Students Emily Chapman (left) and Edromar Undag (right) rehearse with Grenek.
– no matter what it is,” Grenek said. “A piece like ‘MiddleSexGorge’ is going to show those dancers that you don’t have to be just one thing. The skills you learn in one class are absolutely applicable to other forms of dance.” Angela Lee, a third-year modern dance student at the School, planned to audition for the Petronio piece when she heard it was in the works. “It pushes the School and our dancers in a super technical and fast-paced way,” the 20-year-old said in December. “It will be really interesting to see how that comes about and who gets cast.” She wondered whether having ballet and modern dancers involved would make a huge difference in how the choreography is taught. Like Grenek, Lee agrees the two disciplines need to learn from each other. “It is 100 percent where the future is looking for dance,” she said. About 10 years ago, some of the faculty did not see it that way. When College of Fine Arts Dean Raymond Tymas-Jones had an initial conversation with the chairs of the two Departments about the possibility of creating a School of Dance, the word spread quickly. And opposition was strong. The Dean believed dance could have a greater imprint and footprint on campus if the Departments aligned. But the discussion came to a standstill until a recent faculty initiative led to the new School, unanimously supported by faculty from both Departments (one professor on sabbatical abstained). The time was obviously right. “It is clear that the students appreciate and support the whole idea of a School of Dance,” Tymas-Jones said. “As evidenced by their amazing performance of ‘MiddleSexGorge.’” ≠ Stephen Petronio Company members perform “MiddleSexGorge” Photo: Yi-Chun Wu
11 STUDIO / 2017
Photo: Luc Vanier
BUT IN BETWEEN US THERE WAS A WALL