While transitioning from complicated leaps to en-pointe poses that resemble a vertical split, U ballet dancers and students from The Royal Ballet School in London performed for a full house of viewers Saturday night.
The lights dimmed and music rang out through the Marriott Center for Dance as dancers took their places backstage. The atmosphere wasn’t tense, but lighthearted and electric. Many dancers in the U’s ballet department felt nervous on stage alongside their fellow performers. Besides dancing, many students helped choreograph the Ballet Showcase.
Kimberly Ballard, a junior ballet student, has always been at home on stage.
She said there’s always an exhilarating moment right before the curtain opens.
“It’s not really nerves, it’s just kind of like a big adrenaline rush, and then you jump out on stage, and it’s just like, comfortable,” Ballard said.
U students have worked all semester preparing self-choreographed dances in a mix of contemporary and classical styles of ballet for a weekend showcase Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
While on a tour through Utah, students from The Royal Ballet School joined U dancers in a complicated set of jumps and leaps, which audience members found “inspiring” to watch.
Dancers from the school, who have been visiting from London for the past week, participated in classes with U students to showcase certain styles of dancing.
“It’s almost intimidatingly exciting,” said Sayoko Knode, a senior in ballet. “They are very, very good, and it’s such an honor to be able to present and dance on the same stage with them.”
Knode designed her own piece and danced in the program Thursday.
Despite the fear of showcasing her work in front of hundreds of peers and audience members, Knode said she was proud of how the ballet went.
“To put it on for your individual friends is not only physically difficult but emotionally,” Knode said. “Communication is such a key element that it helps you not only learn the art of choreography and teaching, but also helps you to learn about yourself and how you need to communicate.”
Knode said choreographing the piece started with a spark and imagination, but putting it into reality was a difficult thing, especially when creating a piece for her peers.
The showcase also gave students an opportunity to branch out from usual styles.
Ballard said typical choreography is in a classical style, but she chose to create a more contemporary piece for the showcase.
“(Choreographing) helps you put more of your own personality into your own dancing because when you’re choreographing it’s coming straight from you, it’s a creation that you’ve made,” Ballard said. “It kind of makes your personal dancing more personal to you. It’s not just the same kind of cookie-cutter choreography.”
Bene Arnold, interim chair of the ballet department, said students were excited to have the internationally renowned Royal Ballet School in town.
“It’s just always a really neat experience to see how dancers across the ocean (perform), and you’re still doing the same exact thing and you can still communicate the same way,” Ballard said.
She said she was impressed with how the visiting students performed a complicated pas de deux Saturday.
“It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen,” Ballard said. “It was just beautiful to watch.”