After two years of delay owing to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the University Theatre & Dance Department held their first Fall Dance Showcase since 2019 in the Harvey M. Powers Theatre in Coleman Hall. The showcase was put on for two days, namely last Friday and Saturday.

Guest artists, current students, student groups, alumni and faculty all performed on stage for the concert. 

According to the Department’s website, “the Fall Dance Showcase and the spring Choreographer’s Showcase, under faculty and student direction, feature an array of new works by students who have taken Dance Composition, as well as faculty and guest artist pieces. They perform to sold-out audiences from the campus and surrounding community.”

“The Fall Dance Showcase is just that, a SHOWCASE for many of the different forms of dance on campus,” explained Professor Kelly Knox, associate professor and Director of Dance at the University. “Six selected student choreographers created new works on their peers in addition to pieces choreographed by two alumni, our adjunct professor, a dance faculty along with the Ballet I, Modern I and Chinese Watersleeves classes with invited students groups: the Bisonettes, the Bison Girls and the Irish Step Dance Team.”

According to Knox, over 100 students were involved in the event. “It was fantastic!,” she offered. “We were so happy to be back live on dance serving up an eclectic mix of dance, performed with joy, fierceness and passion.”

Participants and audience members alike thought that the event was a success. 

“I think it went very well. [There were] different forms of dancing [that] had a lot of talent,” Tseday Robinson ’24, a member of The Bisonettes, explained.

Robinson noted that The Bisonettes practiced both Wednesday and Friday, along with a dress rehearsal on Thursday, to prepare for the showcase. 

“We spent about an hour doing lights and cleaning up the dance on stage,” she added. “Every performer got about an hour or so that day to go over what they wanted to on the stage.”

Looking ahead to other Theatre & Dance performances, there will be an additional Showcase in the spring as well as a concert. 

“The fall and spring dance concerts featuring the Bucknell Dance Company are produced as part of the Department of Theatre & Dance’s mainstage season,” the department’s website explains. “Students are invited to audition each semester to work with faculty, guest artists and selected student choreographers. Concerts are fully produced with lighting, set and costume designs by the professional faculty and staff in the department.”

The website also notes that the Theatre & Dance department are always looking for new majors. 

“The major in theatre offers opportunities in all phases of theatre arts: dramatic literature and criticism, engineering/technology, history, performance and design, and the freedom to customize your major around your interests and needs,” the website provided. “Throughout the academic year, students can get involved in a variety of theatre productions in the Tustin Studio Theatre and the Harvey M. Powers Theatre.”