Midsemester Mania

The first half of this semester has flown by! With so many things going on this year, it has been difficult to find time to take a step back and update all of you on the department and the school. We have been back in session for almost two months now and the faculty are focused on pushing us to our full potential by increasing the difficulty of their classes. Nutcracker rehearsals are in full swing as most of the sections have been finished and are now focused on cleaning. Student Choreography is also fast approaching with tech and production week just a few weeks away. This is always a very busy, but exciting time for the department as there are so many things to be a part of. 

This year, one additional opportunity has presented itself for our department. Following the Eastern European performance seminar that students took part in this summer (I will talk about this later!), we were invited to return to Bratislava, Slovakia for the International Concert of Schools of Dance. After a brief auditioning process, Professor Marek Cholewa chose five students, four girls and one guy, to represent the Butler Department of Dance by creating a new work. The students and Professor Cholewa will leave in late November to take class and perform in Bratislava and return before Thanksgiving. This is a highly anticipated event with rehearsals for the piece occurring both during and outside of normal Butler Ballet rehearsal time. This is a very physical, contemporary piece and everyone is excited to see the finished work. After this trip, I hope to have one of the dancers write about their experience!

In the Sigma Rho Delta realm, we recently had our Pledge Ceremony and welcomed 30 new freshmen as pledges this year! We will be putting on a showing of Rocky Horror for all of JCA where students can dress up as characters and participate alongside the movie. This will be a great opportunity for students of different departments to spend time with one another. 

As always please comment if you have any questions or would like a post about a specific topic!