2008 Woodie Awards
The passion of MTSU's dancers
Madi Flournoy
Issue date: 9/4/08 Section: Features
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Kim Neal Nofsinger, artistic director of Dance Theatre, has been teaching dance at the university level since 1991 and has put hard work into making it a pre-professional company.
"Dance Theatre is a great opportunity to see fantastic work in concert," Nofsinger says.
The company has a hectic year ahead of them, with two major main-stage concerts - the first, which is yet to be titled, will occur on Nov. 13, and the other will take place sometime in the spring.
This year, Dance Theatre is developing the touring aspect of dance by performing at the Parthenon in Nashville. In the spring, MTSU will host the American College Dance Festival Regional Conference, where the students will perform with other collegiate dancers.
Kim Richards, senior liberal studies major, is going into her sixth semester as a part of the company.
"I believe [Dance Theatre] is a very sophisticated program that allows all levels of dance to succeed in performance," Richards says.
Performers for each concert practice twice a week as well as participate in a company class on Saturday mornings. These weekend classes change every week with guest choreographers that get the dancers excited to actually to wake up early and move their bodies.
This semester, they will learn from the talent and expertise of guest choreographers Ivan Pulinkala, Mari Jo Irbey and Sara Semonis. Pulinkala is the director of Kennesaw State's dance program. Irbe is a dance instructor from Loyola University in Chicago. Semonis is an assistant professor of dance at Illinois State University.
The student's other dance teachers, are Marsha Barsky and Nancy Ammerman, assistant director of Dance Theatre. All of the professors will give their time and knowledge to the company and other dance students participating in classes each week.
Chelsea Gray, freshman biology major, is performing in one of Nofsinger's pieces in the fall concert.
"I heard about Dance Theatre from a friend at my old studio, who went to their show and said it was really cool and the kind of dancing I'd like to do," Gray says.
Nofsinger says that the department tries to keep dance routines from staying the same.
"The style of dance we do varies from semester to semester," Nofsinger says. "This semester, we are having modern work, ballet work and jazz work as the genres we are working on."
The dancers rehearse in the Fairview Building's dance studio, which is almost always full of dedicated students who practice within it.
Auditions each year are open to all MTSU students, so anyone can come and try out. If dancing just isn't your thing, don't feel left out. Just come see the first major concert this November to witness a unique performance that won't be found anywhere else.
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