Fall is my favorite time of year! It's a seasonal thing. The local dance scene gets kicked off and college football swings into action. The only thing better would be an event featuring both.
Guess what? It's going to happen on September 23rd during the Gamecock vs. the LouisianaTech Bulldog halftime show. This summer, athletic band director Cormac Cannon teamed up with USC dance company director Susan Anderson to stage "Dancing with the Stars." Dance majors with partner basketball great A'ja Wilson, WIS weatherman Tim Miller, student body president Alex Lordo, and Anya Martin (the men's basketball coach's better half). All involved have been practicing long hours.
Unfortunately, the Gamecock team will be in their locker room during the show. They'd be good dance critics. Sixteen members took Susan Anderson's Dance Appreciation course over the summer. A'ja Wilson took it during her freshman year. At the University of South Carolina (like the mission of Jasper Magazine), interdisciplinary approaches are fundamental. That's team spirit!
So ... a-one-and-a-two and a Go Cocks! Dance your heart out this season.
Later this week I'll be posting my impressions of Columbia Classical Ballet's first "Studio Series." It will be my first, real review. My hopes for the season are to initiate critical conversation about the experience of seeing dance performances as well as to inform the public of upcoming local dance events.
Susan Lenz is a full time, professional studio artist in Columbia, South Carolina. Her studio is located at Mouse House, Inc. at 2123 Park Street where she has both a studio for 3D sculptural and installation work and a separate fiber art studio. Susan's work has been juried into numerous national and international exhibits, featured in solo shows all over the United States, and shown on television and in print. She has been awarded six full scholarship art residencies and several "Best of Show" ribbons. She also serves as Jasper's Dance Editor.