Alumni, students, faculty, and more gathered in the Pfleeger Concert Hall this past Saturday, Oct. 5 for the Rowan Dance Festival Gala Performance. 

According to Rowan’s website, The Rowan Dance Festival celebrates the past, present, and future of dance at Rowan. High school dance programs, local dance studios, and Rowan alumni are invited to participate in a three-day program of classes, performances, and receptions interacting with current students, faculty, and guest artists, creating a weekend to remember. 

The weekend started off on Friday with high school days, giving high school students the opportunity to do master classes with the dance program, followed by master classes all of Saturday leading up to the Gala Performance. Master classes are taught by master instructors, who give tips and insight to students regarding their technique and showcase potential opportunities.

“We bring local high schools to us that have dance programs, so typically we’ll bring GCIT, BCIT, this year we invited Schalick and they come and do master classes with us,” said Angelique Gonzalez, the Administrative Assistant to the Associate Dean of the College of Performing Arts. “We did Horton, Hip Hop, different forms of technique and dance for them, basically showing them how dance is at a University, which is very much different than their studios.”

One of the most notable events of the weekend was the Gala Performance, with alumni-run affiliated studios and Rowan’s contemporary dance company performing as well as a performance from PHILADANCO! which is a professional dance company based in Philadelphia that specializes in contemporary dance. 

“Having never been presented at Rowan in the company’s 55-year history, it was time for the Marie Rader Series to spotlight PHILADANCO! Who, after all these years, are still changing lives and bringing their electric and athletic performances to spaces all across Philadelphia and stages near and far,” said Debbie Shapiro, the Artistic Director of the Marie Rader Presenting Series, which was established in 2008 in honor of the late Marie Rader.

The whole weekend is also to help raise money for the Melanie Stewart Scholarship that is offered to students. Stewart was one of the founders of the dance program at Rowan and has taught at Rowan for over 40 years.

“This event [Rowan Dance Festival] was envisioned by Theatre and Dance faculty member Melanie Stewart, who recently completed her tenure as Associate Dean of the College of Performing Arts and launched this event, with the intent to repeat it annually, while she was in that position,” Shapiro said. “Since that time, this series has become a curated, mission-driven performing arts series that uplifts the region’s cultural landscape through multi-faceted engagements with world-class artists.”

Shapiro welcomed all and made an opening introduction before an hour of impressive, powerful, and breathtaking performances began. One of the highlights of the evening was PHILADANCO!’s powerful performance and Paule Turner’s duo performance with Dominique Royal. 

Turner is an Associate Professor within the Department of Theatre and Dance here at Rowan, who was a highly active member of the Philadelphia dance community from 1994-2006, and he was named “Top 25 to Watch” by Dance Magazine in 2000. Turner is known for confronting politics in full force with his performances

“Dominique is a unique student. She’s a transfer student, in her early twenties, not much older than other students. She had to do certain things to accelerate so we made it work, and it’s required for dance majors to perform twice to get our degree, so we worked together last semester every Friday,” Turner said.

While working together, Turner and Royal discussed and talked about thoughts and issues, forming a great student-teacher bond between the two, making their performance even more powerful than it already was.

“The only thing that makes a good dancer and professional to me is really working on hearing feedback and trying something different. We started settling on sound and conversations and one thing we found out was that the bird-watcher incident in Central Park was happening at the exact time as the George Floyd Incident was across the country. Knowing that, and marveling at the question, ‘What were the birds thinking? Would they have cared?’ not really because they live a simple life and concentrate on what’s needed at the moment, survival, eating, shelter, climate, and not getting involved,” Turner said.

The Gala Festival is one of the biggest moments of the year for the Dance program at Rowan but is one of many amazing and spectacular events hosted year-round.

“I am excited for Philadanco’s full program on October 19, as well as the Department of Theatre & Dance’s unique interpretation of Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ 11/1-3. The Department of Music will be welcoming bassoonist Alex Davis on October 10, and two of our most distinguished ensembles, the Rowan University Concert Choir & Wind Ensemble are giving a joint concert on Sunday, October 13,” said Sharpio.

This was only one of many amazing performances from the Dance program, and the performing arts department has tons of spectacular performances and shows ahead that will satisfy any viewer with a unique experience, unlike any other year-round.

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