UA Ensemble dances in Amsterdam

Photo courtesy Jory Hancock Arizona Summer Wildcat Fine arts graduate Courtney Combs, and other members of the UA Dance Ensemble, traveled to Amsterdam to participate in the International Theatreschool Festival earlier this summer. The UA was one of six U.S. schools that were represented in the event..

Last month, 20 students participated in an exchange of dance instruction. UA dance faculty taught students from the Amsterdam School of the Arts. Their instructors, in turn, taught UA dance students.

Recent fine arts graduate Courtney Combs, who has danced all her life, was one of the students who got the opportunity to learn from the foreign dancers.

"To be able to go there and dance and do what you love was great," Combs said. "We got to meet so many different people."

The only other American schools ever to participate in the festival are the Tisch School of Arts, Purchase Conservatory, Alvin Ailey, Merce Cunningham and Julliard, said Jory Hancock, head of the UA Dance Division.

Suzanne Knosp, UA assistant professor of dance, was a piano soloist for two performances, one of which she composed.

At the festival Knosp presented a workshop on the UA's integration of jazz, modern dance and ballet.

The students and faculty were invited to three festivals this summer, but due to funding and time constraints, they chose the festival where the UA would be the only U.S. school represented.

"We chose the festival that seemed the most prestigious," Hancock said.

Travel support for the trip was provided by UA International Affairs, ASUA, the International Theatreschool Festival and a local endowment established to support UA student travel.

Hancock said the students gained a lot from their travel abroad.

"For some, it was their first time to Europe," Hancock said.

Knosp said she gained new insights in preparing for performances from the foreign instructors and students.

"I feel that in any performance experience, I learn a lot," Knosp said.

She said she learned that preparing both mentally and physically for a performance helped her feel more secure in herself.

It was also a chance to be exposed and live in a whole different culture, Hancock said.

"Amsterdam thinks of itself as very progressive," Hancock said.

But, UA students learned that the choreography Amsterdam dance students are performing is the same material techniques they were doing five-10 years ago, he said.

The UA dancers got the opportunity to put on a performance focusing on the three areas of dance offered at the University of Arizona.

"We were the most technical dance students there," Combs said.

The UA faculty demonstrated how they work with their students, and students performed in toe shoes, bare feet and jazz shoes for five different pieces of the concert.

The Amsterdam students focused on various themes in their performances, some political or philosophical in motive, Combs said.

"They had a real nice sense of movement," she said.

She said she thought the UA dancers gained a sense of feeling in their dancing.

"You can tell when they perform that they love to dance," Combs said. "We danced just for the sake of dancing. It felt like we were part of a company."

The rehearsal time and final product were very rewarding experiences for the performers despite sacrificing their break from school, she said.

"They (UA dance students) gave up a big chunk of their summer to come back to Tucson to rehearse," Hancock said.