It was with delight that I saw the listing for Dance Strasser in the City Paper. Dance Strasser, like Dance Hartwell (April 18-20, 7:30p), was student choreographed and performed. Like other adjudicated evenings of dance, what was presented on stage is only a sampling of the work being done in the Department of Dance at the College at Brockport. The listing followed just a page after Casey Carlsen's well-written preview piece on Vision of Sound, which included several Brockport dance alumni, so one has the sense that dance is taken seriously at the City Paper. That said, I feel compelled to comment.
While it is true that dancers have an advantage "over the average academic crowd," because they are artists and that is an advantage, the work they do is not easier than other academic disciplines, nor is it particularly stress relieving or simply a "work out." Artistic research takes many forms, some of it ends up on stage, some of it on the page. The choreography and performances take creativity, dedication, and discipline, just like other forms of serious study.
Please come join us for a concert this spring.
Maura Keefe, PhD
Chair, Department of Dance
The College at Brockport
Re: “DANCE | Dance/Strasser and Bharata UTSAV”
To the Edior,
It was with delight that I saw the listing for Dance Strasser in the City Paper. Dance Strasser, like Dance Hartwell (April 18-20, 7:30p), was student choreographed and performed. Like other adjudicated evenings of dance, what was presented on stage is only a sampling of the work being done in the Department of Dance at the College at Brockport. The listing followed just a page after Casey Carlsen's well-written preview piece on Vision of Sound, which included several Brockport dance alumni, so one has the sense that dance is taken seriously at the City Paper. That said, I feel compelled to comment.
While it is true that dancers have an advantage "over the average academic crowd," because they are artists and that is an advantage, the work they do is not easier than other academic disciplines, nor is it particularly stress relieving or simply a "work out." Artistic research takes many forms, some of it ends up on stage, some of it on the page. The choreography and performances take creativity, dedication, and discipline, just like other forms of serious study.
Please come join us for a concert this spring.
Maura Keefe, PhD
Chair, Department of Dance
The College at Brockport