The Dance Program faculty has a long history of inviting visiting artists and arts researchers to campus. Through masterclasses, lectures, residencies, workshops and performances, these art-centered guests share their time and talents to further enrich the research and scholarship taking place within the Rubenstein Arts Center studios, classrooms and stages.
Dancer, choreographer and scholar Angelica Burgos spent time with the Dance Program for a five-day choreography residency. Working with student dancers Sarah Broders, Jacey Curd, Kayla Lihardo, Eliza Miller and Amare Swierc, she created an original piece, “Brio, Legato, Presto,” which debuted at the annual fall concert November Dances.
For Sarah Broders, a Biomedical Engineering senior and president of the student ballet group Devils en Pointe, working with such a prestigious artist was an opportunity she simply couldn’t miss.
“Dancing alongside Burgos during the choreographic process, it was so easy to be inspired by her movement quality and artistry,” Broders shares. “With her extensive professional career working on Broadway in ‘West Side Story’ and with companies such as Ballet Hispánico and the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, I was excited to not only learn from but also work with her.”
We sat down with the visiting artist to discuss the work and the process, learn the goals she set for her students and the connections made when they weren’t on their toes.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Could you speak about the work and title, “Brio, Legato, Presto?”
I decided to use musical terms in the title because the work sheds a light on the beauty of classical ballet, specifically barre work, center work and the interplay between classical and neoclassical ballet. Music is such a huge part of ballet, and we use a lot of musical terms in the movements, so it felt right to title the dance with musical phrases.
The piece has three sections, hence the three musical terms. The first movement focuses on barre work, which is typically how dancers warm up. We move to the second section, the legato, which is a nice, slow section with lots of beautiful port de bras, or arm movements, emphasizing the dancers’ grace. The presto section ends the piece with fast movements where the dancers moved from the classical to more neoclassical contemporary movements.
It was important for me to use the structure that we have in ballet but also move past that to allow the dancers to see what else they can do beyond their classical training. While there isn’t necessarily a “story” in the piece, there is a theme of celebrating the foundation of classical ballet and witnessing how we can move both within and outside of that space.
You had to create an original piece of choreography in such a small window of time. What was that like?
It was incredible and wonderful to see such investment from the students. Each of them has so much going on between academics, dance club responsibilities and the social element. So, to see their eagerness and willingness to contribute to the work was exciting.
Each of those five days was different, too. There were short rehearsal days, days that were much longer and some days when not everyone could be there because of schedules — but the dancers were always prepared. For example, if a student needed to miss a day, a video of that rehearsal was shared, and the dancer arrived the next day knowing the parts that were missed. It showed such a tremendous responsibility to be part of the whole creative process.
And I really applaud the students for where they are. While they’re pursuing specific degrees, they also acknowledge this passion they have for dance and allow that creative side to be involved in some way. So much of that creative dance time is spent in the dance studio. Yet they can relate that studio work to what they're doing academically and find connections — it's so brilliant and creative.
What were your goals for the students?
In some ways, ballet has been under a bit of an attack from different angles. Some of those angles are important to address, like body image, but as these layers are being shed away, I think it sometimes adds an additional layer of shame for ballet students. It was important for me to share with them through this work that being a ballet dancer, training in the way we do, in this high level of rigor, is something to be proud of.
I also wanted them to look at this foundation of classical ballet and find ways they can grow. The performance is set en pointe, on the toes, and starts from a classical basis in terms of style and choreography. Then it moves to more of a neoclassical, contemporary form. I wanted the students to see that they can move one way, yet also transfer that same knowledge and technical ability in another direction.
Were there connections and conversations outside of the choreographic work?
Absolutely. I think it was important, when we had time, to just get away from the work aspect and sit down, let loose and have conversations. The students asked about my personal and professional lives, and I was able to share that with them. Along with being a mother of two daughters, I also teach at two universities, freelance and created my own dance company because I felt that there weren’t enough opportunities for females. I hope it showed the students that they can make room for dance in their lives after earning a degree.