SUU Dance And Music Department Collaborate Together to Create A Show to Remember
Last week the College of Performing and Visual Arts brought music and art together on March 1, 2, 3 and 5 for a multi-day performance of “Carmina Burana and Selected Works.”
“Carmina Burana” is a collection of poems composed by German composer Carl Orff in 1935. The SUU performance incorporated both a live choir and orchestra along the dancers. The first act consisted of work created entirely by the students in the dance department.
Parker Hess, a senior theatre arts major from Rocky Mount, Missouri, was not only the choreographer for the piece “Atlas” was also a performer in “To Bring Light” choreographed by Kyrsten Harper and “Flux” choreographed by Sara Morales.
“Trying to create a piece for the show was one of the most creatively frustrating, but rewarding tasks I have ever performed in college,” Hess said. The show has been in the making since September of 2017.
Kathleen Fotheringham, a senior history and dance education major from Saratoga Springs, choreographed “Helium.” The music used for this piece was a twenty-first century rap which made the piece stand out from the rest.
With practices ranging from one to three days a week, “Carmina Burana” was a large undertaking for both students and faculty. The piece was split among three of the dance professors in the department: Patricia Meredith, Michael Crotty and Megan Brunsvold-Mercedes.
In total, “Carmina Burana” had 17 dancers throughout the piece. The choreography was a combination of both modern and ballet techniques. It was composed of 26 different pieces.
“The most challenging part of learning ‘Carmina Burana’ was piecing together 26 different pieces that were choreographed by three different professors,” Ashlee Sizemore, a freshman dance major from Stansbury, said. “This required a lot of Saturday rehearsals, but in the end it was well worth it.”
With more than 200 audience members, it broke the attendance record for a dance performance at Southern Utah University.
Story By
Jake Sorenson for SUU News
Photo By
Easton Bowring for SUU News
