The Department of Dance at Hope College is presenting its annual Spring Student Dance Showcase on Friday and Saturday, April 21-22, at 7:30 p.m. at the Knickerbocker Theatre in downtown Holland, and on Monday and Tuesday, April 24-25, at 7:30 p.m. at the Dow Center dance studio.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
The bi-annual showcase of student choreography features two venues to provide distinctive experiences for the participants and audiences alike. Pieces for the Knickerbocker will have the benefit of a traditional “black box” theater with additional technical capacities. The intimate “white box” studio on the second floor of the Dow Center offers the audience the opportunity to experience the energy of dance in a close and personal manner.
The Dow Center and Knickerbocker concerts each feature a different roster of works.
The full Showcase includes hip-hop, jazz, ballet and modern/contemporary. A total of 22 dances will be presented in total by multiple students from the Department of Dance, including students in Steven Iannacone’s Composition I class and the college’s Hip Hop Anonymous club. Iannacone, along with dance faculty member Angie Yetzke, serve as advisers and mentors for the Student Dance Showcase.
Featured in the showcase will be a piece by junior Emma Fowler of Haslett titled “How You See Me.” The dance’s intent is to acknowledge the injustice individuals with disabilities face, while also celebrating their strength. It has a mix of six vocal accounts of individuals who live with various disabilities. Their stories touch on everyday challenges they face, but also the unseen blessings of their situations.
All of the student works were evaluated by professional choreographers and performers Tim Heck, who is a 2004 Hope College graduate, and Hope Davis. Student choreographers had the unique opportunity to present their dances and then workshop new ideas and address choreographic challenges with Heck and Davis, receiving their feedback to guide them with further development.
Husband-and-wife team Heck and Davis currently serve as rehearsal directors of the Obie and Drama Desk Award-winning immersive production “Sleep No More,” created by the London-based company Punchdrunk. Davis was an original cast member in the production, and Heck is a current cast member. Both have extensive performing and directing careers, and also teach and direct throughout the United States.
The Dow Center is located at 168 E. 13th St., on the corner of 13th Street and Columbia Avenue. The Knickerbocker Theater is located at 86 E. Eighth St., between College and Columbia avenues.