May 24, 2023 – Dance Theatre of Santa Fe’s annual student-choreographed and student-produced season finale, “Room to Dance,” will enliven audiences at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 16-17, in the Jackson N. Sasser Fine Arts Hall at the Northwest Campus of Santa Fe College (SF), 3000 NW 83 Street, Gainesville.
Tickets are $15 for adults; $9 for seniors, students, military service members and children 12 and under; and free for SF students, faculty and staff with college ID cards. Tickets are available from the Fine Arts Hall box office at 352-395-4181 or online from Showpass at showpass.com/room-to-dance-2/.
“The students have created nine dances in styles ranging from contemporary to jazz funk, hip-hop and the new heels style,” said Assistant Professor of Dance and Dance Theatre of Santa Fe (DTSF) Director Melissa Brenner. “This new generation of dancers is taking us into the future by blending traditional concert dance technique with influences from the kinds of popular dance and music happening in clubs and music videos.”
“Room to Dance” finishes a year in which the students have worked with their instructors and master guest artists and performed in two large productions, “Holiday at Santa Fe” and “Elements of Style.” Their curriculum has included traditional African dance, classical ballet and a semester of dance composition (choreography) in addition to contemporary and musical theatre dance styles.
All that training results in “Room to Dance” in which DTSF students choreograph the dances and gain experience in auditioning dancers and running rehearsals. The choreographers also work with their instructors, Fine Arts Hall staff members and students in SF’s Associate of Science degree program in Theatre and Entertainment Technology to design lighting, sound and costumes.
“Students learn all aspects of production, how to transform dances from the studio to the stage,” Brenner explained.
Following each of the performances, the choreographers will engage in a question-and-answer session with audience members. “The Q&A is important because the students need that opportunity to talk about their work, to explain their processes, thinking and research,” Brenner said. “It’s important in an academic setting for dancers to be able to express themselves with their voices as well as with their bodies.”
“Room to Dance” is organized and sponsored by the Santa Fe College Fine and Performing Arts and Entertainment Technology Department. For more information, call Brenner at 352-395-4194. For more information about tickets, call the SF Box Office at 352-395-4181.