Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 2, 1993 TAG: 9304010162
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By MADELYN ROSENBERG STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
MAJOR PERFORMANCE
By tonight, the formations will be close to perfect.The dancer on the end will remember to keep her head up, and the one in the middle will extend her arm at a precise 45-degree angle.
And all of the performers in The Dance Company of Virginia Tech will have found a way to keep their baseball caps - part of the costume for one of 18 dances - attached to their heads.
Tonight's and Saturday's are the main yearly performances for about 40 Tech students who are majoring in everything from engineering and soils to communications and computer science.
There is no major in dance at Tech, and the company gives these students a chance to move their feet and use the training many of them have had since they were young.
"I'd been a dancer since I started to walk," said Heidy Buttari, who majors in Spanish and education. "After high school, I was afraid I'd never be able to dance again. Then I found a flier for The Dance Company."
Lisa Perkins, a communications major, said dancing had never really been a career choice for her - she knew how competitive it was and opted for a communications major at Tech. "But I really wanted to dance," she said. "This is a way to continue and not give up."
The performance troupe has been on campus for 11 years.
The students choreograph their own dances, which include ballet, jazz, hip-hop and modern dance, and hold auditions for the other students.
Each dance group meets in the War Memorial Gym once a week for an hourlong practice. They iron out the kinks until they're breathless and meet on Sundays to work on technique.
Buttari practices at least 10 hours a week. "I'm in 10 of the dances," she explained.
After graduation, Buttari wants to try to incorporate teaching with her dancing - helping a high school dance team, perhaps, or teaching younger children on the side.
But for now, her focus is the weekend's performance, she said.
"This is what we work for every year."
The performance, entitled "Rhythm is a Dancer" will take place in the Haymarket Theater in Squires Student Center at 7:30 p.m.
Admission is $3 for students, $5 for the general public.
"Rhythm Is a Dancer" The Dance Company of Virginia performs tonight and Saturday night at 7:30 in Haymarket Theater of Squires Student Center. Admission is $3 for students and $5 for the general public.