Lights and Costumes and Music – Oh My! The Spring Dance Showcase

With the spring term comes sun, flowers, and the dance showcase. Widely-anticipated and always well-attended, it combines student and professional choreography.

Explained Director of the Dance Program Jennifer Whitcomb, “The spring concert is usually the largest one all year.”

This year’s concert features 17 pieces: 11 choreographed by professional choreographers and six by Deerfield students.

The spring showcase is also unique in that it features our senior dancers in their last major dance performance at Deerfield. Most of the seniors will perform solos or duets, such as a piece by Hillary Brooks ’02 for Alex Comerford ’10, a collaborative ballet piece by professional Carrie Towle and Emily Swarts ’10 for Swarts, and a funky piece for Rachel Teague ’10 co-choreographed by professional Amy Diaz del Rio and Teague.

What exactly will the pieces be like? Ms. Whitcomb said, “We all feel better with the onset of spring, and many of the dances in the show reflect that change.” In her opinion, “We have a nice balance of playful pieces and thought-provoking ones.”

While the showcase will bring great happiness to the community and to the dancers, it is a bittersweet event for all the seniors after a long history of Deerfield dance. “There are mixed emotions, but of course I am excited! It’s also our last show here, which is really depressing,” said Swarts.

For better or for worse, four- year-senior dancer Daryl Cooley ’10 will not be able to participate in the Spring Showcase because she qualified for the Interscholastic Equestrian Association’s National Horseback Riding Competition in Georgia. However, she will be back for the Parents’ Weekend showcase to star in a duet with Sam Gray ’10, among other pieces.

The showcase will take place on April 22nd and 23rd starting at 7:30 p.m., and a shorter version of the original concert arrives on April 30th at 8:00 p.m. for Parents’ Weekend.