Dancing is a fun and uplifting way to make new friends, get great exercise, and express yourself in different ways. What’s even more fun than dancing? Choreographing! Luckily, Gail Wilson can enjoy a little bit of both this semester.
Gail is a senior Computer Science major at Carnegie Mellon University. Although her workload is extremely time-consuming, Gail has still made time to be a Dancers’ Symposium dancer (and now a choreographer!) every year since she was a freshman. “Dancing is so much fun,” Gail says, “I don’t think I could live without a little hip hop and tap in my life.”
Dancers’ Symposium (DS) is an organization that provides an opportunity for graduate and undergraduate students to choreograph and perform original dance pieces for their peers, faculty, and family. It aims to provide an open environment to further the exposure of dance, music, and student choreography at Carnegie Mellon. DS is CMU’s largest student-run dance organization, with over 100 members each semester.
Gail took take hip hop and tap classes when she was in high school and loved them all, so she wanted to find a way to continue her dancing career in college. “Luckily,” she explains, “DS has definitely given me the chance to!” Gail has been a member of DS for four years, and this is her second year as a choreographer. She loves being able to test her skills in different styles of dance, as well as meeting new people with different backgrounds and dance styles.
Gail recently hosted a DS Open Class in the CUC as part of this year’s Pre-Auditions, where she taught some of the choreography she’ll be using for DS this semester. These classes gave students the opportunity to try out some of the moves that will be used in DS before the actual auditions took place. “I think the DS open classes this week have been really great,” Gail says. “It’s a lot less intimidating than being introduced to DS through the auditions.”
The official DS Fall Auditions took place on Saturday between 11:00am – 4:30pm. Gail and the other choreographers are incredibly excited to start working with the dancers and getting ready for the upcoming performance. For more information, visit the Dancers’ Symposium website at http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/org/dancer/home.html.