A Dance Major Experience
Senior dance majors pictured from left to right: Annie Marx, Isabel Ganovsky, Olivia James, Emily Patterson, Alyssa Vacca, Mariel Loughlin, Meg Boericke, Shelby Durham. (Photo by Zoe Litaker).
So far, many of us are championing our way through online courses. We have professors that are working hard to come up with ways to incorporate everything we are supposed to learn online.
However, there are certain classes that are having difficulty switching online. Those usually consist of classes that require you to physically do things, something we are limited to do now. If we personally do not have a class that requires this, adjusting to online classes has been relatively simple. But we shouldn’t forget about those whose online experiences are not as seamless.
Isabel Ganovsky, a senior dance major, tells The Edge about her experience switching to online dance classes -- the struggles, the opportunities, and how to support other Elon seniors.
The first challenge for Ganovsky presented itself early on. Ganovsky had to search for ways to modify her room at home to become a space that resembled her usual dance class environment at Elon. With that came the struggles of not finding enough space, creating a make-shift barre and simply not having the same energy as one would have with classmates in person.
Isabel Ganovsky, senior dance major. (Photo by Zoe Litaker)
However, these inconveniences have not brought down the dance community. Ganovsky says that her professors are doing their best to have their students create their own schedule by following their dance lessons from Zoom or Youtube. Plus, professors gave their dance students the chance to speak to other dance professionals.
“My class has gotten to meet so many famous people in the dance world who have offered so much insight and advice to us,” Ganovsky said. “We have gotten to talk to dancers, choreographers, and agents that I never dreamed of meeting.”
Pre-coronavirus, Ganovsky and fellow dance peers were excited about their final thesis performances, all of which were created and produced by them. Feelings of hope, panic, confusion, and shock ran through all of them as the chances of returning to school became slim.
She understandably tells us that now that “feelings of content and frustration come in waves,” as she often finds herself in contrasting moods ranging from optimistic creative breakthroughs to frustrating attempts to complete online classes. This is not at all how they imagined their senior year to be.
But despite the hardships, Ganovsky focuses on gratitude and staying positive, acknowledging that her situation does not compare to what others around the world may be experiencing. She says that the current situation has even solidified the meaning of dance to her.
“It's [dance] a celebration by expressing what we are physically, artistically and emotionally capable of as humans,” Ganovsky expresses. “Dance is also community. It has an amazing ability to bring people together even when we physically can't be near each other.”
And dance will continue to bring people together, even if it’s not physically.
From May 8 at 5 p.m. to May 10 at 5 p.m. on the Elon Dance Program Youtube page, eight dance majors will be digitally showcasing pieces that they self-choreographed, self-produced and performed from where they are.
The senior (dance) squad. (Photo by Zoe Litaker)
Throughout the showcase titled “All Things Must Pass,” viewers will discover how the emotions of experiences can potentially affect time.
We can agree that a sense of incompleteness is felt after having the end of the school year interrupted. It is natural and perfectly okay to feel this way, as this is something most of us have never experienced in our lives.
Ganovsky tells us that we can persevere through this by appreciating what we do have around us and acknowledging that this is not permanent.
“Something has been ruined for everyone and there is always someone who has experienced more loss than you have. The only way to encourage and help each other is with empathy and appreciation,” Ganovsky said.