Freshmen dance majors and minors will soon come together to perform their first piece on campus as RWU students. On Nov. 9 at 7:30 p.m., students can come watch these dancers perform a piece entitled “When We Breathe Again.” The event will take place in the Performing Arts Center, commonly referred to as “The Barn.”

The freshmen dancers include Zoie Vail, Jordan St. Onge, Cara Grady, Gabriella Poulin, Jordan Raleigh, Emma Trahan, Meghan Lewis, Hannah Leslie, Hillary McDonald and Stephanie Davis.

This is a basement series event, which means the performance will be held in the basement of the Performing Arts Center rather than in the main theatre upstairs. This smaller show will include two pieces: the freshmen piece along with a special performance by two professional dancers, Gisela Creus and Danielle Davidson. Creus, a guest artist to the campus, is also the choreographer of the freshmen piece that will be showcased. 

“The dance piece is about people overcoming stress and anxiety in different ways and how we get rid of things in our life that cause stress. It is all about letting go and releasing,” St. Onge said. “Everyone is really excited to be a part of the RWU dance experience together for the first time.” 

This performance is free and open to the public. However, limited seating is available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

“I am excited to see what the freshmen have been working on and can remember when I performed my first dance theatre basement series as a freshman. I wish them all the best of luck,” senior dance major Ally Graf said. 

As for Creus and Davidson, their work investigates effective loops, changes in perspective and time and negotiations in the dance they will be exhibiting.

“I am really excited to be a part of my first dance theatre show. It has been so cool to work with Gisela, she is amazing,” Vail said. “I also liked being able to dance with all the freshmen every week. Because of this, we have already become close friends.”