University dance students and faculty are preparing for a year of steady performances — a change of pace from last year when the department focused on hosting guest artists.
Currently in the works for the academic year are tours around Oregon and productions in the Dougherty Dance Theatre, the Hult Center for the Performing Arts and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.
“Last year we had a lot
of guests, and we were producing,” dance professor Walter Kennedy said. “This year is more home-grown.”
On September 24, dance students attended the department’s placement audition, where faculty evaluated students’ dance abilities and placed them into appropriate class levels. The department has several additions to its class offerings this fall: Tango II and Salsa II, which Dance Professor Amy Stoddart said were offered last spring for the first time and were “a big hit,” as well as extra sections of hip hop classes.
Kennedy will kick off the year of performances with a collection of modern works at the Hult Center on Nov. 12 and 13. Professional dancers from around the United States will dance in a tribute to late modern dancer and choreographer Bella Lewitzky. While in Eugene, the performers will participate in residency activities. Kennedy said the choreography includes restructured versions of Lewitzky’s work.
Graduate dance student Marco Davis plans to celebrate the grand opening of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art in January with a show at the museum by his dance group, the University of Oregon Repertory Dance Company. He said the performance, which he choreographed, is inspired by “butoh,” a form of dance developed in Japan during World War II that features symbolic moves in slow motion. The UORDC will also tour around Oregon in the spring, when it plans to visit more cities than usual this year. Tour activities include lecture-demonstrations at high schools and middle schools and formal concerts.
Dance Africa, the University’s African dance group, will adjust to a new schedule this year. They will hold a large celebration in the Dougherty Dance Theatre for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, where they will perform and host a guest artist. In past years, they held two smaller shows: one in the fall and one in the spring.
“We are combining our guest artist and celebration for Martin Luther King weekend so we can get on tour earlier,” Dance Africa Director Rita Honka said.
Other changes this year are
the dates of the student-choreographed and faculty-choreographed concerts at the Dougherty Dance Theatre. Previously, the student concert was held in the winter
and the faculty concert in the spring, but this year the dates will swap. Stoddart said dance faculty wanted the faculty concert to take place in the winter so the department’s advanced students, many who tour with Dance Africa and UORDC in the spring, will be around to participate.

Two graduate-student-produced concerts are planned for the year, an increase from the amount of graduate concerts held in previous years. Stoddart said this is due to the growing number of graduate students working on their final projects.
“We’re getting more and more students in their final year,” Stoddart said.
Graduate student Sarah Nemecek’s concert will be held on Feb. 25 and 26 at the Dougherty Dance Theatre, and she said she is planning a collaborative production with the School of Music composers, a University sculptor and the 3-D art program at the University.
“There will be 200 bells hanging in the theater, and the dancers’ movements will trigger the bells,” Nemecek said.
The second graduate concert, scheduled for May 27 and 28, will display the work of graduate student Dominique Chartrand. Kennedy said Chartrand plans to use the Pioneer Cemetery for part of her show. The show will begin at the cemetery at dusk.
“She’s trying to reclaim the site in a positive way,” Kennedy said.

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