The Georgetown University Dance Company (GUDC) began presenting “Works in Progress,” the preview to their annual spring show, Dec. 4 for it to run until Dec. 6 while honoring the program’s 50th anniversary.
The showcase features excerpts from their 2024-25 season pieces, with choreography by students, guest artists and the faculty artistic director. Held in the Devine Theatre in the Davis Performing Arts Center, “Works in Progress” offers a pared-down showing of the dances, meaning it forgoes lighting and costume elements.
Raina Lucas, the faculty artistic director of GUDC, said presenting the works in this setting allows the performers to connect with the audience.
“This one’s really informal, and I really love that because it allows for a more intimate audience experience since it’s in the Devine Theater, which is a smaller, black box-style theater,” Lucas told The Hoya. “A lot of the people that attend are students on campus, but also close family members and friends, so it feels like a really special night of sharing.”
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of GUDC, “Works in Progress” will pay homage to the company’s classical ballet origins, featuring a variation from the ballet Paquita set by guest choreographer Quinn Fieldstone, a former teacher of one of the dancers. In addition, the pre-show and post-show music played in the Devine Theatre will be songs used by GUDC in previous seasons.
Lucas said the dancers have worked collaboratively and organically to devise their works, with eight of the 12 pieces featured being student-choreographed.
“Historically, choreographers teach the dancers what exactly they want, and they don’t really seek input because they have a very clear vision,” Lucas said. “But these students have been encouraged, partially by me, to have that collaborative spirit.”
Olivia Noreke (CAS ’25), who choreographed “Ending” this season, said her piece acts as both the synthesis of her past two choreographic projects with GUDC and an expression of her feelings ahead of graduation.
Full disclosure: Olivia Noreke formerly served as a deputy copy editor for The Hoya.
“My sophomore year, I choreographed a very pretty lyrical dance that was slow, very emotional, and then last year, I did a more hard-hitting contemporary jazz dance,” Noreke said. “And I feel like this dance brings all the intensity of my dance last year with all the emotion from the year before.”
Noreke added that this showcase provides a unique opportunity to assess her piece before the company’s spring performance.
“For ‘Works in Progress,’ I just want to take the opportunity to look at how the piece looks on stage as a choreographer,” Noreke said. “If you’re not in your dance, you actually get to join the audience for your piece.”
Cece Peacock (CAS ’26), who choreographed “Connection,” said her work will reflect her personal experience dancing with GUDC by showing the dancers moving from isolation to unity.
“I came up with this theme because I feel like dancing as a group has really brought us all together as a company,” Peacock told The Hoya. “I wanted to explore the idea of how moving together can create community.”
Peacock said this close-knit community also helped each of the choreographers develop their pieces.
“Since we dance together, everyone knows each other’s strengths so well,” Peacock said. “So I think that each choreographer is very good at picking which people are going to do what in their pieces.”
Lucas said her choreographed dance, “Nocturne,” was inspired by her hometown in coastal Maryland and the feeling of safety and peace she feels when near the ocean.
“For the past several years, there’s just been a lot of tension and division nationally and then also internationally,” Lucas said. “I really wanted to create something that felt calm and would be a piece that was really more personal to trying to help me explore and find a time of rest.”
Lucas said that “Works in Progress” will simultaneously showcase how the company has diversified over the decades by featuring works in jazz funk, contemporary and musical theater styles.
“We try to bring as much diversity to our show as possible in terms of the styles that we do to showcase the versatility of the company,” Lucas told The Hoya.
Lucas added that training in all styles and working with guest choreographers will allow the dancers to grow as individuals and find their own artistic point of view.
“We take in a lot of stimuli, and dance is a way to understand it, to know how to synthesize and process what it is that we’re experiencing,” Lucas said. “I think continuing to be exposed to as many styles as possible gives you that clarity of who you are as a person and what moves you.”
