Spring Studio Sessions: A Showcase of Student and Professional Dance Artistry

2024 Oct 2

Choreographer Sanchel Brown brought her unique movement style to the Muhlenberg College stage as last year's Baker Artist-in-Residence. Her work premiered in last spring's final performance, Spring Studio Sessions. The concert also featured new works by eight student choreographers, under the artistic direction of faculty member Elizabeth June Bergman.

Emma Forster of Tinton Falls, NJ, danced in "No Day but Today."

Based in Philadelphia, Brown connects hip-hop and West African dance. The founder of Nubienne Productions, she is a 2022 Next Level Residency cultural ambassador through the U.S. State Department. Her work has taken her all over the world, from Senegal to the Philippines. Brown's numerous choreography and performance credits include World of Dance Philadelphia and the Kimmel Center's 2018 Jazz Residency. She is also a 2022 recipient of the Broadway World Outstanding Choreography Award for Theatre in the X's Dreamgirls.

Brown's new piece, "The REBEARTH," combined her practices of chakra therapy and dance therapy with traditional West African rhythmic patterns and contemporary movement aesthetics. Utilizing poetry, storytelling, and the discography of Earth, Wind & Fire, her work explored the process of birth and the experiences of the soul.

"This work comes from a deep spiritual place," Brown said. "I'm really into trying to find ingenious ways to use old elements and have new meaning with them. The piece is dear to my heart, and I've really felt like the students here would do it justice."

Brown's residency is supported by the Dexter F. and Dorothy H. Baker Foundation. Her residency also includes workshops on campus and with teenagers in the Allentown School District.

"I'm grateful to be able to have this space to experiment because, as a freelance artist, you don't often get space to do a full-fledged piece where you don't have to find funding," Brown said. "It's nice to be able to come in and channel my art in a very focused way."

Spring Studio Sessions also featured the work of eight student choreographers, many of whom made their choreographic debut on the Muhlenberg stage. These works featured a variety of movement styles, including hip-hop, contemporary, and tap, to explore an array of themes, creating what Bergman called "a rich and diverse mix of movement aesthetics."

"It's my first time as artistic director on a Muhlenberg dance production," Bergman said. "It's been rewarding to see the process unfold. The associate artistic director, Kerry Kaufman '24, and I have been excited to see how the student choreographers' works have developed from their original proposals way back in January into fully realized and produced versions of their vision."

"The concert is shaping up to be a rich and diverse mix of movement aesthetics. Together, the works offer intriguing perspectives on a range of topics that are sure to invite the audience to think and feel deeply," said Elizabeth June Bergman, Artistic Director.

Choreographer Zoe Pizzuto '25 created a contemporary piece set to hip-hop music that explores how people process trauma and begin to heal.

"The inspiration behind the piece is very deep and personal," Pizzuto said. "The close proximity to the audience allows for a really personal connection between the dancers and the audience, and I think that's really unique to the Studio Theatre."

In her contemporary piece, choreographer Paige Majewski '24 also explored the relationship between audience and performer. Through movement, the dancers confronted the audience's role as spectators to their artistry in a haunting and sinister manner.

"I attempt to make every movement motivated by the characters' desires," Majewski said. "I enjoy using facial expressions as part of the choreographed movement. In this piece particularly, I'm using a slew of exaggerated expressions that communicate pain, monotony, madness, and villainy."

Choreographer Jane Carney '24 created a piece inspired by tap dance and Irish hard shoe and the "battle" setting in which she has noticed they often appear. She hoped to showcase each style's individual qualities and how they exist in harmony.

"These two dance vernaculars have histories that conflict with one another, so I really do wonder if this has led to the seemingly constant battling," Carney said. "My response to this conflict was to create a work that highlights both styles while honoring them as separate forms but often exploring similar historical themes."

"Together, the works offer intriguing perspectives on a range of topics that are sure to invite the audience to think and feel deeply," said Bergman.

Other featured choreographers included Ellie Dean '26, Nicole Lamprinos '25, Hannah Perfetti '25, Mary Powell '24, and Chris Rubingh '24. AJ Ring '26 designs lights.

Spring Studio Sessions ran May 1-3 in the Studio Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance, Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown.

Read more here.

About the Muhlenberg College Theatre & Dance Department:
Muhlenberg offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in theatre and dance. The Princeton Review ranked Muhlenberg's theatre program in the top twelve in the nation for eight years in a row, and Fiske Guide to Colleges lists both the theatre and dance programs among the top small college programs in the United States. Muhlenberg is one of only eight colleges to be listed in Fiske for both theatre and dance.