The curtain rises.
The lights come up.
5, 6, 7, 8
Show time.
Dance in Flight continues to keep audiences captivated through the talented dancers who flock to the program year after year.
For more than 20 years, dancers have brought one thing to the stage: passion. Pepperdine does not offer a dance major or minor, so program participants must love dance in order to give up their weekends to rehearse. Thirty-six dancers dedicate seven-months to rehearsals for four shows over three days, highlighting all manner of dance in a visual smorgasbord.
Whether it be through form or faith, Dance in Flight challenges and bonds its company members while lifting them up. Each year the company brings something new to the table.
“Dance in Flight is a life-transforming opportunity,” Alexandra Palmer, Dance alumna and co-director said. “Everyone works so hard to create something they are proud of with positive energy.”
Dancers put out the positive energy starting at two-day long auditions in early September. Dance alumna and Pepperdine School of Law student Cory Batza said the audition process was fun and encouraging. Senior sports medicine major Tanner Heckle went into the Dance auditions with no training under his belt.
“At times I felt so awkward and out of place,” Heckle said, “and told myself ‘maybe I’m not cut out for this.’”
Junior theater major Constance Egli had a similar experience the first year she auditioned. She said she saw past Dance audition tapes online and almost did not audition out of fear. She said as a returning student she loves being able to foster a positive environment in the audition room.
“The freedom to cheer each other on during auditions,” Egli said, “brings so much joy to the (audition) process.”
Similarly, senior theater major and student choreographer Meghan McDonough loves being able to welcome new people of all experiences and talents during the audition weekend. She said she values the diversity among students’ different backgrounds and various majors.
“We love dancing,” McDonough said. “You get to learn the styles, but you don’t have to think about the pressure.”
While some students dance their entire lives, many students walk into the Dance audition room with hardly any dance experience.
Co-director and Dance alumna Kelsey Alexander said her experience in the Pepperdine dance company challenged her through the relationships with her peers. She said dancing in this unique company forces you to work well with other people and learn from them.
“It’s humbling to work with people who are willing to learn,” Alexander said.
Each student must audition for all different types of genres, which forces them out of their comfort zones. McDonough had only been a ballet dancer, while Palmer and Egli knew hip-hop.
Since dancers are trying new types of moves each week, Heckle said dancers must leave pride at the door.
“Rehearsal is a time to appreciate everyone else’s skills,” Heckle said, “(or else) you will get discouraged.”
Sophomore sports medicine major Caili McDaniel said she had trouble transitioning from dance team to Dance in Flight because of the focus on performing someone else’s choreography with your own flair.
“Coming from a dance team you get used to being uniform and making a dance look good,” McDaniel said. “Now you have to see the individual within the whole.”
McDaniel also said the faith component in Dance in Flight inspired her throughout the process. Two company chaplains lead a devotional every Saturday morning before rehearsal. Heckle said nothing the dancers do is disconnected from God, which he said creates a loving environment.
“You see God working in everything and everyone through their dancing,” Heckle said, “and you know that is the talent that God has given them — it’s beautiful.”
McDonough said rehearsals bring the company together to worship through their dance practice. Egli said the biggest faith role models she has had in her life came from Dance in Flight.
The Dance companies bond and grow together throughout the seven-month long process, but they also grow individually, Palmer said. Her favorite part about her experience is watching individuals come back year after year and mature from their first year to their senior year. The older members always cheer on the younger members.
“Personalities come out as time goes on and there is a new willingness to try,” Alexander said.
While the dancers work together to tell a story with their dancing, audience members sit back and enjoy the ride. Pepperdine senior business administration major Maura Durkin said the first time she watched Dance she could not believe her eyes.
“I don’t know very much about dance,” Durkin said, “but watching my peers dance with such emotion and grace inspired me.”
Senior philosophy major and rugby player Austin McElrath said he is able to recognize the dedication that goes into the performance even though dance is not his thing.
“I believe (Dance in Flight) is the purist representation of the talents and passions of the artists onstage,” McElrath said.
Dance in Flight usually sells out within days of the box office opening, Palmer said. Sophomore psychology major David Limon linked Dance’s success to its wow factor, since dancers and non-dancers alike can find meaning in the production.
“(Dance in Flight) tells a story,” Limon said, “and we can all connect to stories.”
Limon said watching the show his freshman year made him want to audition because he wanted to be involved with the program. He wanted to inspire audiences just like the dancers inspired him.
McDonough also saw Dance in Flight as an audience member and she chose to attend Pepperdine after she saw the show. She said she liked that Pepperdine did not have a dance major, yet still had the prestigious program for students serious about dance.
Performance weekend for the company members has the same positive energy of audition weekend, McDonough said. She said the first dress rehearsal always feels unreal when everyone has costumes on with the set in place.
“If we didn’t have costumes or lights or anything,” Egli said, “I would still get up and dance.”
Participants said they like to take part in dance while studying various subjects. Dance in Flight brings a wide range of students together, while other schools might have a specific dancing major in which students only focus on their practice.
The company seeks to provide audience members with a positive experience year after year. Heckle said that as a dancer one has the power to spark feelings that some people have difficulty expressing.
“We’re having the time of our lives out there,” Egli said.
Students rehearse every Saturday and Sunday for seven months between auditions and the show’s performances. The university funds the shows so the dancers do not have to pay to participate in Dance in Flight.
Jacqueline Cisneros completed this story in Dr. Christina Littlefield’s fall 2014 Jour 241 class.
