Kristen Linnartz
Staff Writer
As the members of Dance it Forward get ready for the annual William Simpson Dance Concert, they continue to put the final touches on their performances for the concert, which will take place Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.
“There is a lot of planning that goes into it,” said artist director Cynthia Nazzaro. “Finally when we get the pieces into place we can get the costumes together and we get the look of the program and the colors and the rhythm of it in place.”
The faculty and guest choreographers put together five dances for the girls, who are a mix of Dance majors and people on campus that share a passion for dance and auditioned for the part in the fall. The cast consists of seven women and one male.
The dances that they will be performing vary from a classical Indian dance to modern dance. They will also be performing a dance that they previously performed in 2010 when alumni came back and helped with the choreography. There will be a swing jazz dance to close the program, and each dance varies from six to 12 minutes in length.
This concert is on the shorter side, but the content is so well put together, it cannot even be put into words.
“It is a great performance, and I am happy I did it. I am enjoying it so far,” said Rocco DiStefano, the only male dancer in the show.
“It is something people should experience, as this is Springfield College, so it is a very athletic school. I consider myself to be a part of the athleticism, but I have a side of me that I love performing arts, and if people like performing arts, they should definitely come out and see the show,” he added.
A lot of planning and time has been put into this show. Some of the dancers work four to six hours a week alone on the dances. The numbers are complex and give a sense of modern-day culture.
“It’s really substantial work. There are a lot in each piece and they are very powerful,” said Nazzaro.
Kristen Linnartz can be reached at klinnartz@springfieldcollege.edu