Since I became Co-President of the Koshare Dance Collective at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in 2015, I have always wanted to create and run a workshop for dancers in the Geneva community.  Each year, Koshare has over 100 HWS student-members who choreograph, perform, and produce a dance performance every November.  The number of trained dancers in our club have grown equally with their intensive training and experience.  It was time to bring these dancers and their talent together to create an all-day dance workshop.

Since working in the community at Geneva High School, choreographing West Side Story and currently working on Into the Woods in addition to substituting dance classes ate St. Peter’s Community Arts Academy, I’ve come to know a number of young dancers.  Many of them, when introduced to me, recognized me from Koshare performances either as a Co-President or the choreographer of “the skirt dance.”  There seemed to be a great interest in Koshare from these students who would come to play practice dressed in their Koshare merchandise or wear them to dance class.

The objective of the Day of Dance workshop was not just to give back to the community, but also to create more opportunities for members of the club to explore choreography and teaching.  Koshare members looking for more choreographic and teaching experience can be selected as Instructors for the workshop and create a lesson plan for the class.   The variety of dance training in our Koshare members allowed us to offer classes in ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, afro-Caribbean, step, tap, and hip-hop.  Many of these styles are not offered at surrounding studios.

This feat would not have been possible without the help of the Koshare Executive Board who assisted me in placing advertisements in Downtown Geneva, registering participants, and of course devoting their Sunday time to the event, including the early morning set up.

The dancers who participated in this event were very much like the dancers who participate in Koshare.  They came from a variety of training backgrounds.   Some danced recreationally as part of their school’s step team, and others had been taking ballet classes since they were three.  Regardless of their backgrounds, all students were able to customize their class schedules and select classes to take.

At our group cool down, I had a group of girls turn to me and share their excitement about the event and how Koshare should offer it again, or “Every Semester!”, “Every Month!”, and lastly, “Every Week!”  Yesterday’s event brought such joy and enthusiasm to students, visiting dance teachers, and instructors at the event.  I hope that this event continues after I pass the Koshare torch onto the next Koshare Co-Presidents.

 I had a wonderful time at Day of Dance! I enjoyed trying new styles and I loved step! I had so much fun in all three classes I took, the teachers were very nice and informative, and I loved having the opportunity to dance in such a nice facility! I would love if it there was another Day of Dance in the Spring so I could take all the classes I didn’t take this time!

~ Student Participant