A Trinity of Dance Showcases

“For me, as an educator and choreographer, it was incredibly rewarding observing dancers come together from different schools and backgrounds to share their joy for and love of Dance,” wrote Deerfield Director of Dance Heather Holohan-Guarnieri (Ms. H) in an email interview. “The work that they did on stage was truly exceptional and the feedback that we received from the other schools—student and adult alike—was absolutely wonderful and very affirming.”

Coming back to Deerfield campus, the Family Weekend Showcase happened on Friday, April 11, in the Large Auditorium. It was a 30-minute program containing a total of six faculty-choreographed ballet, contemporary, and hip hop dances. Dancers reperformed all five pieces in the Spring Showcase around two weeks later. “I would say that I think it’s sort of a little part of a bigger show, and it was a good... taste of what people would see,” said Grace Taylor ’25, one of the student choreographers and performers of the Spring Showcase.

Deerfield Dancers performed the Spring Showcase on Thursday, April 24, and Friday, April 25, featuring a diverse collection of both faculty and student choreographed pieces. However, this year’s showcases featured more student-choreographed dances than in years past. Taylor, who choreographed a contemporary piece to “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac, noticed this change in the Spring Showcase. “I think Ms. H is putting a bigger emphasis on student choreography and allowing everyone who wants to choreograph, choreograph,” she said. “I think it’s great, because it’s really important to foster creativity and have a lot of people have the time to grow as choreographers throughout their time in Deerfield,” she said.

Tang, who choreographed a hip hop piece to the song “4 Minutes” by Madonna, spoke about the goal of both the Spring Showcase and Deerfield dance showcases in general, saying, “Specifically as choreographers, our goal is to showcase what we can do with dance; it’s not just, ‘someone’s moving on stage.’ I think our purpose is more to showcase what we can do and the creativity behind it.”

Tang also mentioned a difference in this year’s Spring Showcase from the past few years. “[Because] the Spring Dance Concert is so long and there are so many pieces, I think we have to have an Act One and an Act Two,” she said.

Taylor provided insight into the rehearsal process for dance showcases. “We rehearse every Sunday, so there are people who are in the studio on Sunday from ten to five rehearsing for these shows. It’s definitely a big extra commitment.” However, she also mentioned that “it’s also really rewarding, because you’re [still] able to do other co-currics and participate in other things while still being in the show, which I think is a really great part of the dance program.”