Southeastern Louisiana University dance students attended the 52nd American College Dance Association annual conference in Norman, Okla., at the University of Oklahoma last month. Southeastern performed one faculty work and one student work in the ACDA Adjudicated Concert, with nationally known adjudicators giving feedback on the choreography performed in the informal concert.
The student-choreographed piece titled “The Flies” was selected to be performed for the Gala during the conference. Southeastern student Carlie Dodd of Greenwell Springs choreographed the piece, which was performed by Cali Boudreaux of Gramercy, Kairah Senegal of Lafayette, and Dodd.
When asked about choreographing the piece, Dodd said she has only ever dreamed of an opportunity like this. She began studying contemporary dance when she was 10, and immediately fell in love with it and started playing with her own choreography by the time she was 11.
“When I graduated high school, I took a few years off of dance due to lacking an outlet. Then I learned about Dance Performance Project in the fall of 2023. To have my work put onstage at this level has been such a dream that I never thought I’d have, especially when I had to stop dancing. It’s been an incredible experience that I couldn’t have accomplished without all the hard work and dedication from the other two dancers.”
Two additional Southeastern pieces were performed at the conference. Faculty choreographer and Southeastern Director of Dance Skip Costa presented “When we lose our why, we always lose our way,” performed by Dodd. An additional student work titled “Ways” was performed in the Informal Concert. The student choreographer was Senegal, and the dancers were Boudreaux and Senegal.
“I am so proud of our dedicated and professional students that make up Southeastern Dance, especially when they receive a title after showing work against large university programs with over 80 dance majors and several offering master of arts and master of fine arts in dance degrees,” said Southeastern Director of Dance Skip Costa. “We are a small, creative program with only a minor in dance and contemporary choreography that is getting recognized at the national/international level for what we do here – that is such a blessing.”
A total of 14 universities from across the country, including Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, and Kansas, attended the conference.
SOUTHEASTERN STUDENTS ATTEND DANCE CONFERENCE – Southeastern Louisiana University dance students attended the 52nd American College Dance Association annual conference at the University of Oklahoma last month. Pictured, from left, are Southeastern dance students and Dance Performance Project company members Carlie Dodd of Greenwell Springs, Kairah Senegal of Lafayette, and Cali Boudreaux of Gramercy.
