The public is invited.  Admission is free.

The ceremony is scheduled in conjunction with the college’s “One Big Weekend: Homecoming and Family Weekend” that will be running Friday-Saturday, Oct. 25-26.  Participants will include: Matthew A. Scogin, president of Hope; Dr. Steve Maiullo, dean of arts and humanities; Margret DeBruyn, daughter of dance department founder Maxine DeBruyn; Shannon Rodriguez; a senior dance major from Genoa City, Wisconsin; and Matthew Farmer, who is the Dorothy Wiley DeLong Professor of Dance and department chair.  In addition, the event will include special recognition of Eileen Kilmer Heeringa of Holland and the late Jim Heeringa, who were the dance wing’s lead donors.

The dance wing is adjacent to the main theatre and entrance of the DeWitt Center, which faces Columbia Avenue at 141 E. 12th St.  With its dark-orange siding, a close cousin of one half of the college’s school colors (orange and blue), and expansive windows that share the dance within with the world outside, Farmer noted that the addition is intended to both stand out and fit in.  It’s nearly at the center of a five-block span that runs from the Holland Area Arts Council and Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts to the north; to the Kruizenga Art Museum, De Pree Art Center and Gallery, and DeWitt Center; to the dance department’s primary home in the Dow Center to the south.

“It was important to us to enhance the arts corridor in addition to meeting the needs of the department,” Farmer said.  “The vibrant color is intended to draw people into campus, and the windows are meant to present ‘living art’ to complement the static art of the Kruizenga Art Museum and De Pree Art Center across the street.”

The dance wing’s most prominent feature is a state-of-the-art, 3,900-square-foot dance studio that can double as a performance venue.  It also includes a wheelchair lift to facilitate access to the mainstage and backstage areas; dressing rooms and a green room.  And, while it crucially helps meet the department’s need for more space based on enrollment and evolving accreditation requirements, Farmer said that it also supports a vision for what more dance at Hope can provide.

“We’re excited about having a beautiful, new, up-to-date space for students to dance in and prepare for performances in DeWitt,” Farmer said.  “But we’re also excited for the ways that the Jim and Eileen Heeringa Dance Wing will enable us to add to the Hope and West Michigan communities’ educational and artistic experiences.

“With the backstage enhancements, we’ll be able to bring in visiting dance companies whose technical needs we couldn’t meet before,” he said.  “Through its ability to serve as a performance space, the studio will also provide an additional, inviting environment to showcase previews of pieces that visiting companies are still developing, and works choreographed and performed by our students.”

Established in 1974, the college’s Department of Dance is open to all students at Hope and not just majors or minors.  The department offers two different dance majors and two minors, with coursework that combines theory and technique, including ballet, Hip Hop, jazz, modern and tap. More than 250 students are enrolled in the department’s courses in any given semester, including approximately 75 who have declared majors or minors.

Hope has been accredited by the National Association of Schools of Dance since 1982, and the Department of Dance has received a variety of honors through the years. In February 2023, as a recent example, it received that year’s Inspiration Award from Chicago Tap Theatre, one of the nation’s top tap companies, as a leader in tap dance education.

The department was founded by Maxine DeBruyn, who offered the college’s first dance course in 1965 and continued to teach at Hope for many years after retiring in 2006 as the Dorothy Wiley DeLong Professor Emerita of Dance.  DeBruyn, who died on Dec. 9, 2021, at age 83, is honored through a legacy corridor in the wing that has been named for her and will ultimately include a display celebrating the program’s history.

The construction of the Jim and Eileen Heeringa Dance Wing has been the second of three projects for the Department of Dance, which Farmer explained has not only outgrown its quarters but must meet new standards for accreditation — such as larger studios with higher ceilings. The first project was the development of the state-of-the-art Wesselink Tap Studio, underwritten by Linda and Dave Wesselink, which opened during the 2021-22 school year in renovated space in the DeVos Fieldhouse.  Planning for the third project has not yet been completed, but it is anticipated to include a major renovation of the studio space in the Dow Center, the department’s primary home since the building opened in 1978.

A full schedule for the Oct. 25-26 One Big Weekend is available at hope.edu/onebigweekend.  To inquire about accessibility or if you need accommodations to fully participate in the event, please email accommodations@hope.edu.

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