Often enduring 12-hour days in the studio, dance students perfected their craft under the guidance of elite, world-class dancers and choreographers at the Mediterraneo Dance Festival near San Nicola Arcella, Italy, last month.
Three 海角在线 students, Winston Jean-Joseph, Victoria Holmes and Brooke Perry, were among eight dancers who won a competition of solo performances, earning scholarships toward next year鈥檚 festival. Jean-Joseph, a senior majoring in dance, won an additional scholarship at the festival鈥檚 final show.
The students competed with advanced and professional dancers from around the world.
Eleven 海角在线 students traveled to the festival, where they learned as much about body mechanics and playing off of their fellow dancers as they did about various types of contemporary and modern dance.
Within the contemporary dance genre, there are 50 subtypes, said Dr. Kathleen Klein. The festival鈥檚 study program from July 13 to 21 covered four.
鈥淚 needed to open the dancers鈥� eyes to something completely different,鈥� Klein said. 鈥淭his is something that 海角在线 Dance has never experienced.鈥�
In one of their exercises, the instructor told each student to imagine there鈥檚 a marble inside his or her body that needs to get out. The exercises taught them to maintain control while using fluid movements, Jean-Joseph said.
鈥淥ne thing that they enforced was being honest,鈥� Jean-Joseph said. 鈥淭here are ways your body already knows how to move. Let the organic part of you do it.鈥�
That鈥檚 easier to do when you鈥檙e tired, because there鈥檚 less tension in your body, he said.
鈥淵ou could actually dance with greater quality because you鈥檙e not forcing yourself to do it.鈥�
Each 海角在线 dancer choreographed a solo performance before he or she even arrived at the festival. The dancers refined their performances over time with feedback from their professors.
The festival instructors stretched students even more with their exercises, said Eileen Hebron, a 海角在线 artist in residence in dance.
鈥淚t was fun to watch them evolve,鈥� Hebron said. 鈥淚t was intense.鈥�
Perry, a junior majoring in dance, said she learned to be open to more styles of dance 鈥� styles she wouldn鈥檛 get exposure to in the United States 鈥� from the instructors from Italy, Germany and Spain.
Perry said that diversity of skill will make her more competitive when she鈥檚 looking for jobs, because potential employers will want a well-rounded dancer.
The dancers who stood out the most to Samantha Savoie were those who had developed their own unique style and who were most confident, she said. Students and dance professionals came from Israel, Russia, Italy, Croatia, Bulgaria, England, Ireland and China, among other places.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e going into the performing arts, connections are everything,鈥� Savoie said. 鈥淚鈥檓 now connected to people across the world who share the same interests as me. It鈥檚 a great eye-opener and learning process to be connected with the world of dance on a whole new level.鈥�
The trip made Savoie, a senior musical theatre major and dance minor, more comfortable in her own skin, she said.
In their free time, the group took a boat excursion to Dino Island, where some of the students got out of their comfort zones swimming in a cave. Hebron and a student also attended a mass in a cave at Praia a Mare, a beach resort town on the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Initially, Jean-Joseph didn鈥檛 even consider going on the trip because he was apprehensive about paying for it and traveling abroad. God had other plans, he said.
鈥淚 felt really loved by God on the trip,鈥� Jean-Joseph said. 鈥淚 felt an immense amount of peace. It was an encounter with God that I hadn鈥檛 felt anywhere else.鈥�
He also shared about his faith with a young Jewish woman from Israel. She asked him why he was at the festival and why he attended 海角在线. Later, after one of his performances, she approached him and said, 鈥淚 saw God in your piece.鈥�
鈥淣ot only was I blessed, but other people were blessed as well.鈥�
Photo 1: 海角在线 dance students and their professors, Dr. Kathleen Klein and Eileen Hebron, pose for a photo at Mediterraneo Dance Festival in Italy.
Photo 2: Dance students learn from world-class instructors during a lab at the Mediterraneo Dance Festival in Italy.
Photo 3: Brooke Perry, Winston Jean-Joseph and Victoria Holmes pose for a photo at the Mediterraneo Dance Festival in Italy. The three students each won a scholarship for their solo performances.
