Behind the scenes “Falling into Dance”

Six senior dance majors had the opportunity to create their own dance concert, ‘Falling into Dance.’ These seniors individually choreographed a group piece and a solo piece to perform. The concert was held from Nov. 17 to Nov. 20 in the Happy State Bank Studio Theatre.

“My piece was based on a lot of suffering in my childhood.” Hanna Hosendl, senior dance major said. “When I was a teenager, I struggled a lot with depression. When I had seen depression shown in a lot of concert dances, it focused more on the sad aspect of it, and I wanted to shed some light on the darker aspects of it.”

Hosendl’s piece, ‘Melancholia,’ included five dancers, who showed the true meaning behind Hosendl’s suffering as a teenager.

“Choreographing was pretty stressful at first” Abbie Roe, senior dance major said. “I’ve been creating these pieces for a while. The rehearsal process gets a little scary, and I get pretty frantic at times. Seeing the completed project is very pleasing, and I feel complete.”

Roe’s piece, ‘Meeting you still,’ included nine dancers; this piece was a great way to begin the show. It brought joy and happiness to everyone in the audience.

A dance show includes a lot of dedication. “I would say all in or nothing, for sure” Sierra Cross, senior dance major said. “Dance is definitely a lot. We’re here 24/7, some are here from 9 a.m to 9 p.m. It’s a lot of dedication, but it’s always rewarding in the end, getting to see our pieces come to life.”

Each piece in ‘Falling into Dance’ ranged from several months to even a year of preparing for the show. Each dancer showed dedication to this performance.

“My piece is very personal; it comes from a place of alcoholism and drug addiction which was my life for a very long time” Alexandra Buggingh, senior dance major said. “Essentially it’s just me inspiring others that it’s okay to have an Alex problem or a human problem. The hope was definitely to touch another soul tonight.”

Buggingh’s piece, ‘Reborn’ showed the audience a hard time in Buggingh’s life but inspired others with the path she has chosen in her new life.

“I’m so proud of my dancers.” Grace Drake senior dance major said “It was definitely something that challenged them emotionally and physically. It took them outside of their comfort zones,they never looked at me and said “no”, they just said we’ll get there.”

Each senior was proud of the show they created. With hard work and dedication, each participant in ‘Falling into dance’ presented an amazing show.