“New Dances, New Choreographers” is an annual year-end performance, presented by Dancers’ Workshop, where local students have the unique opportunity to choreograph their own original pieces.
Throughout the months-long pre-production process, the dancers of the Junior Repertory Company are thoroughly involved with not only the choreography and execution but also the costume designs, the roles different dancers will play, the music and even the marketing.
Their hard work will be on full display this Friday and Saturday night, April 20 and April 21, at the Center for the Arts on the Center Stage with both shows starting at 7 p.m. The program for this year’s “New Dances, New Choreographers” is called “Duality” and consists of 13 pieces exploring themes of adversity, solitude, family, body image and unexpected connections.
Most of the student dancers have been training and dancing together in the Junior Repertory Company since they were small children. In fact, this year’s graduating class features 9 seniors, the most ever for Dancers’ Workshop, which makes for an almost unbreakable bond.
‘A close bond’
“We’re really connected and we work really well together. I think that we have a really great dynamic going on in the company right now. A lot of really strong dancers,” said Jackson Hole High School senior Lola Roberts.
Each of the student dancers involved in “New Dances, New Choreographers” is tasked with coming up with their own concept and choreography for their individual dance piece. It’s a collaborative process that requires the students to sit in the director’s chair and work with their peers to realize their vision.
Junior Lottie MacGregor created a piece for six dancers that deals with the importance of family in one’s life.
“I have two siblings, and we have three cousins that live in town. We’ve created a very close bond throughout the years,” MacGregor said. “I wanted to emphasize that close bond we have and how through the good and bad times, your family will always be there for you.”
Getting into that ‘emotional state’
The crossing of paths and the resulting connections is the theme of senior Megan Brown’s piece.
“I noticed how everyone kind of had their own path throughout the dance. I then connected it to life and used different connections with each other to make different little duets to show that theme,” Brown said.
For senior Lola Roberts, a solo dancer interprets her concept of the duality of freedom and loneliness that comes with being alone.
“I put a lot of my personal emotion into it. I have found myself in both those moments, of the freedom and loneliness that comes with it,” Roberts said. “So I worked a lot on translating that into my dancer. Her and I worked a lot together to also get her emotions into it and get her into that emotional state.”
As far as what the dancers hope the audience takes away from this year’s “New Dances, New Choreographers” performance, it’s all about love.
“The amount of love that we all have for dance. We all have very different pieces that explore a lot of different topics,” Roberts said. “But I think that at the end of the day, the show is a showcase of how much we have worked and how much we love what we’re doing.”
As the seniors move on to the next chapter in their lives, which for many will still include dance, they say this valuable experience is not lost on them.
“It’s really special to get this choreography opportunity. And as I’m moving away, I realize how special it is,” Roberts said. “There’s not very many opportunities for young dancers to get that. It makes this experience all that much more special.”
Listen above for KHOL’s full conversation with Junior Repertory Company dancers Lottie MacGregor, Megan Brown and Lola Roberts.
