Wright State, DCDC formalize collaborative partnership

A formal agreement between Wright State and Dayton Contemporary Dance Company will enhance students’ educational experiences by increasing exposure to high-quality arts programming. Pictured are members of DCDC2, the dance company’s repertory-training ensemble, performing in the Student Union. (Photo by Melissa Heston)

A new partnership agreement between Wright State University and Dayton Contemporary Dance Company will enhance students’ educational experience by increasing exposure to high-quality arts programming.

The agreement will lead to more collaborative efforts between Wright State and DCDC, including sharing of guest dancers and choreographers, and the creation of new dance pieces. DCDC will also provide guest artists and adjunct faculty in Wright State’s dance program.

The agreement formalizes a longstanding relationship between Wright State and DCDC.

“Our community is so lucky to have such a fantastic high-quality professional dance company in our midst, and our students benefit greatly from working within DCDC,” said Kristin Sobolik, dean of the Wright State College of Liberal Arts.

The new agreement will help grow the close connections between Wright State and Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, she said.

“We value the diverse perspectives that DCDC has long brought to the Dayton artistic community. Wright State shares these same values,” Sobolik said. “We are pleased to showcase our mutual goals through this more formal agreement.”

“Dayton Contemporary Dance Company’s Board of Directors, executive leadership, administration and dancers have always valued the longstanding relationship with Wright State University,” said Dayton Contemporary Dance Company Executive Director Ro Nita Hawes-Saunders. “A new phase of this relationship is the recently established formal partnership between the organizations, which will enhance learning opportunities for the university’s students as well as provide them increased exposure to the world of professional dance and enrich their cultural experience.”

The partnership meets DCDC’s mission to reach the “broadest audience through exceptional performance and arts-integrated education,” Hawes-Saunders said.

DCDC’s expanded programming — such as its upcoming season celebrating women, called “Dream Catchers” — provides “further exciting and new collaborative opportunities for both organizations,” she said.

“The partnership between Wright State University and Dayton Contemporary Dance Company increases the impact of both organizations on the cultural life of the Miami Valley and beyond,” Hawes-Saunders said.

W. Stuart McDowell, chair and artistic director for Wright State’s Department of Theatre, Dance and Motion Pictures, said the partnership promises to be “one of the most exciting, vibrant collaborations in the world of dance.”

It will lead to dynamic collaborative endeavors, including guest dancers and choreographers working at both programs to create new works, and worthwhile educational programs to benefit both organizations and the community, he said.

“The sky’s the limit for these two distinguished institutions,” McDowell said.

Alexis Evans-Krueger, center, performed with DCDC2 for three years, apprenticed with the first company her senior year and dance professionally with DCDC after graduating from Wright State’s dance program in 2014. (Photo by Michelle VanHuss)

Select Wright State dancers will continue to perform with DCDC2, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company’s repertory-training ensemble. Those students receive scholarship support to train with both Wright State’s dance program and DCDC2. Six Wright State students are currently in DCDC2.

DCDC2 also regularly performs in the Wright State Dance Ensemble’s spring concert.

The dance company will provide opportunities for service-learning and internships for Wright State students taking classes related to nonprofit management, technical writing, business and technology, while DCDC staff may take arts management courses at the university.

DCDC will continue to provide educational programs for students participating in the university’s Pre-College Programs, a series of academic enrichment opportunities for K-12 students.

Through its arts-integrated education programs DCDC annually reaches approximately 20,000 students from early education through college.

Both organizations will seek opportunities to collaborate on joint research programs and grant writing projects.

In addition, a Wright State representative will be invited to serve on planning committees for two DCDC events: the Jeraldyne Blunden Living Legacies Luncheon in December and the Women in Motion: Empowered by Dance conference next March.

Two Wright State administrators — Charlotte Harris, dean of the College of Education and Human Services, and Gary LeRoy, associate dean of student affairs and admissions in the Boonshoft School of Medicine — serve on the DCDC Board of Directors.