After weeks of tireless preparation, the dance students’ hard work finally came to fruition at the 2012 Dance Concert.

Last Friday’s performance represented the culmination of dance students’ capstone projects. Seven of the nine dances in the show were choreographed by students in the choreography class.

Without an expansive dance program on campus, the spring Dance Concert was a showcase for these talented students.

“We’re a weird little niche (on campus), and it’s a nice way for us to celebrate that,” said junior Grace Chafin, who choreographed her own dance and participated in another.

The Dance Concert featured only forms of modern dance. Modern dance is not as well known as traditional dance, but it is more expressive.

“Modern dance is different from other forms of dance in that it is highly individualized: the choreographers actually create their very own movement vocabulary, and create dances that express their own ideas, experiences and reflections on society and the human condition,” said Christa Wellhausen, part-time lecturer in theatre studies and sports studies, in an email interview.

The Dance Concert was very successful for all involved, but preparing for the dance was a long and arduous process. Choreographers were only allowed to start planning their acts in mid-February. Most choreographers worked twice a week, but when it came to crunch time, their hard work increased in order to finalize their acts.

“It was a really fun process, but (there) were some problems,” said senior Emma Marcus. “My dance had been threatened to be cut a few times, since we had trouble getting it clean enough.”

For all who took part in the 2012 Dance Concert, it was an unforgettable experience. Through their artistic expression, these outstanding students represented Guilford’s truest core values.

Wellhausen best described the performance as the product of “intelligent, expressive, hard-working, thoughtfully aware students with colorfully diverse voices and viewpoints living creatively together.”