The process and criteria are as follows:

1.  The work must be a minimum of five minutes.
2.  There will be two adjudication periods for the choreography so that faculty can provide feedback on the work in process.  The first will be at the beginning of February, and the second will be at the beginning of March, as noted above.  The choreographer and all performers in the work are required to be at both adjudication periods.   A minimum of half the dance must be completed for the first adjudication, and the work completed for the second.
3.  The work must have a clear idea and intent and that idea must be developed in the choreography.  Please note that this does not necessarily mean the work must have a narrative or emotional content.  It may, or may not.  The important point is that you know what you are trying to do in this work.
4.  We are looking for works that demonstrate originality and the unique voice of the choreographer. Evidence of movement invention and quality of music choice will also be considered.
5.  The work may be for any number of dancers, and may be in any style.
6.  We will only accept those works that we feel are ready for our mainstage performances.  Thus we may have a full 15 minutes of student work or we may have none, depending on the quality of work shown to us in January and February.
7.  If your work is chosen, all dancers must be available and present for ALL of the following:
            a.  A mandatory “open rehearsal” run-through of the entire concert on Saturday, April 12 starting at 2 or 3 pm.  As this is the only opportunity for dancers to see the other works in the show, we are requiring all dancers in the performance stay for the entire run- through.
            b.  Tech rehearsal onstage – date and time to be set during production week with lighting designer Ross Kolman.
            c.  Tech run- through on Thursday, April 17 at 8 pm.
            d.  Dress rehearsal and photo shoot following the dress rehearsal on Friday, April 18 at 7 pm.
            e.  Call time on the days of the performances – 9am call time for school show on Friday, April 18 at 10 a.m.; 6pm call time for Saturday performance at 8 p.m., 1pm call time for Sunday performance at 3 p.m..
            f.  Outreach School Show rehearsal on Monday, March 17, 9pm in the Ark; and two performances on the morning of Thursday, March 20, to take place between 7 am and noon.

Note on Budget
We have an almost non-existent budget for the production of our mainstage performances.  This production of student work is new, and this year there is nothing in the budget for costumes and any extraordinary technical costs (e.g. piano rental, video projections) that your piece might require.  We will help you as much as we can with costumes, but we cannot provide you with any extra substantial funds to mount your work.  We hope this will change in the future. Of course the marketing and lighting design costs are covered for your work.  If you are a member of a student dance group, your group may be able to assist with production costs specific to your dance.

We intend to provide this opportunity in all of our future mainstage performances.