Insite

In preparation for Works-a-Foot, an annual showcase of talent from Montclair State University’s Dance Program, students had the unique opportunity to work with choreographer Doug Elkins. Elkins, who returns to Peak Performances in March with Fräulein Maria, held a series of rehearsals and ultimately choreographed a new work specifically for students in the dance program at MSU. Take a peek at this clip (courtesy Rodney Leinberger): 

Over its five-year history, a range of prominent choreographers have graced the stage of the Alexander Kasser Theater. Often these choreographers, who have included Bill T. Jones, Susan Marshall, Margaret Jenkins, and Liz Lerman, lead master classes and workshops in the Department of Theatre and Dance. This year, Elkins stepped up to the plate as part of this choreography tradition at MSU.

Students met with Elkins once a week for five weeks, in addition to two Sunday rehearsals. The dance piece that emerged from their collaboration, She could never remember which was better…safe?…or sorry?, presented as part of Works-a-Foot, involved nineteen students thinking on their feet, music by The Cornelius Brothers and Björk, and a variety of contemporary dance moves.

“What we’ve always said is that we want to feed our students with choreography, and this was the third such ‘meal,” explained Lori Katterhenry, head of the dance program at MSU. “We hope that this will continue for us…having the artists come here not only makes ACP [MSU's Department of Arts & Cultural Programming] successful, but makes our programs successful as well.”

On the value of Elkins’ work with students, Katterhenry explained, “His ability to invent is unparalleled. He’s got the kind of personality that inspires fierce respect and loyalty.”

Elkins began his career break dancing with New York Dance Express and Magnificent Force, among others. He is a two-time New York Dance and Performance (BESSIE) Award-winning choreographer and has received commissions and awards from the National Emdowment for the Arts, National Performance Network, Jerome Foundation, and The Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, among others. His theater work includes collaborations with JoAnne Akalaitis and Philip Glass, Robert Woodruff, Pavel Dobrusky, and consultations for the American Repertory Theatre.

Known for his sharp sense of humor and connection to popular vernacular, Elkins’ most recent production comes to Peak Performances March 25–28. In Fräulein Maria, Elkins and his dancers cheekily weave their way into a sly adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Sound of Music. It debuted to a wildly enthusiastic audience at The Public Theater in 2006, and to reviews in The New Yorker like this one: “Each dance is a jewel of choreographic invention and comic subtlety.” (Joan Acocella) Last weekend, Doug Elkins and Friends performed Fräulein Maria to enthusiastic audiences at Dance Theater Workshop, where NYTimes’ Roslyn Sulcas dubbed the piece “a mini-masterpiece”.

In addition to teaching students at Montclair some of the company’s patented “moves” from Fräulein Maria, Elkins plans to include several of his MSU dancers in the upcoming Fräulein Maria performances at the Alexander Kasser Theater—proving that the students’ diligent work ethic was far from unrecognized.

In fact, compared with much of the “set” choreography that Montclair dance students are accustomed to learning, Elkins’s inclusive and improvisatory choreography style proved to be a learning lesson for Montclair’s dancers: “We’re used to a choreographer coming, teaching us the piece, and then it’s set,” said Kristin VanDeventer, a senior at MSU who was involved in the production. Throughout the rehearsals, Elkins placed a lot of responsibility on his dancers, and they developed the new work together: “It’s a team effort; that’s also what he does with his company,” MSU senior, Tiana Taylor explained.

The students also expressed admiration for Elkins’s rehearsal coordinator, Krista Racho-Jansen: “Krista is AMAZING. She translated what Doug wanted so well; Doug said something and then she would do it and teach it to us,” said VanDeventer.

In the end it all came together—“He gave us a lot of new material, a lot of new steps… this was really a process,” VanDeventer added. “It’s a very good lesson for us—and as seniors…it was good to be prepared in that aspect for different rehearsal styles…we’re surprised by the positive feedback that we’re getting…because it was so out of our comfort zone when we were working on it.”

When asked for her own thoughts on the students’ experience working with Elkins, Lori Katterhenry replied, “We don’t want them to be spoon fed. We want them to be thinkers…they’re thinking on their feet, solving problems.”

Sara Wintz is Communications Assistant in the Office of Arts & Cultural Programming at Montclair State University. Her writing has appeared on Ceptuetics and in the Poetry Project Newsletter.