W&L’s Repertory Dance Company Presents ‘Dancing with the Camera’ The W&L Repertory Dance Company performance will stream for free online on March 25 and 26 at 7 p.m., March 27 at 6 p.m. and March 28 at 2 p.m.

W&L News Office
March 15, 2021

The Department of Theater, Dance, and Film Studies at Washington and Lee University will present the award-winning W&L Repertory Dance Company and guest artists in their annual winter concert, which will stream on March 25 and 26 at 7 p.m., March 27 at 6 p.m. and March 28 at 2 p.m.

The performance is free and open to the public to view online at https://livestream.com/wlu.

The show contains the personal choreography works of five W&L Repertory Dance student choreographers: Runa King ’21, Irina Koleva ’22, Carissa Margraf ’21, Ashley Shugart ’22 and Kate Fisher ’23. The show also features four guest artist choreographers, including ShaLeigh Comerford, visiting artistic director of the dance company; Elliot Reza Emadian ’17; Hannah Nicole Marr, administrator at Stage Door Dance and director of the dance program at Voyager Academy; and Steven James Rodriguez Velez, an instructor at the Carolina Ballet.

“This has been a stirring reminder of the innovation artists continue to cultivate amidst limitation and challenge,” said Comerford. “While the term ‘social distancing’ seems at odds with dance, the show’s choreographers share their work as stewards of vision, resilience and dedication. They have answered the call in numerous ways.”

Highlights of the performance include Comerford’s “1000 Ways,” which asks if, by facing one thing, such as a computer screen, we are not facing others, such as our bodies or our experience.

“It is so rare that someone can direct you in such a way that you do not feel self-conscious,” said Fisher. “In Comerford’s piece, the movement is so natural and freeing. It just feels so good to do.”

Emadian’s work, “Sentinel,” is a screen dance collaboration that draws on each performer’s uniqueness. The work centers around questions regarding identity, connection and gaze. Emadian’s work was filmed entirely on mobile phone cameras in two locations, Miami and Lexington, Virginia, while Emadian directed remotely from Illinois. Emadian led a master class with W&L Dance focused on creating dance through the camera during the Winter Term.

For the most up-to-date information about the performance, visit https://my.wlu.edu/lenfest-center/wandl-repertory-dance-company.