Coker 101 with David Dorfman Dance Company

The David Dorfman Dance Company has been on the Coker College campus for the past couple of days. What an amazing opportunity this has been for the dancers and for many others in the Coker community who have been involved in classes with this company.

About an hour ago one of the dancers stopped by to say hello as she was leaving one of the classes. Earlier I happened to see a Facebook status where she was talking about how much working with these dancers means to her. As we talked I said, 'so, you have enjoyed David Dorfman.' Talk about and immediate and from the heart response - "I have so loved being with him and his dancers," she said with a bit of a lump in her throat.

This evening the David Dorfman Dance Company is putting on a concert called the Prophets of Funk. This concert is one of the major arts events for Hartsville and there is no question it is bring an idea of modern dance movement that will be leaving an impact on the audience. Angela Gallo and Erin Leigh, who teach the dance program at Coker, have both known David Dorfman for some time and have been very enthused about this visit to the campus and the community. The group even plans a quick question and answer get together at the Midnight Rooster of Hartsville on Friday morning.

In the Writing for the Media class this morning we were discussing potential story ideas for the "Coker Beat." One of the ideas offered was the dance company's involvement on campus. I happened to mention to three of the golfers who were sitting near each other that for the dancers having a professional company of this caliber on campus was much like having one of the top touring pros on campus. Perhaps the major difference is these dancers are involved directly in teaching and working with students -- majors and non majors. They are conveying their craft through actual movement; not just making an appearance. It is events and experiences like this one that are often tough to assess but are the activities that provide life-long memories for those who become involved. I am certainly not a person who knows dance or who has much luck with "movement" but I am one who is moved by the difference this kind of experience provides for Coker students and for members of the community who take advantage of Hartsville being a college town.

Just because I think it makes sense, I do want to mention that the David Dorfman Company visit to Coker and Hartsville is being partially underwritten with grants from the South ARTS Dance Touring Initiative in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, ARTWORKS and the Hartsville-Coker Concert Association.

Facets in Time = Fall Dance Concert

caption for photo: Following the dance concert Angela Gallo, associate professor of dance, had the choreographers answer questions about their pieces from interested members of the audience.


The Fall 2011 Student Choreography Showcase opened in the Watson Theater on the Coker College campus on Thursday evening. It will continue at 7:30 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday nights, October 7 and 8.

The dancers go by my office door all day, all week, including weekends. This close proximity to the Coker College Dance program has helped me become a dance fan. This year's Fall Choreography Concert is another event that makes me glad I am a fan. I hear people say that modern dance is not for everyone. That may be but performances I watch by the Coker dancers make me wonder why. Modern (heck, dance in general) is a complete performance with exquisite movement, intrepid imagination, powerful images and intriguing story lines. And, much of the interpretation is generally left up to the viewer -- providing frameworks for us to build our own stories. The student choreography is an example of that thesis and it was enjoyable watching it performed in the Fall Concert.

Males have long been a part of the dance program at Coker but to have four guys on stage at the same time almost made it feel like we had a visiting company. "Mental Enslavement" was the title of the piece choreographed by Italy Welton and performed by Dache Green, Ty Rogers, Daniel Stevenson and Keon Wilson.

"Break Out" was a duo of Kelsey Grimm and Kaycee Weaver and they were the choreographers for the piece. Watching the performances on Thursday evening it struck me how the pedagogy of project-based learning plays out in this student choreography. Two of the pieces had multiple choreographers and the collaboration involved in the creative process has to be a great learning opportunity.

"Bitter Words and Forgiving Hearts" was the other multi-choregraphed piece as the three dancers - Megan Stone, Devin Jennings and Alicia Nelson were also the choreographers. That piece closes the show.

Other pieces selected for this Fall performance included: "Dying to Live", choregraphed by Akhira Ansari and performed by Akhira Ansari, Devin Jennings, Chekera Lucas, Andria McFadden, Sarah McNamee, Alicia Nelson and Cheyenne Wiseman; "Visceral Instinct" was choregraphed by Devin Jennings and performed by Devin and my one-word response as she finished was "Wow." Ty Rogers choregraphed "Time for Today" and the dancers for that piece included Akhira Ansari, Ashley Lesage, Chekera Lucas, Ty Rogers and Kirsten Sanders. Cheyenne Wiseman choreographed and performed "Dover."

The next major dance event on the Coker Campus and in Hartsville will be the October 20th performance by the David Dorfman Dance company in a show titled "Profits of Funk."