Another season for the Dance Company brings new performances, community service projects and two new members.
This spring, Dance Company selected two new performers, sophomore Kara Maria DeYoung and freshman Lisa Forte.
The additions bring the group’s membership to 34 dancers, including freshman Mark Tortora, the lone male of the group. Also involved are Al Carbone and Debbie Greenblatt, who serve as academic advisors to Dance Company.
For Forte, the selection to a highly competitive group was a great accomplishment. At the start of the fall semester, Forte participated in the interview process where auditioners viewed a dance demonstrated by members of the executive board are asked to perform the sequence after less than an hour of private practice, Forte explained.
“It was a nerve racking experience,” Forte said.
While not asked to join Dance Company in the fall, this did not discourage Forte, who has been dancing since she was three, from following her dreams.
“While I was not selected last semester, I didn’t let that stand in my way, and I tried again in the spring,” Forte said.
She advised the other 50 girls who auditioned and who were not chosen to try again. She suggested to them the importance of never becoming discouraged.
Selected members perform dances in everything ranging from tap, hip-hop funk and swing to point and lyrical, said junior Christine Grafer, president of Dance Company .
All perfomances are developed on a volunteer basis and are choreographed by the members themselves.
Having members choreograph their own performances brings a great deal of diversity to the production, Grafer continued.
“Most of the time the dancers have been performing since they were little, so they have a great stage presence,” Grafer said.
As a new member, Forte looks forward to the day when she can have the freedom to chorograph her own dances and feels she ready for the challenge of creativity and hard work.
“My junior and senior years in high school, I was teaching dance to kids that ranged from ages four and five all the way up to sixteen,” Forte said.
This academic year has proven to be a busy one as the group performed at parent’s weekend, C.A.P.’s Halloween party, the Special Olympics and prepared, choreographed and executed its annual fall performance.
Dance Company also visited the Broadway Dance Center in New York City, where members took a tap class with professionals.
The spring semester is slated to be another busy one, as Dance Company plans to perform its annual spring performance for the Quinnipiac community.
Performances will also be given at the upcoming Women’s Conference on Mar. 23 in Alumni Hall.
The group also coordinates and participates in various fundraising events, where accrued money goes toward the purchasing of costumes that cannot be made from using everyday materials, Grafer said.
Dance Company will perform its spring production Apr. 18, 19, and 20. Performances begin at7:30 p.m. in Buckman Theatre. Seating is limited.

For more information, contact Dance Company office at x 8354 or email at [email protected]