Bekki Price

It’s a semester full of events and experiences returning normal, and the Dance Department’s Fall Student Spotlight Concert is no exception. For the first time since the pandemic started, the student-led production will be in Thunderground on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. “I’m just impressed by all the choreographic talent of our student body,” Director of Dance Bekki Price said. “They have such strong creative points of view, and it’s really unique to get to have the opportunities that GCU provides for our students to showcase that creative process.”

Selecting Greta Sugai as this semester’s guest residency artist was a match made in heaven for Dance Director Bekki Price. GCU students worked with and learned from Sugai last week as she taught them the choreography for her piece in this winter’s “Emerge” Dance Concert. “With the guest artist residencies, I always like to add to what our program already has. Bringing in artists from all over the country who have worked all over the world and have different backgrounds and different experiences really helps open the students’ eyes up to the different possibilities that they have.” Price said.

It’s a season of celebration as College of Fine Arts and Production performances make their grand return to Ethington Theatre. Audiences will be welcomed back with an array of musicals, comedies and dramas as well as the return of indoor dance concerts. “I think it’s going to be just a really enjoyable season,” COFAP Assistant Dean of Theatre and Dance William Symington said. “I can’t wait to get back in the theatre and feel that energy between the cast and the audience.”

It’s been a year full of pushing limits, and that’s what will be portrayed Friday through Sunday, March 26-28, at the “Beyond Limits” Spring Faculty Dance Concert. The performance will showcase seven live pieces and five films and can be viewed via livestream. “With all of the challenges that this pandemic has thrown at our students and everyone in this world, this show is really about finding ways to transcend the limits and finding ways to move forward and grow despite all of these limitations that we’ve had,” Dance Director Bekki Price said.

It’s time for students’ choreography to shine. The Spring Student Spotlight Concert debuted Monday night on the Quad and will be performed again at 7:30 Tuesday night. The concert showcases 15 student pieces, some in person and some on film. “The Student Spotlight is always one of my favorite concerts at GCU because it really shows the diversity of our student choreographers,” Dance Director Bekki Price said. “I think one of the exciting things is just having the opportunity to be outside and see art when so much of the world’s art has been shut down and there aren’t a lot of live performances happening.”

Students in GCU’s Dance Department hear some of the success stories that have come out of the program, and last week they got to work with one of those people. Richelle “Ricki” Stevenson, who graduated in 2015, is now with Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet and came to campus for a residency. “There’s just such strength and talent in this program, it makes me very excited to be an alumni and also very excited about coming back now,” she said.

The Fall Student Spotlight Dance Concert will go on as scheduled but, like most events during the pandemic, will have a different look: It will be in the Quad and will feature five live performances and seven films. “It’s given students the opportunity to explore this craft in a different way,” said Bekki Price, Program Development Specialist for the College of Fine Arts and Production. “I’m very impressed with the number of dance film submissions we have. They had only three weeks.”

Tonight is the last chance this spring to view the choreography talents of students in the College of Fine Arts and Production’s dance program. The Spring Student Spotlight Concert, at 7:30 in Thunderground, features 17 student pieces. “The show is very diverse, and it shows a lot of different facets to dance,” said Bekki Price, Program Development Specialist for the College of Fine Arts and Production. “It’s a really fun and unique way to come get exposed to the arts and what we have to offer at GCU.”

Student’s choreography is taking the stage within Thunderground to showcase their talent and hard work for their peers to see. The Fall Student Spotlight Concert is a student choreographed and performed show and will showcase a number of different styles of dance. “It definitely gives students a vehicle to experiment with what they’re interested in and grow their choreography skills with the help of the faculty,” Senior Jessica Symmes said. The concert will take place on October 15 and 16.