As Fall into Dance closed this Saturday, Nov. 9, Abigail Mercer, Erin Powell and Emmaline Parker spoke on the impact that dance has on the AU community.
With Fall Into Dance, a lot of hard work is put into it by not only dancers, but also the student choreographers that want to tell an individual story through dance. It’s important to keep an open mind while experiencing a production such as this in order to get the bigger picture: how it can impact a community.
“There aren’t many Christian colleges that have dance as an option, but it’s very much needed because many christians want to do dance. However, they often find themselves in a position where it’s a secular world view and can’t uphold their Chrisitan morals,” said Erin Powell, a junior dance business and financial advising double major. “I just hope people can remember how important it is to keep this vibrant artistic style present in the Christian community.”
Abigail Mercer, a junior majoring in music education and minoring in dance, later added that
“The Fall Into Dance performance was a show meant to express the joy we have in dance and remind our campus and audience members of this joy and how much arts impact life in general, especially worship.”
Not only is it important within the Christian community, but it’s also important in the student body as well. Emmaline Parker, a junior dance pedagogy and writing double double major stated, “Getting to work as both a dancer and choreographer with the full cast or see the vision of the choreographer and the shared drive that is in the community makes it an amazing experience.”
Community with others has always been a very big part of society and, in the realm of dance, even more so. Dance can be done individually, but as a group, community is built in ways unimaginable to non-dancers. This is something that cannot be ignored when the dancers are seen together on stage. Parker stated, “In light of everything that’s going on, I think that there’s an added passion and fire during tech week. We care very deeply about our artform, and we want others to see the value of the artform to humanity as a whole.”
Powell said, “When taking classes, you kinda get separated by age groups, so you may not get to know the freshman all that well if you’re in upper level classes. When you’re in the space together rehearsing, it’s nice to be able to touch base and get to hang out while doing what you love.”
Mercer added, “Getting to work with all the other dancers and building the community that we have is what makes the experience worthwhile. I don’t get to see a lot of them, so being able to get together for an afternoon and express myself is an amazing experience.”
With the cuts that have been made, it has also left many feeling as though they are in the dark.
Powell stated, “I really have to soak up this last year’s normalcy before an uncertain future is going to happen, because we don’t know what performances will look like for us senior year.” This uncertain future leaves many turning to their community to understand the change that is happening around them.
In this case, this has the dancers turning to dance as a way of expressing themselves. Dance is a strong way of expression that can connect individuals in ways not previously thought of. The dancers are deeply upset by all that’s transpired, and encourage others to help in whatever way they can. Mercer said, “The more awareness we can spread, the better in a healthy, professional sense.”
Simply supporting the dance department in their final year can go a long way and help them know that they are not alone. You can also support them by following the instagram account @savetheartsau and send your thoughts about cutting the dance program to austudentdancecouncil@gmail.com.
