Big things are underway for Clark University’s dance program. Students and dance minors are in the midst of preparing for the 2025 American College Dance Festival (ACDA) at Rhode Island College in early March.
Dancers will perform a piece entitled “Please Leave a Message,” which first debuted at Clark’s Fall Dance Concert, in the ACDA Adjudication Concert under the instruction of Professor of Practice Audra Carabetta. This will be Clark’s fourth time attending the conference.
15 dancers will attend ACDA “to introduce them to diverse forms of dance, and provide them with a professional platform for performance, creation, and continued dance education,” Carabetta wrote in a statement to The Scarlet. According to Carabetta, ACDA offers classes in disciplines such as Contemporary, Hip Hop, Afro-Haitian, Ballet, Tap, and Jazz. Participants will attend concerts, workshops, and dance showings.
Six participants: Raeanna Deloge, Dayana Gonzalez, Lila Hallisey, Darila Karavaieva, Jules Opulencia, and Ana Sanchez, will perform in the Adjudicated Concert.
Deloge made the trip possible by applying for grants, as admission is $150 per student. Deloge, a Math Education major and Dance minor, will also perform a solo piece for her capstone project in addition to “Please Leave a Message.”
Deloge said that over her three years attending ACDA, she has noticed the unique flexibility of Clark’s dance program.“Unlike other schools, you don’t have to be a strict dance major,” Deloge said. “Dance training growing up was just sitting and learning choreography, but dance [at Clark] is more moving about the space and learning to improvise.”
“Dance really helps me think creatively,” Deloge concluded. “I spend a lot of my time studying math and how to teach math. People like to think that math is very rigid, but it’s not. Dance helps me look at math in a more flexible way.”
Clark students also have the opportunity to dance in clubs. “I was in a very intense dance environment in high school and middle school,” Opulencia, a co-director in the Variant Dance Troupe at Clark, added. “I wanted something more lowkey, and Variant was very good for that.”
Lila Hallisey is also a Dance minor, and majors in Psychology. She is a member of the Clark University Dance Society, and says that dance has led to some of the strongest friendships she has made on campus.
“Dance Society drew me in because it’s such a positive and healthy dance environment…it’s not a competitive environment and it’s a judgement free zone,” Hallisey said.
“As a psych major, dance has made me much more in tune with my body and all the benefits it has,” Hallisey added. “Doing this in tandem with the psychology program has helped me realize how important [dance] is for my physical and emotional health.”
Sanchez and Opulencia say they also see the benefits of the dance minor at Clark.
“I’m an English major and you have to think creatively about the way things are set up and organized, and that’s a huge part of choreographing,” Sanchez said.
“I’m writing an honors thesis and there’s a lot of similarities between writing and choreography,” Opulencia added. “You take on ideas from other people, but you have to make it your own. It’s different, obviously, but it’s a very similar process.”
Gonzalez, who is taking Introduction to Digital Filmmaking with Professor Soren Sorenson, agrees.
“We have to make three digital films and one is a 2-4 minute film. I’m telling the story of love through the music and the choreography.”
Gonzalez was unaware of Clark’s dance program until after her first-year orientation last fall, when she was first approached by Deloge and Hallisey about dance opportunities on campus. Last semester Gonzalez took a course in modern dance, and this semester she is taking Jazz Dance Practice and Theory, both with Carabetta. She is also a member of Dance Society.
“I kept my dance life so separate that it was weird having dance be so intertwined,” Gonzalez said. “I see it more when my academic teachers ask me to be more creative with the way I write. It bridged the gap between dance and academics.”
“I’m really excited to take classes from other talented people and to see what other colleges and students have been working on,” Deloge said. “I’m excited to get to take classes especially because our program is still small, so it’s cool to take classes from professionals from around the region.”
“I’m excited to be part of a dance community that is college-based and student-led,” Sanchez added. “And I want to take a ballet class, if they offer it.”
“I love watching other people dance, going to dance shows, learning from new people,” Opulencia said.
“When I was younger and I competed, a lot of the competitions we went to had convention classes,” Gonzalez said. “It would be wonderful to get back into it and work with other artists with different backgrounds.”
“These students have…dedicated numerous hours to rehearsal in order to be adequately prepared for the show,” Professor Carabetta concluded in her statement. “Their commitment, hard work, talent, and progress have been remarkable to witness. I eagerly anticipate their performance on stage.”
