Audiences were swept off their feet on both Friday and Saturday as Student Choreographer’s Coalition (StuCo) dancers graced the ’62 Center Dance Studio in pointe and tap shoes for their spring semester showcase. The show was StuCo’s largest performance since the dance group was revived in fall 2022, with 11 pieces choreographed by students, a company of 36 dancers, and one assistant lighting designer and sound engineer Izzy Weitzman ’27. The show featured a wide range of dance styles, including tap, jazz, contemporary, classical ballet, and contemporary ballet.
StuCo began working on its spring showcase in late January, which began with a proposal phase in which student choreographers pitched dance ideas to the StuCo board. According to co-president Sadie Fernandez ’25, selection was intentionally non-competitive and aimed to ensure a balance of dance styles across the pieces. “We really just wanted to get a sense of the choreographer’s vision and make sure we could help them execute it,” Fernandez told the Record.
From there, the board of StuCo held auditions — which were open to all students and required no prior dance experience — in early February. At auditions, students learned and performed a chunk of choreography from the dances of their choosing.
“Having individual auditions for each piece allowed people to really get a sense of what each piece was about and how the choreography felt in their body,” Fernandez said. Following auditions, the board of StuCo chose dancers for each piece, and rehearsals for the show began shortly thereafter.
“We ended up casting a really wonderful and talented company with dancers who have a super diverse range of backgrounds,” production manager Leo Levine ’26 told the Record. “Our company ranged from people who had never really performed before to people who danced all throughout high school.”
Dancer Maya Madison ’27 said that the inclusive audition process made her feel comfortable enough to try out for StuCo this semester. “The auditions were so open and inviting,” she said. “I ended up auditioning for every piece that wasn’t in the style of ballet and ultimately danced in three of them.”
The performance opened with a dance titled “Jenny Kissed Me” — a ballet piece choreographed by Clara Pollock ’26 to the jazz standard “Polka Dots and Moonbeams” by Frank Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey. Casey Cai ’27, Lucy Everett ’27, Anna Halfman ’27, and Pollock danced in the piece wearing doll-like attire.
“Tapping Into Tomorrow” — the only tap piece in the show — was choreographed by Casey Monteiro ’24 to the song “Wait For It” from the musical Hamilton. Monteiro has been a choreographer and dancer of StuCo since fall 2022 and is the group’s primary tap choreographer. “[The musical] is all about the legacy you leave behind for people who come after you,” Monteiro said. “As a senior, I was thinking about what legacy I will leave behind as a StuCo soon-to-be alum, which served as the inspiration for this piece.”
While Monteiro began choreographing the piece before spring auditions, she said that the final choreography was largely informed by her dancers and their individual capabilities. “Once I started to learn who my dancers were, I was able to start figuring out things like what I could do with formations,” she said. “Could I do a circle, could I do a V formation, could I do changing lines?”
Fernandez, who choreographed one jazz and one contemporary piece this semester, expressed a similar sentiment regarding her choreography. “I was very clear about the fact that I was choreographing for other people — like what felt natural and good on my body was not what felt natural and good on everyone’s bodies,” she said. “I started by using the choreography I taught in auditions, but if there was anything that didn’t feel good for my dancers, I changed it.”
The show closed with the piece “Hard Times” — choreographed by Fernandez and set to the Paramore song of the same name. The dance was stylistically jazz and “silly” in nature, according to Madison.
“It was one of those dances where, no matter what you do, it was fine if you messed up — it was part of the dance,” Madison said. “You wanted to throw something in? It’s silly jazz! You wanted to just improvise random things or start doing a cappella bopping? It’s silly jazz! We incorporated all of that stuff into the dance, which made it so fun and full of joy.”
The dance was also designated by the StuCo board as a piece open to any interested dancer regardless of their ability or experience. “We always try to have one no-cut piece each semester in StuCo because we want to make dance accessible to anyone who wants to be involved in dance,” Levine said.
Fernandez said that having a no-cuts piece as the show’s closer helped prove to audiences that anyone can dance if they want to. “I don’t think anyone is really in it for the technical aspect of it all,” she said. “We’re here because we love this joyous art form, and we want to share that with people who maybe haven’t had the opportunity to participate in it before. That’s what it’s all about.”
[Editor’s note: Emily Swope and Beatrice Larzul, who are editors for the Record and board members of StuCo, were not involved in the writing or editing of this article.]
