Tapping their toes and gliding through the room were an array of students hoping to be a part of a diverse performance with the Dance Department.
A handful of students spent Saturday, Aug. 28, dancing in the North Gym as they auditioned for Pierce College’s Fall Dance Recital.
Twenty students auditioned for different teachers and student choreographers. The dancers included returning students from the college’s dance department, as well as new students.
Brian Moe, an assistant professor of dance and the dance director at Pierce, said that having to learn multiple pieces of choreography can be challenging, so he chooses to evaluate the dancers on their work ethic.
“The most difficult part tends to be, just being able to literally spend twenty minutes on choreography then throw it away and try something different,” Moe said. “I like to look for their ability to keep going. If they’re looking like a hard worker and they don’t just give up and walk away, then that’s what I prefer.”
The auditions consisted of returning students who were on a dance team last year, but since choreographers and dance pieces change, the returning dancers have to audition again. All the dancers who auditioned will receive a spot in the upcoming recital.
Those who auditioned received a white cloth with a number on it and proceeded into the North Gym to begin their sequences. The dancing started at 12:30 p.m. with a warm-up, and then it was on to the actual performing.
The auditions were structured so each choreographer would teach all the dancers a quick dance, and then evaluate how well the dancers did. This meant that the students had to learn five different choreographies throughout the course of the auditions.
Char’Donai’ Brooks, one of the student choreographers, says that she is very passionate about her dance piece this semester, so she was looking for dancers who put a lot of affection into their dancing.
“This piece is really home for me, most of my pieces are. I just really want to see the take away of what I can give to them and what they can share with the audience,” Brooks said. “I was mainly looking around trying to see who didn’t give up or who showed emotion.”
Brooks required students to do push-ups and planks as part of her choreography. She said she wanted to see which dancers wouldn’t give up.
Cheyenne Smith, one of the dancers auditioning, said that she decided to audition because dancing in general brings her happiness.
“I love dancing. I love learning technique from other dancers and working together building this cute community of happy dancers,” Smith said.
Smith also added that she enjoyed the auditions because she was able to reconnect with dancers that she met last semester.
“My favorite part was coming in and seeing all of my fellow dancers from last semester working with me and coming to auditions and hanging out, and getting to share the space again with them,” Smith said.
The Pierce dance teams filled their rosters over the weekend and had callbacks the following week.
If anyone has any interest in dance at Pierce, there are various classes students can enroll in.
