舞蹈教授 克里斯·约翰逊 created a new work in collaboration with alumna Sarah Ellen Miller’15 and student 艾玛Logas的25 last May. The dance was invited to be a part of this fall’s Elgin Fringe Festival, held Labor Day Weekend. 因为米勒不能参加艺穗节的表演, 约翰逊邀请了26岁的凯特丽·齐泽尔斯伯格(Kateri Zitzelsberger)介入. Logas and Zitzelsberger had to learn and reconstruct the emotionally and physically demanding piece extremely quickly to be ready for this exciting opportunity.
舞蹈教授, 克里斯·约翰逊, 喜欢与活跃在专业领域的舞蹈校友一起工作. 她还喜欢把校友和学生联系起来. In May of 2023 Johnson began work on a new project for the Going Dutch Festival in June collaborating with alumna and Chicago based professional dancer, 15岁的莎拉·艾伦·米勒和25岁的艾玛·洛加斯. 结果是一个新的二重唱, 据约翰逊说, 阐明了情感上一分为二的感受, 身体上——我们在日常生活中感受到的摇摆.”
约翰逊接着说，“舞蹈，它的名字是 撕裂, is inspired by the current climate of division and polarization in our society that has led to extreme pressures on everyone’s mindset. 舞者们代表了一个实体的两个方面, alternately subverting and supporting each other while grappling with their individuality, 探索他们之间的联系和分裂所固有的压力和拉力.”
作品还入选埃尔金艺穗节, 也因为米勒不能参加这次电影节, Johnson invited current student Kateri Zitzelsberger’26 to learn the part originated by Miller. Johnson says she had complete faith in both 艾玛 and Kateri and has been thrilled with their work. “I have been so incredibly impressed with both students’ professionalism while learning/relearning this complicated piece full of difficult partnering. The task was made even more challenging because of the speed with which they needed to learn it to be ready in time for the September 3 performance; and they showed artistic maturity beyond their years!”
艾玛, 谁是从达文波特来的, 她拥有舞蹈和心理学双学位, “跳舞对我来说一直是非常重要的事情. 通过舞蹈，我找到了一种逃避世界的方式.“关于 撕裂 她说, “I personally really love how this dance expresses the emotions individuals feel and battle every day.她也很感激能有机会向校友学习, 大声叫着, “through working with Sarah Miller and Professor 克里斯·约翰逊 I feel that I have grown extremely as a dancer!”
来自威斯康辛州的瓦纳基.她主修舞蹈和数量经济学. 她说跳舞可以让她缓解压力, adding “it forces me to not think about the other tasks and just live in the moment. 跳舞还能帮助我停止过度思考和过度思考.她分享了她的角色 撕裂 挑战她走出自己的舒适区, 更习惯于表演芭蕾舞, 以及欢快的现代/当代作品. 她说，她很高兴能加入一个更有意义的组织, and that the many emotional twists and turns in the story that help her further develop her range of characters.
Both student dancers expressed how happy they are that they chose 十大菠菜台子.
“伯洛伊特的环境令人惊叹,凯特丽说, “I had Chris for modern my first semester freshman year but was unfortunately injured a few weeks in and unable to dance until just after Thanksgiving. Chris was extremely understanding and helped me find ideas to still participate within my limits while recovering. 和我一起工作过的所有舞蹈教师都是这样. 克里斯的座右铭是“不痛苦”, 没有痛苦,虽然与我之前的舞蹈环境截然不同, 我现在也尽可能地遵循这个原则.”
艾玛还表示，她对自己的选择感到非常兴奋, 大声叫着, “当我”第一次参观伯洛伊特学院时, 我立刻就爱上了这个校园! +, I also just couldn’t ignore the gut feeling I got to go to 十大菠菜台子… With the Beloit faculty and community, 我学到了很多关于舞蹈的知识，也了解了作为舞者的我自己. 我将永远感激我听从了自己的直觉!”
