As students began to feel the need for a ten-day long fall break the week of Thanksgiving, the dancers in the Conservatory of Theatre and Dance at Southeast Missouri State University are preparing to transition from the studio to the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall. There, final staging rehearsals, technical rehearsals, and dress rehearsals will take place for Fall for Dance 2016, the fall semester dance concert. Eight pieces of choreography have been carefully structured, thought out, and ready to be presented to the community. The dancers are prepared and are hungry to perform in their four shows.

Three students had their pieces chosen by faculty members to present in the concert. Lauren Tustanowsky, a senior, was one of those students. "This is the only boy/girl duet in the show, but this is different because the role are reversed," she said. Telling the story of a destructive relationship, her choreography includes strong elements of partnering and connection between the performers. With such a deep story, she hopes it can connect with the audience in a new way.

Ashley Stettes has choreographed a solo on Yuri Kotoh, a freshman, to the music of Julia Kent. "My piece definitely falls in the stronger, more serious vain of the concert," Stettes said. "The shapes and energy that I have chosen to work with are very strong and direct." Even though Kotoh is a freshman and this was the first time they have worked with each other, Stettes felt that Kotoh was comfortable with the movement vocabulary. "Most of the movement, especially the beginning section, is very much in her natural style of dancing. She took very easily to the strong and direct shapes," Stettes said of Kotoh's performance.

Michael Curry is the final student presented work in the concert. Taking advice and encouragement from his teachers and peers, he expanded a previous piece of hip hop choreography into something much grander. "This is a futuristic-like solo, and it's animation, which is a style of hip hop," Curry said of his piece. "Choreographically, the piece is a focus on the freedom of musicality and movement, but there's no real story or focus for the audience; it's just supposed to be fun for them."

Three faculty members have put together four pieces of choreography and helped direct the reconstruction of a classical modern dance. Philip Edgecombe is the choreographer of Hendrix Dances, a piece he choreographed several years ago, but brought back and revised. "Non-dance enthusiasts need to know that this concert isn't just classical dance," Edgecombe emphasized. He explored the bluesy-rock of Jimi Hendrix, whom he called a genius. "My understanding of his music was deepened throughout the choreographic process. This piece is extremely athletic and exciting filled with steps." The dancers are excited to be dancing to music that is more familiar to them but within Edgecombe's unique contemporary-modern style.

Alyssa Alger has the largest cast in this concert. A beautiful ballet ensemble to familiar symphonies will be closing the show, a task that she worked very hard to accomplish. But despite multiple injuries and only one understudy, she has faith that the dancers will execute this piece beautifully. "There's no story to this dance," she said, "but it was designed to present my dancers executing advanced technical and spacing elements. They have exceeded my expectations, they conquered the challenges, and I'm so proud of their hard work." She choreographed beautiful formation changes involving the entire ensemble, which she says will make wonderful shapes onstage if viewed from the balcony

Hilary Peterson, the Coordinator of Dance within the Conservatory, explores subtle humor within her two pieces of choreography. Her first piece, The Spectacular Six, was originally choreographed five years ago, and the six dancers relearned the entire jazz dance in its originality, each playing a different kind of superhero. They are hoping the university community grasps onto this piece more tightly because it goes hand in hand with this year's Homecoming theme: Superheroes versus Villains. "I love how we are learning the choreography that basically inspired Peterson's daughter main obsession, since she was pregnant when this was originally choreographed. I just feel I'm connecting with both of them on a deeper level," Rebecca Gangemella, a sophomore, said about her favorite part of learning The Spectacular Six.

Peterson's other piece, Strange Waltz, "is a deconstruction and re-imagination of the traditional waltz, primarily because it features two girls and no guy, but it's still a lot of fun," Peterson said. Crazy tempo changes and large skirts have kept Sydney Driscoll, a junior, and Kaetlin Lamberson, a sophomore, on their toes throughout the learning process. This dance, along with The Spectacular Six, are two of the more theatrical and humorous performances in the concert.

The most recognizable piece within the show is A Choreographic Offering, choreographed by modern-dance legend Jose Limon to honor his mentor Doris Humphrey, another legend. Brenna Monroe-Cook, a dancer in the Limon Dance Company in New York City, spent two weeks in September teaching the cast the choreography, then Edgecombe took over the direction of the piece when she left. The dancers are honored to get the opportunity to dance in such a famous work, because they were taught the original choreography in a style that most of them were unfamiliar with before this semester.

In regards to the entire concert, Alger said that "there is something in this show for everyone; it's an eclectic show."

"The audience will be taken eight difference journeys, where they will experience a variety of moods, energy, and styles," Peterson said. "People will be surprised and delighted by the athleticism by all of the dancers within the choreography. The virtuosity within the solos throughout the show is also incredible." "This is probably the most diverse dance concert that we have ever had," Tustanowsky said.

Fall for Dance 2016 will be held at the Bedell Performance Hall at the River Campus from November 17-19 at 7:30pm and November 20 at 2:00pm. Tickets are now available in the box office.