A MESSAGE FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Our Dearest Audience,
Dance Reflections originated over 30 years ago, in 1988, as a teen competitive dance team. After several years of competing and ranking amongst the best in the state, we happily abolished our competition team in search of a more fulfilling and artistic outlet. A decade later a new Reflections was born, this time as a pre-professional performance company.
The goal was to create a safe environment for some of our most promising students to grow as dancers and as young people. Dance Reflections quickly became an avenue to give back to the community through local performances, fundraisers, veteran’s homes, nursing homes, etc. Throughout the years, our dancers have raised money for various charities, shared their work internationally and even, from time to time, placed first in the occasional dance competition (for fun).
Their work, both on stage and off, has been challenging, exploratory and has given them all a true sense of professionalism. Each month, the dancers work with a different choreographer who sets an original or re-imagined work on them. By working with various professionals, each dancer takes away something unique from each artist and has the opportunity to apply it in their weekly dance training. Aside from their weekend rehearsals, the entire company meets every week for their company ballet class, where they train alongside one another and continue growing and learning from each other. Over the years, our Dance Reflections dancers have always formed a very special bond that has proven to truly last a lifetime.
Today we are pleased to present you the work from the past twelve months, seventeen choreographers and nineteen dedicated dancers. Throughout the course of this year, our dancers were encouraged to master new techniques, learn from new artists and explore different styles: enthusiastically culminating in this wonderful performance today.
So without further ado, we hope you enjoy DanceScapes 2024!
With love and profound gratitude,
Alessandra Valea
Dance Reflections originated over 30 years ago, in 1988, as a teen competitive dance team. After several years of competing and ranking amongst the best in the state, we happily abolished our competition team in search of a more fulfilling and artistic outlet. A decade later a new Reflections was born, this time as a pre-professional performance company.
The goal was to create a safe environment for some of our most promising students to grow as dancers and as young people. Dance Reflections quickly became an avenue to give back to the community through local performances, fundraisers, veteran’s homes, nursing homes, etc. Throughout the years, our dancers have raised money for various charities, shared their work internationally and even, from time to time, placed first in the occasional dance competition (for fun).
Their work, both on stage and off, has been challenging, exploratory and has given them all a true sense of professionalism. Each month, the dancers work with a different choreographer who sets an original or re-imagined work on them. By working with various professionals, each dancer takes away something unique from each artist and has the opportunity to apply it in their weekly dance training. Aside from their weekend rehearsals, the entire company meets every week for their company ballet class, where they train alongside one another and continue growing and learning from each other. Over the years, our Dance Reflections dancers have always formed a very special bond that has proven to truly last a lifetime.
Today we are pleased to present you the work from the past twelve months, seventeen choreographers and nineteen dedicated dancers. Throughout the course of this year, our dancers were encouraged to master new techniques, learn from new artists and explore different styles: enthusiastically culminating in this wonderful performance today.
So without further ado, we hope you enjoy DanceScapes 2024!
With love and profound gratitude,
Alessandra Valea
DANCE CHOREOGRAPHY SHORT DESCRIPTIONS
ACT ONE
Rhapsody in Blue(s)
Choreographed by Alessandra Valea
As they dance through Gershwin's classic composition that redefined the jazz age, the dancers are blending and borrowing from various styles. The precision of ballet influences the specificity of stylistic jazz. This makes this piece something unique for both the audience to observe and the dancer to execute.
Rewired
Choreographed by TJ McNeill
How does our brain restructure itself once we make a conscious decision to heal? Each dancer represents a neural pathway plagued by depression. What happens when they all unmask but one? Will this brain be able to inspire itself to take a leap of faith into the unknown awareness?
March of Six
Choreographed by Julia Ramirez
Inspired by the idea of cause and effect, March of Six explores the idea of constant movement and the rippling effect it can cause on its surroundings. Causation is the relationship of cause and effect between one event - otherwise known as the action and the result. When dancers move through the space how do they influence the other and what is created out of that exact moment?
Best Love Song
Choreographed by Nicole Fox Davis
Energy, Ferocity & Freestyle come together onstage in bright colors and vivid movement. Strength is king and swag is a necessity.
Coppelia
Choreographed by Julie Gale
Coppelia is a whimsical and comedic ballet from 1870. A beautiful girl sits in a window reading a book causing the villagers a combination of envy and love. But is she real?
ACT TWO
November
Choreographed by Katie Camero
The beauty of this piece is that it's not about anything in particular. As the piece progresses; the dancers are encouraged to breathe as heavily as they may need to and feel the mystery and intensity of the music as it grows. It's a group of young women exploring, together, the boundaries of their strength and their love of dance.
My Kind of Girl
Choreographed by Emma Dowd
The juxtaposition of classic and modern rhythms invites each dancer to find their individuality in an art where perfection is often expected. It’s our hope that confidence emanates from each step, reminding everyone the importance of dancing with heart and pure joy.
Say Something
Choreographed by LJ Boyce
Each dancer yearns for their other person to speak up and to acknowledge their pain. The performance captures the delicate balance between holding on and letting go, culminating in a bittersweet crescendo of silent struggle.
Through the Night
Choreographed by Tabitha Edwards
This student-lead choreography is a reflection of the dancers' interpretation of Van Gogh's Starry Night. It explores feelings of sadness and isolation, and the ability to find hope and light within yourself and others.
Excerpts from The Unarmed Child
Choreographed by Juliana Martino, Kerri McNeill, Barbie Brady & Melanie Wieworski
Children flee their safe spaces and cling to each other in desperation. Teachers react in a torturous panic, unable to protect them. Parents mourn and bury their babies. This is the incomprehensible reality of living in both fear and rage simultaneously. Created in collaboration with the piece’s Composer & the Rise up Chorus, "The Unarmed Child" is a multi-movement work that speaks out against gun violence toward children.
ACT THREE
Fantasy
Choreographed by Tommy Waisuita
While the artist’s lyrics address a complicated relationship, the choreography has movements and rhythms where the dancers are either in harmony with one another or in direct contrast. Relationships have a similar spectrum that require our care and attention.
To Us
Choreographed by Grace Calio
The process of moving through your emotions, sitting with yourself, and allowing anything and everything to show up without judgment or labels. Moving the focus to feeling sensation in the body versus how it looks. It's a dinner party, but all the guests are pieces of you and you have to share a meal together.
Dreams & Nightmares
Choreographed by Melony Mercedes
Dreams and Nightmares explores society’s paradoxical expectations of women within their own pursuit of liberation. The piece follows each dancer as they mold their own sense of femininity and strength to redefine what it means to be a woman today.
How to Start A Fire
Choreographed by Elena Yasin
How To Start a Fire explores the characteristics of a fire as it sparks, ignites, grows stronger, and eventually burns out. With this imagery, the dancers work together to create energy and power amongst each other, as well as to ignite a flame and sense of hope within themselves.
Disco Inferno
Choreographed by Barbie Brady
As a child, I watched my parents joyously dance in the living room to the sounds of the seventies. Those moments created an anchor of love for me and a deep appreciation for the melodic and soulful beats of Disco! Turn up the bass, get your platforms on and let’s hustle
Rhapsody in Blue(s)
Choreographed by Alessandra Valea
As they dance through Gershwin's classic composition that redefined the jazz age, the dancers are blending and borrowing from various styles. The precision of ballet influences the specificity of stylistic jazz. This makes this piece something unique for both the audience to observe and the dancer to execute.
Rewired
Choreographed by TJ McNeill
How does our brain restructure itself once we make a conscious decision to heal? Each dancer represents a neural pathway plagued by depression. What happens when they all unmask but one? Will this brain be able to inspire itself to take a leap of faith into the unknown awareness?
March of Six
Choreographed by Julia Ramirez
Inspired by the idea of cause and effect, March of Six explores the idea of constant movement and the rippling effect it can cause on its surroundings. Causation is the relationship of cause and effect between one event - otherwise known as the action and the result. When dancers move through the space how do they influence the other and what is created out of that exact moment?
Best Love Song
Choreographed by Nicole Fox Davis
Energy, Ferocity & Freestyle come together onstage in bright colors and vivid movement. Strength is king and swag is a necessity.
Coppelia
Choreographed by Julie Gale
Coppelia is a whimsical and comedic ballet from 1870. A beautiful girl sits in a window reading a book causing the villagers a combination of envy and love. But is she real?
ACT TWO
November
Choreographed by Katie Camero
The beauty of this piece is that it's not about anything in particular. As the piece progresses; the dancers are encouraged to breathe as heavily as they may need to and feel the mystery and intensity of the music as it grows. It's a group of young women exploring, together, the boundaries of their strength and their love of dance.
My Kind of Girl
Choreographed by Emma Dowd
The juxtaposition of classic and modern rhythms invites each dancer to find their individuality in an art where perfection is often expected. It’s our hope that confidence emanates from each step, reminding everyone the importance of dancing with heart and pure joy.
Say Something
Choreographed by LJ Boyce
Each dancer yearns for their other person to speak up and to acknowledge their pain. The performance captures the delicate balance between holding on and letting go, culminating in a bittersweet crescendo of silent struggle.
Through the Night
Choreographed by Tabitha Edwards
This student-lead choreography is a reflection of the dancers' interpretation of Van Gogh's Starry Night. It explores feelings of sadness and isolation, and the ability to find hope and light within yourself and others.
Excerpts from The Unarmed Child
Choreographed by Juliana Martino, Kerri McNeill, Barbie Brady & Melanie Wieworski
Children flee their safe spaces and cling to each other in desperation. Teachers react in a torturous panic, unable to protect them. Parents mourn and bury their babies. This is the incomprehensible reality of living in both fear and rage simultaneously. Created in collaboration with the piece’s Composer & the Rise up Chorus, "The Unarmed Child" is a multi-movement work that speaks out against gun violence toward children.
ACT THREE
Fantasy
Choreographed by Tommy Waisuita
While the artist’s lyrics address a complicated relationship, the choreography has movements and rhythms where the dancers are either in harmony with one another or in direct contrast. Relationships have a similar spectrum that require our care and attention.
To Us
Choreographed by Grace Calio
The process of moving through your emotions, sitting with yourself, and allowing anything and everything to show up without judgment or labels. Moving the focus to feeling sensation in the body versus how it looks. It's a dinner party, but all the guests are pieces of you and you have to share a meal together.
Dreams & Nightmares
Choreographed by Melony Mercedes
Dreams and Nightmares explores society’s paradoxical expectations of women within their own pursuit of liberation. The piece follows each dancer as they mold their own sense of femininity and strength to redefine what it means to be a woman today.
How to Start A Fire
Choreographed by Elena Yasin
How To Start a Fire explores the characteristics of a fire as it sparks, ignites, grows stronger, and eventually burns out. With this imagery, the dancers work together to create energy and power amongst each other, as well as to ignite a flame and sense of hope within themselves.
Disco Inferno
Choreographed by Barbie Brady
As a child, I watched my parents joyously dance in the living room to the sounds of the seventies. Those moments created an anchor of love for me and a deep appreciation for the melodic and soulful beats of Disco! Turn up the bass, get your platforms on and let’s hustle