Young Choreographers Showcase March 30 to April 1

Washington University’s Performing Arts Department (PAD) in Arts & Sciences will present its biennial Young Choreographers Showcase in the Annelise Mertz Dance Studio March 30 to April 1. The concert will feature more than a dozen dancers in nine original, contemporary works by student choreographers in the PAD’s Dance Program.

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Performances begin at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 30; Friday, March 31; and Saturday, April 1. Tickets are $15, or $9 for seniors, students and Washington University faculty and staff. Tickets are available through the Edison Theatre Box Office, (314) 935-6543.

The Annelise Mertz Dance Studio is located in the Mallinckrodt Student Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. For more information, call (314) 935-6543.

“Performance is really just the final stage in the learning process,” says David W. Marchant, senior lecturer in dance, who serves as co-artistic director for the showcase, along with senior dance major Justin Huebener. “When a work becomes public, you’re often able to see it very differently than when you’re alone in the studio. The audience gives you very clear feedback as to what’s working and what is not working.”

The concert will include works by three of the PAD’s senior dance majors — Huebener, Allison Califano and Marquita Redd — all of whom presented full-length concerts earlier in the year.

The remaining six pieces were selected by a jury comprising the full-time dance faculty — Marchant, Mary-Jean Cowell, Christine Knoblauch-O’Neal and Cecil Slaughter — as well as Huebener and Henry Claude, the PAD’s music director for dance.

“Students undergo three rounds of auditions,” Marchant explains. An initial, preliminary audition is followed by a selection round and then a final, pre-performance critique. “Our primary mission here is educational. It’s about teaching and encouraging students and helping them to create the best choreography that they can.”

Making the final cut were ensemble works by senior Laura Vilines and junior Jenny Boissiere, as well as solos by a quartet of sophomores — Heather Wigmore, Patricia Engel, Meredith Wilensky and Becky Hutt. (Hutt’s piece, titled Happening, represented Washington University at the recent American College Dance Festival at Ohio State University.)

Huebener, who has previously performed in more than half-a-dozen PAD events, notes that “For students interested in going into the professional dance world, its great just to see how a show gets put together.

“Putting your work on the stage, under the lights, in a fully produced concert — that’s the final gauntlet for any artist,” Huebener concludes.