'Spring into Dance' student dance concert pleases opening-night audience

Dance styles ranging from hip hop to contemporary ballet were featured at "Spring into Dance" on Thursday night at the Bedell Performance Hall on the River Campus. Thursday marked the beginning of a four-day run for the Southeast Missouri State University Department of Theatre and Dance's spring concert. A total of 261 people attended the opening performance.

Artistic coordinator Philip Edgecombe said this year's concert featured exceptional talent that was really pushed by the demands of the choreography.

"The level of technique and technical ability that we are asking them to do and the tricks and the performance, just the sheer dancing of it, is so far beyond what we have had in the past here," he said.

Edgecombe said the energy created by the performances seemed to be appreciated by the audience and he hoped that would generate excitement for the week's remaining shows.

"The crowd is responding really well. We have got a lot of students that turned out for opening night, and that is something I always want. I think we'll get the word of mouth going out from there," Edgecombe said.

He said this year's cast consisted of almost 40 dancers performing nine routines. The concert marked one dancer's debut as a choreographer. In addition to performing in four routines, sophomore Jeanine Holtgrave choreographed a solo piece. She said while she is excited about the opportunity afforded by the spring concert, the experience has also been educational.

"Since this is my first real production piece, it was a really interesting process. First of all, because it is a solo and second of all, because it has got a really interesting message. It is basically telling the story of someone who is confined and depressed. It touches on themes like abuse and addiction and has darker images," she said.

Melissa King of Cape Girardeau and her 4-year-old daughter, Grace, attend many of the River Campus' dance shows.

"We come to all the dance performances here, including the spring performance and the fall performance. She loves it. We have been coming for about two years now," Melissa King said. She said the routines were creative and entertaining.

Tickets $12 and $14 and are available for tonight and Saturday's 7:30 p.m. performances and Sunday's 2 p.m. performance. Tickets are available by calling the River Campus box office at 651-2265.