“I just hope that other people can see the Lord through our dancing.” – Ashlie Dent
“Spring into Dance: The Finale” is the last main stage concert with dance as a program at Anderson University since the program was eliminated by university administration last fall. The performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. this Friday, on March 28 and at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday March 29 at Reardon Auditorium.
This repertoire concert is loosely based on the theme of ‘celebration’, with multiple choreographers and dance students dedicating their work to their department, its alumni and the dancers who have persevered through what has been a trying year.
“Dancers are highly educated, incredibly intelligent, amazing multi-taskers,” said Christine Thacker, the Assistant Professor of Dance at AU. “There’s not a single dance student who walks onto this campus that has not already excelled academically and in their community.”
Thacker explained how working with a smaller department for this concert meant the majority of the dancers are in almost all the pieces though there is a limit to how many they can be in. This means that their range can stretch from a tap piece or a pointe piece to a jazz piece or a modern piece, which demonstrates how well-educated they are in dance alone.
“Dance is life. It’s like asking me ‘what does breath mean to you?’. I don’t know how to exist without art.” – Christine Thacker
Thacker explained how she has been able to live in various parts of the performing arts– from pops concerts and touring to her career with the Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre–before joining the AU faculty in 2013. These life experiences that she brought to AU ensured that no matter what it was that they were looking for, her breadth of experience gave her options, information and the right connections for her students.
“Just having the privilege to be able to dance with the qualified staff here is amazing,” said Ashlie Dent, an AU junior majoring in nursing and dance. “That’s why I chose AU, and I’m not ready to part with that because it just means so much.”
Dent also stated that all first-year dancers work behind the scenes as the tech crew for their first performance, allowing them to gain skills parallel to dancing.
Students like Dent expressed their touching experiences with the AU community since the news about the dance program being cut reached them about a week before their last “Fall into Dance” in November of 2024. According to Alexis Gronow, a sophomore in exercise science and dance, the news was heartbreaking to hear, but it was also beautiful how the dance department came together and supported one another.
“Don’t stop coming together in love,” Gronow said. “That’s the most beautiful thing about our school. The department really experienced it in the fall when they took away the program and the school showered us in love.”
Anderson University stood as one of the only evangelical Christian universities to offer a serious dance program in the United States. Thacker’s students had successful placements in careers with Broadway and various esteemed ballet and modern dance companies. This was a highlight of Anderson University, and the impact of the cut program not only had losses with current students but prospective students as well, according to Thacker. But out of the ashes of this department, there is hope for the future of dance and the performing arts, seeing that students are determined to preserve this vital aspect of society and faith as they send their goodbye hug to the program with this finale.
“Don’t stop fighting for the arts,” Gronow said. “When you look at society and culture, the place you need to see Christianity the most is the place people are looking at the most: the Arts.”
“Spring into Dance” will be held in Reardon Auditorium Friday, March 28 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 29 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets range from $15 for adults, $12 for military, and $7 for non-AU students. To purchase tickets to the final “Spring into Dance”, please visit the Reardon box office at: https://anderson.edu/conference-event-services/reardon-box-office/.