On Saturday, April 24, “Dance Kaleidoscope 2021” debuted to Viterbo students, faculty, and staff. The show, described by its creative team as “an explosive dance concert,” was performed twice in the same day, with a 2:00 p.m. matinee and a 7:00 p.m. closer. Adhering to COVID-19 protocol as recommended by the CDC, the show was only allowed to perform for a small audience in the Fine Arts Center Main Theater. However, “Dance Kaleidoscope 2021” was still able to entertain 98 people throughout both performances.
The show was the final major project for DANC – 490, Dance Repertory, taught by assistant theatre and music theatre professor Shane Rhoades. The class is composed entirely of dance minors. This year, the nine students were junior music theatre majors Braden Gere, Natalie Davies, Rachael Armstrong, Rachel Ponder, and Julia Harlos, as well as senior music theatre majors Sage Hovet and Alicia Diaz, senior theatre major Cassady Chadwell, and junior vocal performance major Zack Anderson. Each of the students were tasked with choreographing multiple pieces for the show. In total, 15 different dances were displayed throughout the performance.
The 15 dances were not comprised by the Dance Repertory class alone. At the beginning of the semester, Rhoades sent an open invitation to all theatre majors and dance minors looking for volunteers. The result was a variety of Viterbo students from different majors being featured in the show, including Yassie Bonner, Jarron Beckley, Iraya Cress, Payton Harper, Jillian Kohl, Ellyn Werner, Virginia Foshee, Audrey Accardo, Morgi Miller, Abbi Seim, Morgan Bramstedt, Rachel Muñoz, Jessalyn Wilson, Josey Terry, Bri Reilly, Maggie Enriquez, and Lauren Johnson.
The collaboration did not end there, as “Dance Kaleidoscope 2021” featured designers from the Design Aesthetics course. The students in this course were tasked with designing the lighting and costumes for each of the pieces. The dances included a range of designs. In Harlos’ choreography for “Let’s Generalize about Men” by Rachel Bloom, senior theatre tech and design major Fifi Rodriguez outfitted the dancers to match the likes of 1980’s workout tape actors. In Anderson’s choreographed rendition of “War of Hearts” by Ruelle, junior theatre tech and design major Grant Barclay dressed the dancers in all white. Each dance looked drastically different from the last.
The student choreographers presented the dance styles of hip-hop, jazz, tap, contemporary, and musical theatre, pulling from the previous dance classes they had taken throughout their time at Viterbo to complete their dance minor. From the show’s first dance to the last, each of which was performed and choreographed by the Dance Repertory students, the audience was shown an eclectic mix of pieces. One moment would see the dancers in dim lighting and dark clothes, and the next would involve bright, shiny dresses and a disco ball.
Altogether, “Dance Kaleidoscope 2021” delivered on what the course was designed for. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, the nine students got to display their knowledge of dance to an enthusiastic audience who applauded rapturously until the final bow.
