Repertory Dance Company Set To Perform Annual Fall Concert

The University of Southern Mississippi's Department of Dance will feature the Repertory Dance Company as it performs its annual Studio 115 Dance Concert Dec. 4, 5 and 6 at 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 6 at 2 p.m. The concert, an event showcasing junior and senior choreography projects, will be held in the Theatre and Dance Building in Studio 115 on the Hattiesburg campus. General admission is $5.

CoCo Loupe, Southern Miss adjunct faculty member, alumna and nationally known choreographer, mentored students in their work throughout the semester. The dances for this performance were selected through a rigorous assessment and selection process.

Loupe said the theme of the performances ranges from kinetic and athletic marathons to psychological and poetic dramas.

"The students are deeply considering the ways in which the dancing body can be a vehicle for the expression of life as they see and experience it,” Loupe said. “The hard work and dedicated efforts of each choreographer and all performers involved is evident in the physical limits they are pushing themselves to and the carefully crafted works they are making."

Elizabeth Lentz-Hill, assistant professor of dance, affirms that the students in the show are not only hardworking, but wholly committed to this particular art form.

“While overall dance members have to be dedicated to this art form and academics, Southern Miss dancers and choreographers are incredibly driven and are continually growing as artists,” Lentz-Hill said.

Lentz-Hill believes that dance is an expressive art form and believes dance is a big part of our lives, especially in the Gulf South.

“We want the community to come and see this art form that's a part of who we are as people and experience the art that dancers put their heart into,” Lentz-Hill said.

For more information about upcoming events in the College of Arts and Letters, of which the Department of Dance is a part, visit http://artsandlettersnow.usm.edu/index.html.