Coming to Spanos Theatre for two weekends, Cal Poly Orchesis Dance Company presents “Elevate,” the 55th show held by Orchesis. The show’s run began on Jan. 17 and is open to the public until Jan. 25. The performance features a wide range of dance pieces choreographed by students, faculty and other guest artists.
Attendees can expect to see anything from contemporary to ballet, to even a fusion between the two. Students have been granted the freedom to incorporate their stylized pieces, allowing the show to be a showcase of their combined hard work.
“We put a big emphasis on trying to showcase and allow the choreographers to show what their vision is, and really allowing their creative freedom and trying to accomplish their vision the best that we can as dancers,” Megan Waller, an Orchesis intern and fourth-year computer science major, said.
Student interns Megan Waller, Hannah Bielcik and Emily Olsterwere able to tap into creative liberty while preparing for the show, creating their own, distinct choreographed pieces. The interns used their years of experience in and outside of Cal Poly to bring their ideas to the stage.
Their three pieces, “Raw Language,” “Liminal Currents” and “Lost and Found” will be showcased at Elevate. Each of these dances has a beyond-the-surface meaning and the interns hope to achieve more than applause, but to leave the audience moved by the emotion of the performers.
The night will consist of choreographer statements, a selection of seven dances, an intermission, seven additional dances and a closing that includes the whole Orchesis dance company.
Two dances within the show are repertory classes, which allow students to still be apart of the show without making the full-time commitment to Orchesis.
Behind the scenes, the seven student choreographers, along with others, work together to ensure the lighting is working appropriately, rehearsals are effective, costumes are made and the dances are memorized.
Since the beginning of the fall quarter, their weeks and weekends have consistently been spent practicing and perfecting their pieces.
“We start in fall quarter with auditions for the company and then week three is when we select choreographers and get into casting all of our pieces. There’s a lot of people and there’s a lot of moving parts so making sure that everybody’s seen and taken care of is difficult,” Emily Olster, an Orchesis intern and fourth-year child development major, said.
Along with the time-consuming and physical work, these students are responsible for maintaining their coursework throughout the quarter. While Cal Poly does not have a dance major, many of the participants are minoring in dance. Being such a competitive and laborious practice, dance students must also go beyond typical forms of homework and work on their physical and mental wellbeing.
Through all the tiresome weeks, the company has built a strong bond that has been preserved throughout the history of these shows. The combination of student, faculty and outside experience, allows everybody to learn from each other and implement their special style into the performance.
“This is Orchesis’ 55th show. [It] is just crazy to think of all the people that have come before me, and how everyone has been able to build up this program and this company and all the moving parts that have to work together perfectly in order to make a show work,” Waller said.
According to the student interns, the most rewarding part of the experience is watching the whole thing come to life. When they are not performing their pieces, they can sit in the audience and see the lights, dances and choreograph in action. Therefore, the dance company itself is in awe alongside the audience.
“I just hope everyone can take something away, leave feeling like they saw something cool and [feel that] they were inspired. There’s so many ways to interpret these dances and an audience member might watch my piece and get a completely different idea than what I thought it was about,” Waller said.
Ultimately, while the participants enjoy the experience of doing something they love, many claim that family is the most special aspect. The ability to combine your passion with your school and social life is not always common, making this feature all the more valuable.
“I feel like you can honestly tell in this space — especially because the audience is not too far away from the dancers — how connected we are, and how much Orchesis is like this little community and family of all of us working together to create this amazing show. It is a beautiful show and production,” Hannah Bielcik, an Orchesis intern and fourth-year business administration major said.
Elevate debuted on Jan. 17 and tickets are currently available for this upcoming weekend’s showings.
