Knox Community Participates in Dance Chicago

The Knox dance program added another first to its list of accomplishments in November when Knox alumni, faculty, and current students participated at Dance Chicago, a three-weekend festival that showcases the work of choreographers in styles ranging from ballroom to ballet to break dance.

Jennifer Smith, assistant professor of dance, had two works from her dance company, Back & to the Left Productions, featured in the festival. Jessica Strache '08 had one piece, and Megan Hall '08 had two pieces chosen. Kim Neer '08 and Saras Gil '08 performed, and current Knox students worked on the lighting design and costumes in Smith's work, while all of the dancers in Strache's piece were current Knox students.

Strache and Hall were each subsequently named "Choreographer of the Year (New Voices)" for their performances at the festival.

"I was excited to have work selected, but even more excited that two students have gone on to hold their own in the Chicago dance community," said Smith.

"I am very grateful for my Knox experience and the influence that it had on my dancing," says Strache. "Terpsichore Dance Collective and the Dance Department offered me so many opportunities to choreograph and experiment with dance. In fact, I choreographed one (and sometimes two) pieces every single term since spring of my first year. That's a lot of practice. And, of course, the Knox dance environment is so open and nurturing that I was able to grow a lot as a choreographer during that time as well."

Smith says that all of the performances were very well received by the Chicago audiences, demonstrating the progress the Knox dance program has made in recent years. Smith says that when she started teaching at Knox 11 years ago, she was lucky if there were 10 to 12 students in introductory dance classes. This year, two sections of Beginning Modern Dance were full, while a few years back, more than 60 students signed up for Beginning Ballet.

And the audience size at dance concerts is growing as well. "The whole Knox community is coming out to support our dancers," she says.

Smith adds that as the size of the dance program has grown, so has the quality. "Our program is so successful because students who complete a minor in dance are able to analyze their choreographic decisions, make thoughtful choices about their lighting and costume designs, and create solid compositional structures. There are a lot of BFA and MFA graduates who are not trained as well as our dance students in all of the aspects of what it takes to fully realize a dance piece."