Dance group to take audience to 'Higher Level' By Robin Tilley COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Though they're part of a group that formed fewer than two years ago. Fluidity Dance Company members are serious about their progress and their future dance careers. Director Jocelyn Labriola Hrzic said Fluidity is a pre-professional company for college students to prepare for entering the profession al dance world after graduation. "The company is based on stu dents who want to dance profes sionally but are ultimately at Penn State for a degree," Labriola Hrzic said. - There's no dance major at Penn State," she said. - So I helped the students who wanted to achieve that goal." Hindity will perform its spring ~hov.. - Higher Level," at 2 p.m. at the State Theatre, 130 W. Ave. Tickets are $lO. Dancer Renee Anderko said ,tie's excited for the company to perform its first full show in State previously, Fluidity has only joined other groups for bigger dance projects. She said she hopes a lot of Penn State students will come to the show. "I feel like nobody really knows what we're rehearsing for it'll be nice to be able to show people what we've been working toward," Anderko (senior-integrative arts) said. The dance company, made up of six members and an apprentice still in high school, performs mostly contemporary jazz style and mod ern dance - - a very technical style of dance, Labriola Hrzic said. "We do a lot of ballet for training for technique to get them ready to audition in the dance world," she said. If you go What Fluidity Dance Company presents "Higher Level" When: 2 p.m. Sunday Where: State Theatre, 130 W. College Ave. DetaMr Tickets are $lO - It takes up a lot of time, plus the classes we take. It's hard to do, but it's what we want to do it pays back." Liu Praedin senior-integrative arts Labriola Hrzic is also the direc tor of the dance program at the Grier School in nearby Tyrone, so that's where Fluidity meets to rehearse. Dancer Lizz Praedin said most of her friends who don't have cars will finally be able to see what she's been doing every single day, which includes driving a half hour to and from practice three times a week. "It takes up a lot of time, plus the classes we take," Praedin (senior integrative arts) said. "It's hard to do, but it's what we want to do it pays back" In its short existence, the Fluidity Dance Company has gotten the chance to travel and perform with professional companies from around the country. Three weeks ago, the company joined professional companies from New York and Chicago at the Grier Gala Workshop/Performance. "There were a lot of different dance companies from all over the United States, which was awesome because this is central Pennsylvania," Praedin said. Fluidity has also traveled to per form in New York City and Philadelphia. Labriola Hrzic said she thinks it's nice for its members to be able to tour and perform with profession als. Anderko said Fluidity has been lucky to have the chance to perform at such a high level while still in col lege. "A lot of companies in the area don't have the opportunity to per form with such prestigious compa nies," she said. "We had a lot of luck and good fortune to have some of the opportunities and to have done everything we've wanted to accom plish." When Labriola Hrzic started the Dancers perform at a previous Fluidity Dance Company event. The company will present "Higher Level" at 2 p.m Sunday at the State Theatre, 130 W. College Ave. Tickets cost $lO. company last fall, her goal was for her dancers to perform a few shows locally. But as time progressed, so did their goals and their abilities, she said. As the Fluidity dancers have entered the mix with professional companies, Labriola Hrzic said they have begun to fit in more, closing the gap between their skill levels. "Last year, they looked more like college students, and this year they really looked almost the same as the professional companies they're trying to audition for," she said. "It was great to watch how far they've grown in strength." Praedin said she thinks the com pany has gotten better since the beginning of this year, and the dancers have become more confident. She said she's excited to take her skills further after gradua tion. "Some of us want to go out into the dance world and continue our careers, so it's been a blessing to have this out here in State College," she said. To e-mail reporter nntso4B@psu.edu A Dancer performs at a previous Fluidity Dance Company event. Director Jocelyn Labriola Hrzic said Fluidity's purpose is to prepare students to enter the professional dance world after graduation.
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