In a grand finale on Chautauqua’s biggest stage, students in the School of Dance will showcase all they have learned this summer at 3 p.m. Sunday in the Amphitheater.
Heading into Week Four on July 13, the dancers performed an array of works learned in the weeks preceding; now, they will step onto the stage once more to showcase the progress they have made since.
Sasha Janes, Bonnefoux McBride Artistic Director of Chautauqua School of Dance, said the gala will be a chance for dancers to demonstrate the artistic and technical process they have made throughout the summer season.
“From day one to where we are now, like always, there’s going to be an amount of technical progress, but I think what you do see — because of the performance experience — is the artistry grows a lot between Week One and Week Seven,” he said.
Janes said the students have achieved complicated artistic feats that speak to their skill level as emerging dancers.
“They’re doing work that’s professional-grade technicalities that they’re starting to really conquer, and really achieve that level of finesse,” Janes said.
The program for this weekend includes a mixture of works performed at the first student gala of the season and new works learned since then. Dancers will perform season favorites including “Shindig” and “We Danced Through Life” as well as the George Balanchine classic “Serenade” and Janes’ recently-choreographed “Grand Waltz.”
Some of the other work in this weekend’s program was choreographed by students in the program over the course of the summer. Dancers have opportunities to learn about costuming, lighting design and other components when choreographing their work.
For Jenni Propst, lighting designer and stage manager for the School of Dance, working with the dancers to teach them about technical elements is a rewarding experience. Through opportunities to practice choreographing work, dancers begin to think about other elements of the art form, such as costuming and lighting design.
“It’s exciting for them to be exposed to the different areas of the art form,” Propst said.
While the works will be presented in daylight this weekend — leaving less opportunity to experiment with elements like lighting — Propst said she still aims to teach students about these skills, so they can take them with them in their careers.
“Usually I do get to have those conversations (of) bouncing off ideas on how they would like it to be portrayed, because hopefully they will get to produce these works elsewhere,” she said.
Janes said he feels particularly grateful for the support of the community throughout the season, particularly because the fundraising efforts of groups like Chautauqua Dance Circle provide opportunities to students who might not be able to afford it otherwise.
“We have a great support system, and that’s what makes Chautauqua so special,” Janes said.
Both Janes and Propst said they are excited for Chautauquans to experience the variety of pieces the dancers will perform this weekend and to see their advancements since the first performance of the season. The gala also offers the School of Dance a chance to celebrate the legacy of the program, particularly in commemoration of the longtime director Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, who died earlier this year.
“It’s a celebration of everything they’ve done this summer, and it’s still a celebration of what Jean-Pierre created,” Janes said.
To Propst, the student gala is an opportunity for Chautauquans to experience the future of dance.
“The dancers that Chautauquans see onstage on Sunday will be the dancers that they see in some of the premier companies across the country in a few years,” Propst said. “There’s no doubt that these students are going to go on to do great things.”
