed pieces in total. These dances consist of solos, duets, a group work and a pre-show.

“The pre-show is for when the audience goes in, there is already something going on,” Simson said. “This prepares the audience for a frame of mind to watch and to be engaged.”

Williams and Pittman also believe that audience engagement and participation is an important aspect to the concert.

“My piece relies heavily on the presence of an audience,” Williams said. “The presence of an audience will give my work so much more life.” 

Williams also said that she wants the audience to develop their own ideas from her piece and to take away whatever they want from it.

“I’m looking forward to sharing our work with a special group of people,” Pittman said. “The choreographers are accessible students themselves and would welcome any conversation about their work.”

Simson said the audience is encouraged to have their own experience and to come without too much of a prior expectation.

“May tonight’s performance engage your imagination and provoke creative questions and responses,” Simson said.

Christine can be reached at [email protected].