This school year, the Department of Performing Arts (DoPA) has faced challenges due to major renovations across campus, particularly in Strayer Hall, where rehearsals are usually held. The Strayer weight room was relocated to one of two dance studios in the Fonseca Center (FC), and the Claudia Boettcher Theater (CBT) is closed for renovations. These closures have forced Masters dance company to adapt to a single studio.
With limited space, the company split rehearsals into two separate dances and often searched for alternatives.
“Since there’s only one studio, the only other place that we would have to practice would be somewhere else in the FC, like the third floor,” sophomore Susannah Brown said. “The dance space is a lot more confined than last year.”
Upper School dance teacher, Melissa Edwards, emphasized the importance of the CBT during a regular season.
“Our fall concert is usually scheduled for the CBT. So, while that is offline, we had to go around and look at spaces in the community,” Edwards said. The Company chose the fencing studio for its fall showcase.
Peter Wiley, theater technical director, transformed the fencing studio into a performance space, adding curtains, lights, and dance-friendly floors.
“The fencing studio needed to have curtains to create wing spaces and kind of work to transform the space into theater,” Wiley said. He continued, “I think the show is going to be excellent. It’s not a normal venue, but one of the great things about dance is that you can move into different spaces.”
Edwards reflected on Wiley’s hard work. “It’s a lot of extra work on top of putting a concert together,” Edwards said, but she and Brown have also found positives to having one studio. She explained, “Everyone gets to know each other really well in that one studio. We have to be in a small space and kind of on top of each other to grow social relationships.”
Brown agreed that there were positives to the change in location. “It’s great because it makes a stronger community. There’s more time to spend with the people that you want to dance with,” Brown said.
“The one studio we have is a really special one. There are multiple windows. We often see students peek into practice to watch our tight-knit community evolve. A tight-knit community helps everyone to become better dancers and better friends with each other.” Brown said.
