For young dancers, any performance offers the opportunity for growth and learning, artistically as well as technically. When the Performing Arts School of Central Pennsylvania presents its Spring Gala at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, May 14, at The State Theatre, the juxtaposition of classical and contemporary choreography will enable PASCP students to demonstrate how they’ve incorporated new movement with the classical training the studio emphasizes.
‘This gives lots of dancers the chance to really explore different choreography,’ said Rebecca Maciejczyk, PASCP artistic director.
Maciejczyk has set a piece called “Short Ride in a Fast Machine” to a lively, percussive score by John Adams. The show will open with this three-and-a-half-minute combo of arpeggios, wood blocks, heavy chords and pounding rhythms. It reminded Maciejczyk of a roller coaster, with overlapping rhythms that challenged her as a choreographer. It will challenge the dancers, too, as all nine of them keep moving — en pointe — once onstage.
PASCP dancers will premiere a new storybook ballet, as well. “Alice in Wonderland,” set to a Tchaikovsky score, will feature many of the familiar characters from Lewis Carroll’s story.
Maciejczyk said she had to condense it a bit. But the White Rabbit, the March Hare, little turtles and mushrooms and the Queen of Hearts will spin, waltz and leap their way through the storyline, which Maciejczyk calls ‘pleasantly quirky.’ She has a few unexpected touches as well.
‘When Alice is sad, her tears are dancers,’ she said, ‘and the roses in the queen’s garden are dancers, too.”
“Alice” will conclude the gala’s first act.
The second part of the program will consist of classical variations, including excerpts from “Swan Lake,” “La Bayadere,” “Raymonda” and “Giselle.” All of these will allow performers to delve into choreography that will show their strength, flexibility and expression.
One young dancer, Moe Kawasaki, will perform her first demi-solo en pointe. Her dance comes in a piece from “Giselle” and she will dance a duet with her ‘really great friend,’ Michaela Saporito.
‘There’s a lot of footwork,’ Kawasaki said, ‘and a lot of upper body movement and some turns.”
The State College High School freshman loves having the chance to dance this piece, wearing white with a lot of tulle. Her character, a “willi,” expresses a spirit-like being, similar to a ghost.
And the pointe work gives Kawasaki an additional challenge. Pointe shoes, like those who wear them, appear delicate while concealing amazing strength. The box of the shoe, constructed of fabric, a sort of cardboard and layers of glue, supports a dancer’s toes. A rigid mid-sole running along the bottom of the foot helps support the arch. So, the shoe allows the dancer to execute a variety of movement while dancing on the tips of her toes.
But the dancer herself does most of the work. Years of strengthening lead up to a young girl’s first pair of pointe shoes. This marks a rite of passage in the ballet world, and this program has an even more special meaning for Kawasaki, as she is initiated into a tradition dating back 100 years.
The two performances will take audiences along for a ride through Wonderland, Swan Lake and other enchanted locales while each young dancer takes one step further into her own artistic journey.
