The SBCC Dance company will be ending their 2018-19 dance season with their annual Spring Collective on April 12 & 13 in the Garvin Theatre.
There are 12 total works being performed, six from the SBCC Dance company and six more from guest choreographers and companies.
Director Tracy Kofford said that they will be showcasing many different choreographies created this year. This includes a re-worked piece from 1997 called “Strange Boat” by Jerry Pearson, as well as an original piece choreographed by City College student Dallin McComb.
McComb will be attending the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University next fall. His piece is called “Orchids and Bonzides.”
The collective is open to all dancers of the SBCC Dance company, as well as any City College student.
Kofford said the process for preparing for the collective was very long and strenuous on himself and his dancers.
“We usually get 2 or 3 works hammered out in the fall, then start working on 3 more in the spring,” he said. “This is where they have to hold their stamina.”
Lennon Chahivec-Schneider, a dancer for the company, said they have been preparing all year long.
“I am enthralled by the idea of it, I love performing on stage” he said, “it’s just right in my comfort zone.”
This showcase is quite the experience for the artists who hope to pursue dance as a career, but also a respectable challenge.
“They get the real-life experience, everything that would happen in a real company production happens here,” Kofford said.
The dancers for the SBCC Dance Company have been touring every weekend for a month straight, usually performing one or two pieces.
Another fellow dancer for the company, Mihrin Popatia, will be performing for her third and last year in a row.
“It’s bittersweet, you spend so much time with the company it becomes a family” she said.
Popatia is an international student from Canada and mentioned her mother will be flying out to watch her perform this year.
“This is by far the most anticipated and exciting event, we get to perform for the people we love and everybody at our school,” she said. “It’s like when you play a home game on your own turf, we get that much more support. It’s an honor to be able to represent SBCC on stage.”
