• the217
• Stage
• A green collaboration

Long deprived of adequate rehearsal space, graduate students in the UI Department of Dance will soon be gaining a new dance studio. Located in the East Art Annex Two in Urbana, the rehearsal room is currently under phase one of construction. Soon to be called “The Graduate Dance Center,” the end product will be the result of a collaborative project between dance and architecture students. This past semester, students in the school of dance had the unique opportunity to participate in the architecture seminar that would design the studio. Such an interdisciplinary class allows for a greater integration between those that have the knowledge to design and those that have a vision for what their new space can be.

In a video on the University’s news bureau Web site, Jan Erkert, professor and head of the dance department, explained that our economic times require a sharing of resources and spoke about the collaboration between the two departments.

“There’s a long history between the school of architecture on this campus and the department of dance, and that relationship has created and spun so many different collaborative adventures,” he said.

Architecture professors Roger Hubeli and Julie Larsen conducted the seminar. Students were required to propose designs that would largely make use of recycled materials. In tandem with the idea of a sustainable project, parts of the floors and the walls of the new studio will be made from a basketball floor salvaged from renovation of the campus recreation center formerly known as IMPE. Project leaders are currently seeking more funding, and phase two of the project will begin in the fall.

A March 16, 2008 press release sent out by the College of Dance explained that any available studio and office space is frequently filled with classes, leaving graduate students frustrated over the difficulty of gaining access to adequate space for creative research. The press release stated, “This graduate rehearsal space will attract exceptional students to dance at Illinois and significantly increase their depth of engagement as they strive to be innovators, entrepreneurs, creators, educators and leaders.”