UnDivided

Nerd Alert

Photo Courtesy of Jason Munoz

Last night marked the end of the student dance concert, titled UnDivided. The freshmen class of dance majors performed Nerd Alert, a piece choreographed by Jess Harper. This piece blended quirky choreography with electronic music to create a funky contemporary piece in which we were all, well, nerds.

Although I enjoyed the piece, it was easy for me to dismiss its importance among the more serious tones of the show. An all female cast, the other choreographers told stories of individuality, freedom, and the power of the female voice, so when the 16 freshmen approached the stage at the end with neon suspenders and goggles, I thought people would be confused. Our piece did not seem to fit the theme of UnDivided.

Throughout the rehearsal process of this piece, I truly fell in love with each member of my class. We bonded over superficial things, like the pain of Saturday morning rehearsals and the silly nature of the choreography, but we also grappled with the deeper parts of our artistry. During the past two weeks of tech rehearsals and shows, we all shared our stories in our dressing room as we procrastinated on homework and danced our hearts out.

I have watched these 16 women grow so much during our first year of college, and I am so blessed to dance and live alongside them all. Even though our nerdiness truly came out during this concert, we were united in our commitment to embodying a theme that differentiated from the rest of the show. That's why our class nickname is the Troublemakers; we do not follow the status quo, and we are not afraid to be ourselves. Of course, this sometimes backfires on us, but even our lighting designer and professor, John Garofalo, reminds us, "It is better to ask for forgiveness than for permission."

In its own way, our performance spoke to the themes of individuality, freedom, and the power of the female voice. We were 16 powerful nerds, unashamed of our identity. We were UnDivided.