Production Manager Jonathan Surmacz met with full-time faculty dance choreographers during the fall semester to begin preproduction for the Conservatory Dance Company’s Faculty Show.
Garfield Lemonius let music and the auditioned dancers guide him in his process of creating an original dance piece for the show that features rigorous movement.
The show’s dancers, all Point Park Students and faculty, have been diligently working through auditions and rehearsals for the annual show.
The choreographers, cast, and crew have been working in unison to ensure the quality of this week’s Conservatory Dance Company at Point Park Faculty Show.
“We got thrust right into auditions coming back from Winter break,” said Bryanna Heilman, a junior dance student that will be performing in Douglas Bentz’s piece.
For the last twelve years, Point Park’s annual show has involved each of the full-time faculty members of the dance department. With each choreographer crafting their own piece, each selected a group of dancers to perform their vision. The Point Park Faculty Show will have five performances, 8 p.m. Thursday, February 25 in the George Rowland White Performance Center, 8 p.m. Friday, Feb 26, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb 27, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb 28. All Point Park students get in for free.
“Pretty much everything but the dancing on stage, I have to make sure happens,” said Surmacz. Starting at the end of the fall semester, he has been behind the scenes of the production. Since then, he has coordinated the auditions, rehearsal schedules, other technical aspects that need to be handled, and technical rehearsals. These responsibilities were part of a busy calendar year; including the production of “Five” which played in the Pittsburgh Playhouse earlier this month.
Surmacz also discussed how more props would be used in this year’s production compared to the past. “We’re incorporating some video projection in this concert, some live musicians,” said Surmacz. With added properties come add responsibility for the production manager, who sees over the duties of many other positions, each having their own student involvement. One of the choreographers that Surmacz met with came into the semester looking for inspiration from music and the dancers.
“It has to be fast, like a violin caught on fire,” said Lemonius, one of the full-time faculty who has been involved in the show for the past five years. Coming into the semester he did not have his piece choreographed, but he did know that it would end up with fast movement, some sort of duet and would be set to strings. Lemonius explained how listening to music gives him a title and from that title the movement happens as a result. The phrase he used at the auditions was what spawned the rest of the movement. From there, one or two dancers who he cast were chosen to come to workshops in which he decided what worked and what did not. Lemonius’s new original piece titled “Catharsis” will feature three movements with three different musicians; two of which are Ezio Bosso and Aero Part. One of the dancers that Lemonius cast in his piece will also be featured in another.
“I had rehearsal four days a week and then Saturday and tech on Sunday the last weekend,” said Kevin Pajarillaga, a senior dance major, describing the workload that came with being cast in two different pieces in the upcoming show. Auditions started the first Tuesday of the spring semester and rehearsals have been steady each week along with added technical rehearsals the final week before the show. Pajarillaga has been cast in Lemonius’s piece the past three years while pulling double duty the past two years in Kiesha Lalama’s piece as well. This year he was cast in Bentz’s piece along with Heilman. She would go on to describe Bentz’s piece titled “Moon Dance;” which she describes as a tidal-like movement inspired by the moon that also has some Egyptian influences. Heilman also feels that the experience has been positive, despite ups and downs while in rehearsal and now she looks forward to the actual performances this weekend.
“Come out and see the dancers, who are so talented,” urged Lemonius, who went on to describe the joy it is to come see the students’ work and how hard they have worked.