“At the end of the day, even though our legs and feet are hurting and we’re at a two hour-long rehearsal or class, we’re still having an absolute blast,” said Lizzie McGonagle ’16, a proud member of Andover Dance Group (ADG). “[Andover Dance Group] is a group of devoted dancers who all share friendship, a passion for dance, and a love for the performing arts. No matter what we’re doing or how stressed out we are, we all love to perform together.”
ADG, a modern dance troupe, performed several major shows this year, including the romantic opera “Dido and Aeneas” and the original show “Rhythms of Hope.”
“ADG works to expose dancers to new styles and ways of exploring movement, as well as to provide an opportunity to improve in performance, choreography, and expression of dance,” said Emily Ewing ’14, this year’s group-elected ADG captain. “ADG challenges the dancers with tricky steps and intense concepts, and we try to convey a message to the audience as well, while building a community among the dancers so that they learn to work together as a team.”
One of ADG’s highlights this year was an emotional number from “Rhythms of Hope,” which focuses on triumphing over adversity. The dancers collaborated in self-choreographing the piece, which featured them performing to live student jazz music, donning all white with a white backdrop behind them. Together, they all chose colorful lights that would reflect off of the white costumes as they danced, pirouetted and jumped.
Between rehearsals, classes, and meetings, ADG typically gathers between five and nine hours per week and can meet for up to 20 hours during a rehearsal week.
“Although there are many opportunities for everyone to get involved in dance on campus, ADG provides a special opportunity for those students who wish to prioritize dance in their lives,” said Ewing, who has been dancing since she was three.
As a year-long commitment, ADG is the biggest time commitment of any dance group on campus. The members of ADG, however, believe that the time spent practicing and rehearsing has made them a close-knit community and formed incredible bonds.
“ADG not only allows skilled dancers to take their technique and put it on stage, but it gives us the opportunity to collaborate with other skilled dancers and form amazing friendships,” said Ewing.
After a full year of shows, rehearsals, practicing technique and performing on stage, ADG will continue to showcase their talents this summer in South Africa. They will internationally exhibit the skills they have learned this year, performing pieces from “Rhythms of Hope,” along with the help of other student musicians and visual artists.
“It is so exciting that we can perform off campus in such a remote and interesting location,” said McGonagle. “It will be a wonderful ‘last hurrah’ for this year’s group to bond and do what we love before [Ewing and] and the other seniors go on to dance in college.”
