Student choreographers make new ‘Spring Selections’ showcase

By Lauren Ward

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With the blossoming flowers of spring come new life in UK Fine Arts.

The UK Department of Theatre hosted its first student choreography showcase called “Spring Selections,” on Friday in the Movement Studio of the Fine Arts Building.

Ariella Brown, a visiting dance lecturer, and Susie Thiel, the director of dance in the Department of Theatre, organized the new event for dance minors as well as any dancer who was interested in participating.

“The whole idea is bare bones, it’s a casual showing just about dance,” Brown said.

Brown and Thiel met with each choreographer at least once at their rehearsals to give them guidance and support.

“Spring Selections” consisted of four student-choreographed pieces.

Patrick Garr, a theatre freshman and dance minor at UK, kicked off the show with his contemporary piece, “Runaway.”

A song Garr heard on the radio sparked the inspiration behind his piece.

“I started out sitting in a room with just a pencil and piece of paper and listened to the song and wrote down words that came to my mind,” Garr said.

Roya Ramezankhani, an art studio senior and dance minor, closed the showcase with her solo, showing the first part of her two-part piece, “Exhale.”

Ramezankhani was inspired by her extensive research on the connection between the mind and body, which she has been studying for a couple years.

“I want to use visual arts and dance as tools to express my concepts,” Ramezankhani said.

Audience members were able to talk with the student choreographers after the performance to ask questions about their pieces.

Each choreographer used the words “raw” and “natural” when describing the production process.

Brown and Thiel hope that this event will continue for years to come and that it will inspire others to participate.