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It is easy to explain what DanceScape is NOT. It’s not the typical run-of-the-mill university dance show. But one has to experience WSU’s DanceScape to truly understand what it is.
It is the culmination of skill, effort, sweat, and perhaps even tears. It
is raw talent; art in the form of a performance. It is an expression; an enactment of emotions. DanceScape is an accomplishment!
Journey back to 1989 when Professor Gretchen Cohenour, dance instructor at the recently defunct College of Saint Teresa, was hired to establish a dance minor program at WSU. WSU offered dance classes as part of the physical education curriculum under Sue Ann Kuchenmeister Mullen ‘67, PE instructor from 1969-2001. She had a strong interest in dance, but no degree was offered. Mullen set the stage for the program and Cohenour wrote the curriculum “grounded in repertoire, composition, appreciation, and movement practice.”
Eventually, the program merged into the Department of Theatre and Dance, with a Dance minor being offered.
“Students need to be practicing vibrant movement that comes from their truth,” explained Cohenour. “It isn’t just modern dance, but more of a point of view.
DanceScape was the newly established dance program’s first performance under Cohenour, Director of the WSU Theatre and Dance program. The idea behind this performance was to marry the music with the movement of dance and Earth in an ethereal manner. The show debuted in the spring of 1990 with 10 original pieces, and included four student and a guest artist original. Cohenour choreographed the remaining five sequences. Thus, the legend of DanceScape was launched.
Each year for the past 25 years, dance alumni, guest artists, former stage hands, designers and technicians return to the WSU campus to participate in DanceScape. This year, 54 cast and crew comprised the DanceScape team, with 60 alumni returning for the performance and accompanying alumni activities. One of the more unique aspects of this unusual draw of talent is that auditions are open to the public, and the response is enthusiastic.
DanceScape is a tradition, passed on through the love of the art of dance.
“Love is at the heart of this rich, creative process,” said Cohenour. “It’s about staying in the moment. Everyone comes together to cultivate and form our expressive voice through this art form, working together for weeks. It really creates community. It’s just beautiful!”
Students benefit greatly from this coming together of talent. Networking opportunities expose current students to a realm of career possibilities, mentorship, encouragement, and support. Guest artists — all whom have incorporated their WSU dance degree into their professional lives — present diverse, artistic viewpoints so that the students are challenged to test their own assumptions and range. DanceScape offers students witness to how diversely their dance degree can be integrated into their career.
“When our students are ready to graduate from the WSU dance program, our hope is that they have become more skilled and integrated movers who are present and comfortable in their own skin — both onstage and off,” said Cohenour. “Our WSU theatre and dance graduates are effective and responsive collaborators, who play well with others in researching, creating, and producing work. Through on-going practice and mutual support, they develop confidence to move and think outside the box and into their futures: making dances, making a difference, and making lasting friendships.”
