UA jazz, dance programs collaborate in 'Dance Sonata' performances

The cool sounds of a jazz piano trio emanated from the corner of a University of Akron studio March 22 as student dancers brought to life choreographer John Heginbotham's whimsical "Dance Sonata," a jazzy piece with a vaudeville flair and plenty of quirky, humorous surprises.

Rehearsing and performing the contemporary dance work together is a unique opportunity for both the UA jazz musicians and the 14 dancers featured in it.

The dancers learned the work straight from the source, when Dance Heginbotham's Paige Barnett set two sections of the dance on two student casts at the University of Akron in October. She worked with the UA dancers for a week before choreographer and dance company owner Heginbotham joined them for the second week to finesse the dance.

In the meantime, jazz trio musicians Susan Groggs (piano), Christian Elder (double bass) and Makyah Stergis (drums) started working on the difficult jazz piece together last semester, under the tutelage of jazz program co-director Chris Coles and jazz instructor Dan Wilson.

Heginbotham created "Dance Sonata" with jazz pianist/composer Ethan Iverson, premiering the work at the Jacobs Pillow dance festival in Massachusetts in 2022.

Collaboration performances April 12 and 13

Now, the student "Dance Sonata" collaboration will come to fruition with a total of four performances April 12 and 13 hosted by the jazz and dance programs at the University of Akron. The dance will be featured during the finale concert for UA's JazzFest at 7:30 p.m. April 12 at E.J. Thomas Hall.

And just before that concert, the work will be performed at 6 p.m. at the University of Akron Dance Company Spring 2024 Dance Concert across the street at Guzzetta Hall's Sandefur Theatre. More spring dance performances will be held at 2 and 7 p.m. April 13 at Guzzetta.

That means the three jazz musicians will perform "Dance Sonata" a total of four times, and the two student casts will alternate for two performances each.

"Our students have really just tackled this wholeheartedly. They're really dedicated to putting their best foot forward and making sure that they're being accountable for the gift that John [Heginbotham] is giving us in this work," visiting assistant professor Christine Howe said of the dance students.

"Dance Sonata" is a layered, technically complex dance that spans modern, jazz and ballet genres, said Howe, a 2016 UA dance graduate who is rehearsal director for the dance.

"There's a lot of technical precision, but then also it really challenges them performatively because there's kind of like this jazz coolness about it, while needing to have this high level of energy for the technical execution," she said.

At rehearsal, unexpected flourishes in the spirited dance included dancers jutting their chins out from left to right in precise timing with four quick drum beats as well as a formation that looked like a tug of war happening inside another tug of war.

The collaboration has been a great opportunity for both the dancers and jazz musicians, Howe said.

"There's something just magical about having so many artists in the same space and getting to feed off of each other in that way. I think it lays more depth into the work and also just shows that we can be connected as a community and not so siloed in what we're doing" in different arts programs, she said.

Different way of communicating

Bass player Christian Elder, a junior string performance major from Akron, has appreciated the opportunity for his jazz trio to work with the dancers.

"I think it's really cool. There's a big part of music that's about communication more than anything else, and it's nice to see that communication getting across in the form of it being dance, too," Elder, 22, said at rehearsal.

The jazz-dance collaboration was arranged by the National Center for Choreography at the University of Akron (NCCAkron), which has previously hosted Dance Heginbotham for creative residencies. In its last UA residency in July 2022, the New York company finished creating "Dance Sonata" and set a new duet.

Choreographer Heginbotham's work has included choreographing the 2019 revival of "Oklahoma" on Broadway and the dance-off scene between rival academies on a third-season episode of Netflix show "The Umbrella Academy," set to "Footloose" and inspired by Kevin Bacon's moves.

At UA, senior dance student Molly Bagatto said she enjoyed the intensive work with professionals Heginbotham and Barnett to learn "Dance Sonata" in the fall.

"I see this as a glance into what [professional] company life is like. Not everybody here is shooting for being in a dance company, but that's something I'm particularly interested in," she said.

The dancer, who grew up in Copley, first fell in love with Dance Heginbotham's style of movement when the company taught UA dance classes during its residency in Akron two years ago.

Counting the jazzy "Dance Sonata" is complicated, she said, and working live with the jazz students has been exciting.

"I love dancing with live music because it makes all the difference when the artists can see each other and work with each other. I think there's more of a connection. I think the dancers are automatically more attuned to listening to the music," she said.

New experience for musicians

Drummer Makyah Stergis, a freshman percussion performance major from Canton, said he was working with dancers for the first time in "Dance Sonata."

"I think it's really nice because it gives me a better kind of aspect on different types of music and how to play with it. And then seeing the collaboration with the dance at the same time, it's really different for me," said Stergis, who plans to double major in jazz performance in the fall.

Piano performance major Susan Groggs of Cuyahoga Falls, a sophomore who's newer to jazz, said Iverson's "Dance Sonata" is a difficult work.

"Listening to it and just playing through it a bunch of times, it started to make sense," she said.

Playing live with dancers is also a new experience for her.

"It changed how I heard the music when I saw the choreography. I loved seeing what they were picking out of the music," Groggs said of the dancers.

Dance's humor is special

Sophomore dance major Jylian Haynes of Doylestown said dancing to live music for her first time in college is both fun and an honor.

"It was definitely challenging at first to get the hang of it because it sounds different than a [recorded] track would," she said.

She hopes audience members get some laughs watching unexpected moments in "Dance Sonata."

"John's [Heginbotham's] vision behind this was keeping a very monotone expression on our face, and then there's certain moments where we can have those silly expressions, so that we're not giving that away the whole time but it's special," Haynes said.

Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

Details

Show: UADC Spring 2024 Dance Concert

When: 6 p.m. April 12, 2 and 7 p.m. April 13

Where: Guzzetta Hall, Sandefur Theatre, 228 E. Buchtel Ave., University of Akron

Cost: $15-$30; students $5

Reservations: ci.ovationtix.com/36772/production/1196224 or 330-972-7895

Additional performance: Dance and jazz students also will perform "Dance Sonata" at the UA JazzFest finale concert at 7:30 p.m. April 12 at E.J. Thomas Hall. $20. See uakron.edu/ej, ticketmaster.com or call 330-972-7570.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: UA jazz, dance students enthused working together on 'Dance Sonata'