By Bethany Narvaez/ nw news editor
District dance faculty and staff will perform alongside guest artists from the community in Merge at 2 p.m. April 2 on Sundance Square’s Plaza Stage in downtown Fort Worth.
“We use the word ‘merge’ as artists coming together,” dance associate professor Amy Jennings said. “This is a way for faculty to show the students what kind of work we do and to share our artistry and do what we preach.”
Community dance companies such as Muscle Memory Dance Theatre, Epiphany DanceArts, Ballet Folklorico Azteca, ImPULSE Dance Project and Jordan Fuchs Company: Group Action from Texas Woman’s University will also perform at the event.
Many TCC dance alumni are now part of these groups, Jennings said.
This will be the ninth year TCC has produced Merge and the second year for it to take place on the Sundance Square Plaza Stage. The open concept of the outdoor stage allows the dancers to perform not only for family, friends and TCC supporters but for the local community as well, Jennings said.
“It’s nice when you can take dance out to the community because then it’s accessible to everybody,” she said.
While the faculty takes the stage in this production, students are behind the scenes running the show.
“Normally, we are running the show for our students,” Jennings said. “This allows students to take responsibility and learn how to run sound, how to be a stage manager, how to greet and how to be a runner working with the guest artists that are coming in.”
The role reversal of students producing and faculty performing also exposes students to other career paths within the arts.
Dance students who help run the show can see local dance companies and network with professional artists already in their careers.
“We want students to understand the passion that we are always talking about,” Jennings said. “They light our fires. We want to be able to go back and light their fires too.”
For more information on Merge, contact Jennings at 817-515-7174 or amy.jennings@tccd.edu.
