Bridgewater State University Dance Company members posing after rehearsal for my piece "Barefoot", premiering in WinterDance December 2016 When looking into dance programs at the college level, one of the things perspective students should look for are opportunities for student choreography, especially if they are hoping to become teachers or choreographers one day. This is exactly what I want to do with my life, so these opportunities are precious to me. One of the things I love about being a dance major at Bridgewater State University is that we have a lot of opportunities to stage pieces. Freshmen dance majors take Dance Composition, which prepares you to audition a piece for the company's annual Fall semester production. Then as a junior or senior we take Dance Production Theory/Dance Production Techniques which prepare us to audition another piece in the company's Spring concert. These concerts are the most prestigious productions the company puts on and amaze audiences year after year. The company also holds open choreography auditions for the student run show Pops once a year. Because we have a small but strong program, I am getting all of these opportunities to showcase my work and use beautiful dancers to stage my pieces. These kinds of opportunities aren't the same at every school (some are less serious and some are much more competitive and only offered to upperclassmen so always keep these things in mind), but I am grateful for this aspect of my school's program.
You might be thinking that all of this sounds wonderful. But let me put it this way...being a student choreographer isn't all happy and lovely like when Dorothy arrives in Munchkinland. It's the whole Yellow Brick Road journey to Emerald City. First of all- auditioning your piece is probably one of the most stressful things you will ever do. Even after I spent weeks rehearsing with the dancers I used for the audition, there is nothing more nerve wracking than watching the judges' faces while they see your piece for the first time. Not to mention in a regular audition they are judging your training and technical/performance abilities, but in a choreography audition they are judging your creative work. This is especially difficult when you are presenting a risky concept or a personal statement in a piece. The waiting part is also stressful. With this particular production, we auditioned in May and got the results in July. JULY. That's a whole two months of wondering whether or not they liked my piece. Especially when you start to make plans for the upcoming semester, but you have no idea if you will be participating in this production or not. Once the results were out, I was overjoyed with the news, but I was very nervous going into the rehearsal period. I would see my fellow choreographers work on their pieces and doubt my own. I would stress about whether or not my dancers would like my piece and see my vision. I would stress over the dates of the show being moved to the same weekend that I'm dancing in The Nutcracker (that stress probably deserves it's own blog post). I'd be kept up at night by visions of sickled feet and possible wardrobe malfunctions etc. Being a student choreographer is also stressful because even though it's your name going on the piece, it's your director's (or multiple directors) name(s) going on the show, so they can pick apart your piece as much as they want to. But the most rewarding part of being a student choreographer is getting to work with talented and hard-working dancers like the ones I've been blessed with. It's really awesome when you come into rehearsal and everyone has positive things to say to each other and they nail my choreography each time they run it. While perfection in unattainable, I'm really happy with the progress I've made with my dancers and I'm eager to see them pull it off on stage. Anyone in the Bridgewater, Massachusetts area should come see my dance along with nine other student and faculty choreographed pieces in BSU Dance Company's annual production of WinterDance. Show dates are Friday, December 9 7:30pm, Saturday, December 10 7:30pm, and Sunday, December 11 2pm. Tickets are $10 general admission and $8 seniors and BSU students (with ID). The show will be performed at the Bridgewater State University RCC Auditorium.
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September 2020
Offline Updates7/16 Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the showcase I was selected to choreograph for at NYU was unfortunately cancelled. However, I was able to turn my work into a mini-documentary about the choreographic process and art prevailing during these trying times. You can watch my video my clicking the button below!
9/18 Follow my new Instagram just for my dance things!
12/23 I was one of NDEO's Guest Bloggers this year! Read "Teaching is a Vocation. Not a Fallback" on their Behind the Curtain Blog!
9/27 I will be presenting my research at the National Dance Education Organization National Conference next week! See my research project by clicking the button below!
4/15 While working on PMA's production of The Addams Family, I got to combine my two favorite styles of dance (ballet and musical theatre) for "The Moon and Me"! Watch my talented students dance by clicking the button below!
2/20 I am choreographing PMA Theatre Guild's Production of The Addams Family! Come see these amazing high school students perform at Presentation of Mary Academy in Methuen, MA April 13 & 14! Tickets available at the door.
2/20 I am stage managing BSU's Dance Kaleidoscope this year! Show dates are March 29-31 at Bridgewater State University in Bridgewater, MA. Come see this student choreography showcase!
11/5 I will once again be dancing in a BSUDC concert! Tickets to WinterDance are now available!
8/24 NDEO's National Honor Society for Dance Arts has published one of my articles in their newsletter! Read an updated version of "Audition Advice" here:
5/16 Interested in learning about movement concepts? Visit Becca's new Educational Dance website!
5/8 BSU Dance Company's Dance Kaleidoscope 2017 is now on Youtube! You can watch my performances by visiting the VIDEOS page!
4/23 I recently performed for the residents of Allerton House in Hingham, MA! You can watch part of my performance here!
Amesbury Children's Theatre presents...James and the Giant Peach Jr, featuring choreography by me! Click for tickets!
2/8 My piece "Barefoot" is now available to watch online! Click to watch!
2/5 Happy to say I have been cast in BSU Dance Company's Spring concert Dance Kaleidoscope! I will be dancing in 3 faculty choreographed pieces, including excerpts from The Sleeping Beauty in which I will be dancing the role of Lilac Fairy! Show dates are March 31-April 1 at Bridgewater State University.
Click the button for more info! 1/15 Ballet with Becca is now on Facebook! Click to visit the page, and be sure to like it while you're there!
1/14 I am happy to say I will be attending artEmotion's summer intensive in June! I will be dancing in the one week artEmotion Adult Program. If anyone would like to join or audition for any other artEmotion program, visit their website!
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