(Photo Credit: Chris Sanchez, edited by Meghan Murphy-Sanchez, DMT & C second year student)

As if us dance/movement therapy students weren’t busy enough, second year student, Heidi Landgraf, is attempting to create a new performance opportunity for all of Columbia’s DMT & C students.  The creation of the event, which has been dubbed “The Fall Dance Concert” was completely inspired by the second year students’ own motivation for providing an event to showcase their choreographic work.

One of the main reasons I decided to attend Columbia College Chicago was the DMT & C program’s emphasis on creativity and performance.  The night before my interview for the program, I attended the Alumni Dance Concert.  This concert, as well as the Student/Faculty Show held in the summer, are the two main opportunities for current students and alumni to both choreograph and perform.  However, over the past year, my fellow cohort and I decided that, for us, performing was a way to sustain ourselves through our study in the DMT & C program.  Performing was a way for us to remember that we are dancers, that we are artists.

Since the Fall Dance Concert is completely separate from Columbia College Chicago and our department, we have decided to utilize Kickstarter as a way to fundraise for the show. Check out our account, donate if you will.  If nothing else, check out the choreography featured below, “No Shrinking Violets” by Heidi Landgraf, which is also featured on our Kickstarter profile.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMKYIkOxaU0[/youtube]

Many DMT & C students have begun to brainstorm about choreographic ideas they would like to present (if we do end up raising our goal amount).  First year student Ashley Fargnoli is planning to re-stage choreography she originally set while in Bosnia.  Second year student Jessica Sittig is creating a piece with the adolescent clients she is working with at La Rabida Children’s Hospital, her current internship site.  Jessica hopes to tell the adolescences’ traumatic experiences through movement.

I myself am conjuring up a dance piece. That, however, merits its own blog post.

The Fall Dance Concert will take place Friday, November 18th at 8 p.m. at the Hamlin Park Auditorium.  Please donate if you can, and if the show becomes a reality, come and see our work.  The current second year students hope to make the Fall Dance Concert not only a reality to help sustain us as students, but we also hope that this show will become a DMT & C tradition so that future students may have this opportunity to choreograph and perform as well.  It’s important to remember that although we are learning to become therapists, we are artists too.