By Amber Proulx
Special to In Motion
It’s never too late to make a comeback. Especially not for the Dance Theatre at Daytona State College. Although in recent semesters ─ like many elective programs ─ it has struggled with minimal performance opportunities, reduced enrollment and many students not knowing it exists, the DSC company is trying to turn it into something that gets people talking.
“This company is so important to a lot of us and we have so much fun with it and so we just want to share that with people,” says Kate Cross, current member of the Daytona State College Dance Theatre.
Compared to past semesters, fall of 2016 was a major turning point for the program. It boasted the most performances ever offered in the fall semester, including appearances at DSC’s Homecoming Festival and at other schools such as Valencia College in Orlando. With increased enrollment, more dances and choreography were offered than in previous fall terms. The dancers hope to have successful a turnout this semester as the last and that seems especially possible considering the new and improved dance studio under construction over winter break on campus.
The new studio which will be complete by spring break is about 1,300 square feet and has a new sound and computer system, as well as a new storage space with lockers. There will be a sprung floor covered with seamless marley which translates to, “it’s a dance floor that can withstand any type of dancing, whether that be tap, jazz, pointe work or modern,” explains Kevin Veiga, Artistic Director of Daytona State Dance Theatre.
The room the dancers are currently using in the Health and Sciences Building on campus, is a group exercise studio and the floor isn’t really made for dancing.
“It’s not a sprung floor so it’s hard on the dancer’s bodies,” Veiga says, adding that with the new studio, the company has endless opportunities to create more diverse choreography while being easier on their bodies too.
Dancers are not only enthusiastic about the new work possible with this dance studio, but they are also determined to make upcoming dance performances exciting and well worth watching.
According to Cross, for the first time they kept rehearsals ongoing throughout Christmas break and didn’t take the month off like they usually do.
“It’s awful for our bodies to not dance for four weeks. We lose our flexibility, and our endurance and it’s like taking a step back,” she says.
With extra rehearsals, they were able to not only maintain their strength, but they got better as well.
“We had stretch and conditioning classes and it really helped. I feel like I’ve gotten better,” Cross adds.
The group took it upon themselves to choreograph a few numbers over the break so now they are already two steps ahead for spring semester and can’t wait to show the college, family and friends what they’ve accomplished in their annual spring showcase, titled “Dancescapes” and scheduled on April 15.
This aspiring group of accomplished dancers loves what it does. Several in the company plan on transferring to universities to get a dance degree and pursue a career in dance.
“This is who I am and it’s my passion. Without it, I’m miserable,” says Cross, noting how important it is to the dancers to make the company into something amazing, because of how much it means to them.
“I think we still have a lot of work to do, but enrollment is up and we’ve gotten more performance opportunities to get our name out there, so it’s definitely improving,” Veiga says.