Northwestern dance group Reflections Repertory Company is shining a light on contemporary ballet during its annual winter show “SPOTLIGHT” from Feb. 20 to 21 in the Wirtz Ballroom.
The winter show will host three productions, with guest performances from acappella club Purple Haze on Friday and Typhoon Dance Troupe on Saturday.
The show opens with an all-group performance to an instrumental version of Britney Spears’ “Toxic,” followed by twelve smaller group pieces, and closes with a dance to Britney Spears’ “Gimme More.”
The company began preparing for the winter show in fall, when its executive board released a petition form asking choreographers to send a short video and description of their piece. Dancers selected which pieces they wanted to be a part of and were cast based on their preferences, availability and choreographer’s vision of how many dancers they wanted.
Weinberg sophomore Emma Christensen was the group’s interim artistic director in the fall while the current artistic director was abroad. She oversaw the casting of each piece, creating the petition forms and setting the preliminary casting.
“Making sure that people are all available at the same time is so important,” Christensen said. “We want to make sure that we don’t create a piece where only three dancers can be available at this time, and three dancers can be available at a different time.”
Members of the executive board met weekly to discuss lighting, costumes, marketing, rehearsal spaces and the theme.
This year’s show “SPOTLIGHT” draws its inspiration from magazines and editorials, with the promotional materials resembling a magazine cover.
“Spolights are used a lot in dance,” Christensen said. “But it’s also a ‘spotlight’ on different aspects of the company or different pieces.”
One of these aspects is the company’s performance of various ballet styles.
The winter show isn’t a narrative-driven story ballet, which leaves room for choreographers to have more freedom in their small group pieces, said Interim Treasurer and Weinberg senior Diane Zhao. This includes exploring other styles of ballet, she said.
Zhao is a part of three small group pieces that feature a variety of ballet styles, including contemporary, classical and jazz.
Each small group piece is choreographed by a member of the company, and every choreographer has a different process in bringing their vision to life, she said.
“There’s definitely moments where I have come to the session, and I have no idea what we’re going to come up with,” Zhao said. “You have a general vision of what the piece might look like, but I think most people don’t have their choreography set until they’re going into rehearsal.”
Producing the show has not come without its challenges, she added.
She said that since members audition to join the performance division rather than specific pieces, everyone is guaranteed a spot in the production — but coordinating availability is difficult.
Incorporating dancers who were abroad in the fall into the show and reserving rehearsal space were some of the biggest hurdles, Zhao said.
“We do want to have a collaborative space where everyone feels like they’re part of a family,” Zhao said. “We’re putting on the show as a group and have a group identity.”
McCormick first-year Ellie Rosean said she doesn’t think many people are exposed to ballet and have a limited impression of the dance form.
“I hope people come away from it learning something new,” Rosean said. “Seeing that ballet is more than maybe that picture that they have in their head of a little girl in a tutu.”
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