The Dance 26 concert at Hope College will feature tap, jazz, modern, and ballet works by Hope faculty as well as a work by guest choreographer Ray Tadio.
For the technical staff supporting the production, that
translates to eight different lighting concepts and 47
costumes.
This year's concert will be presented Thursday-
Saturday, March 9-11, at the main theatre of DeWitt Center,
located on Columbia Avenue at 12th Street. Curtain time for
all performances will be 8 p.m.
As the dancers and their choreographers are busy
refining every movement, the technical staff of Dance 26 has
kicked into high gear to ensure that on opening night the
dancers as well as the audience enjoy a polished and
seamless show.
As the head lighting designer of Dance 26, Erik
Alberg, the technical director of the performing arts at
Hope College, has viewed each piece in the rehearsal process
and created an overall light plot to meet the general needs
of the concert. However, given the wide variety of the
works being performed, it is not surprising that each piece
also makes specific lighting demands particular to that
work.
This year Alberg will be responsible for these
"specials," as they are called, for four of the eight works.
After an absence of a few years, Keith Oberfield, who has
done work for the Grand Rapids Ballet, has returned to Hope
and will be attending to the needs of the remaining four
pieces.
With the exception of two years, Cindy Alberg has
stage managed the annual concert since Dance 14. Her
commitment to the annual effort is exceeded only by her
husband Erik, who started a couple years previously.
As Hope's department of dance has grown in recent
years, Cindy has observed changes in the concert's format
and an expansion of the number of student dancers involved.
According to Cindy, the shift from the performing guest
artist to the guest choreographer was a "good idea" for the
students even though it adds "an extra piece to costume and
light."
Perhaps one of the most obvious technical demands
of the concert is that of costumes. Anne de Velder has been
costume designing the annual concert since Dance 22, but
this year the workload is heavier than usual with the record
47 costumes to be purchased, constructed, dyed and/or
altered. De Velder and her costume staff will work long
hours up until dress rehearsal to make sure each costume
piece is appropriate to the choreography and fits each
dancer without surprises.
Interestingly, John Dayger, dance faculty member
and Dance 26 choreographer, and de Velder are another
husband and wife team on the Dance 26 technical staff.
While de Velder's responsibilities include patterning and
cutting all constructed garments, she admits she prefers to
leave any dye work, especially color matching, to John.
"He's magic with that stuff," she said.
Tickets for Dance 26 are available from the
theatre lobby ticket office located in the DeWitt Center,
and cost $6 for regular adult admission, and $4 for senior
citizens, Hope faculty and staff, and students. The ticket
office is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
and Saturday from noon to 5 p.m., and may be called at (616)
395-7890.