From traditional Chinese and ballet to pole dance and tap, Northwestern has a wealth of dance groups. The university lists 22 groups in the “dance” category.
This weekend brings on ReFusionShaka, an annual performance where dance groups Refresh, Fusion and Boomshaka perform together in the fall, but collaborations don’t stop there.
“It (may) feel like the small little bubble of one team, but really there’s so many connections to the entire dance community,” said Communication and McCormick junior Isabel Restrepo, president of NU’s premiere musical theater dance team, Steam Heat Dance Company.
Sharing the stage
Typhoon Dance Troupe was going through a “transformation” when Weinberg junior Nicole Bonilla first arrived at NU, she said.
Bonilla, now Typhoon’s president, said guest performing at other dance groups’ shows has allowed her to learn from them and improve Typhoon, even while the group fills the unique niche of Chinese traditional dance.
“Typhoon has relied on some key members throughout the years to keep the club going because it is more specialized knowledge,” Bonilla said. “It is hard to find people, especially in America, that have previous experience with Chinese traditional dance.”
Recently, Bonilla and other Typhoon members have been working to implement organizational changes, like adding more executive positions, changes that were inspired by learning from the structures of other groups. In February, Reflections Repertory Company — a group focusing on ballet — invited Typhoon to guest perform in their show, “Sparks Fly.”
“(Performing with Reflections) was a very overall nice environment,” Bonilla said. “Seeing how other groups operate (when we) guest perform has kind of given us goals to aspire to.”
The guest performances provide a chance to expose one group’s audience to a new group, introducing their own energies and styles to the performance.
Ahana Dance Project, a South Asian fusion group, will be guest performing at ReFusionShaka during the 7 p.m. show on Nov. 15.
“Them bringing us on is a really cool opportunity for us to showcase our dance to an audience that might not necessarily know a lot about South Asian dance and culture,” said Weinberg senior and Ahana co-captain Sanjana Shankar.
Dual-team dancers
Many NU dancers belong to more than one group. Weinberg senior Mary Kate Tanselle is co-artistic director and president of TONIK Tap and a member of Steam Heat. She said each group serves different purposes in her life.
Tanselle describes TONIK as “centered around technical practice,” whereas the focus of Steam Heat, according to president Restrepo, is on “storytelling through dance.” These different focuses allow Tanselle to express her creativity in different ways.
Bonilla, in addition to serving as Typhoon’s president, is a member of Dale Duro Latin Dance Company.
Being a member of Dale Duro has given Bonilla the chance to explore not only different styles of dance, but also an element of her culture.
“I am trying to explore more of my Salvadorian side because I am half Chinese, half Salvadorian,” she said. “I personally grew up in (Chicago’s) Chinatown, so I was always surrounded by a predominantly Asian community.”
Bonilla also finds that being a member of Dale Duro has improved her leadership in Typhoon by giving her mentors to reach out to and goals to pursue.
She even asked the Dale Duro executive team for advice on the lighting in a Typhoon show last year.
“Even though we might not directly collaborate with them, I would say we’re still inspired by them a lot,” she said.
Collaborations offstage
NU’s dance groups don’t just share their talents at the performances of other groups, but also with different clubs, the whole student body and the greater Evanston community.
Polerize — NU’s group for teaching, performing and destigmatizing pole dance — frequently hosts Pole Jams, open workshops where students of any level can come to learn and practice pole dancing. Weinberg junior and Polerize President Amelia Wilson said the purpose of dance groups on campus is to provide a space for people to be who they are.
K-Dance, NU’s K-pop dance group, has three big performances per year: a winter showcase, spring show and the Spring Festival. The Spring Festival has been hosted at Evanston’s Fountain Square for the past two years. While all their performances are highly attended by NU students, McCormick senior Michael Wong, the president of K-Dance, says Spring Festival is also “for the Evanston community to enjoy.”
“After (our performances), we also host a random play dance where we just play an hour of different K-pop songs, and anyone who knows the choreography can join in,” he said.
Some of the biggest collaborations are those for cultural festivals, such as the recent celebration of Día de los Muertos at The Rock. SESP senior Trinity Colón is the president of Ritmo de Mis Ancestros: Ballet Folklórico.
During the Día de los Muertos celebration, Ballet Folklórico performed with Mariachi Northwestern. Colón described the two as “kind of like sister organizations.”
Performing at Día de los Muertos, Colón reminds the Evanston community that “in any situation of injustice, it is so important to center celebration.”
“That’s the reason why we dance,” she said. “That’s the reason why we are here, to be sort of a catalyst for political resistance through dance, through art, through celebrations, through music, through culture.”
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Related Stories:
— Latin music unites community in Día de los Muertos celebration at The Rock
— NU’s Reflections Repertory Company performs debut ballet show ‘Sparks Fly’
— ReFusionShaka showcases student performers and set designers through dance
