Webster Dance at ACDA North Central Regional Conference

The Department of Dance recently returned from Milwaukee, where 17 dance majors and Webster Dance Department Chair Maggi Dueker participated in the American College Dance Association’s (ACDA) North Central Regional Conference. Webster Dance joined over 325 students and faculty from 26 dance programs from throughout the Midwest that took part in this five-day event.

The conference featured a wide array of dance classes and lectures as well as a series of performances. Senior BFA candidate Ashley Johnson performed her self-choreographed solo, Resilience, during the opening night’s Informal Concert. Johnson received high praise for her dynamic and compelling composition and performance.

SHE, a group work choreographed by senior BFA candidate Madison Zumwalt, was performed on an adjudicated concert and was one of 11 works selected for the conference’s closing Gala Concert on March 22. The adjudicator panel was comprised of esteemed dance makers and scholars Molly Heller, David Rousseau and Thomas DeFrantz. “A dance that demands our attention to the pressures brought to bear as we emerge as women, ready to work together towards another way to be,” a collective adjudicator commented on the piece.

The adjudicators further described the work as powerful and authentic, describing the unique use of breath as an "exquisitely utilized" device to support the overall theme.

Support for ACDA travel expenses for Webster Dance students are provided by the Student Government Association and through fundraising by the Dance Club.