This fall, the UH School of Theatre & Dance (SoTD) presents the Emerging Choreographers Showcase. The annual showcase is known for featuring a myriad of pioneering works entirely produced, choreographed and performed by SoTD students.
“The UH dance program focuses on training students to become excellent choreographers,” says Toni Valle, who teaches dance production and marketing at UH. “Our students are the new blood of the next generation, so we are teaching them how to choreograph and create the dances effectively.”
The UH dance program fosters creativity by training students in the art of choreography and providing performance opportunities in professional environments. Valle is proud to observe her students utilizing their stage production skills in a professional theatre setting.
“This is the opportunity for our students to produce an entire show by themselves,” she says. “They will manage all of the elements of the show — choreography, lighting, costuming, running backstage and stage management.”
Senior dance students choreographed the majority of works this year’s showcase, combining their education and skill to produce high quality works that span a variety of styles, ranging from the humorous to the introspective.
Costanza Braggiato, a senior dance major at UH and member of the UH pre-professional performing company UH Dance Ensemble, is delighted to share her piece, “No, You,” a deeply personal work that explores the soft and strong sides of her persona. “It is a complicated yet simple piece that represents the complexities I am currently trying to figure out in my brain,” she says.
In Haley Shaw’s “Labyrinth,” a group of dancers are placed in, on and around a large metal cube structure that she had built specifically for the piece. Lizzy Woodson premieres a humorous dance set at a bar, paying tribute to a honky-tonk bar scene. And Cece Johnson presents an African-contemporary fusion set with seven women.