Just Dance

    As a musical theatre major, I'm required to have an assistant stage manager credit to graduate, but who would've thought I'd be lucky enough to ASM the 60x60 dance show. While we have to spend time creating the run sheet, ensuring cast members are present, and helping backstage during the show, in rehearsals a lot of the time I get to just watch the magic happen. Dance was my first love, long before theatre. I was too scared of people to speak to them let alone speak onstage, but I loved performing at every dance recital for my studio. 

    While I no longer dance in a studio, I love getting to take dance classes at ONU, dance in shows, and choreograph for the Mansfield Youth Theatre. As a choreographer I'm constantly jotting down ideas because there's so many directions any piece can go, but it's about what iteration speaks to you. There are times you'll have ten ideas for one song, but each one leans into a different style. Oftentimes I record each style and wait to see which one speaks to my soul for that specific piece. I've loved getting to watch the choreographers for the show tell stories through the movement and seeing how they interpret the music. There's such a variety in styles and the type of stories they express. For example, there's one tap routine that's a fun western jig, while it might be followed by a tap piece about mental health. While each of these pieces use the same style of dance, they tend to evoke different emotions from the audience. Watching the creativity in each choice made is inspiring and thought provoking. 

    Outside of the choreography of the show, there's something about the scenery and staging of the show that sets apart from a traditional dance show. Being set in a small space with the audience mere feet away from the dancers invites the audience to be a part of the story. As the emotions of the dancers extend through the movement it elicits a feeling of empathy and understanding between the dancers and the audience. On top of the minimal distance between the audience and the dancers, the show is set in the round, meaning audience members sit on all four sides of the stage space. I've had to choreograph in the round before and it presents its own set of challenges. Not only do you have to find ways to move dancers to every side of the stage, but the movements have to reach all directions. In making formations it's difficult to avoid using circles for every shape, so it forces you to work even harder to be creative. With this knowledge, it's even more impressive how these choreographers have found different ways to utilize the space and tell a story effectively. 

    If you don't have your tickets for 60x60 yet you need to get them! These pieces range in the emotions they evoke, and each share a story to build a beautiful piece of art, so come out and support your fellow polar bears!

(enjoy a baby Cassandra dance video for your feed...I'm the one in the sequin skirt and mismatched sparkle socks)