With this year's DanceTech on the horizon, dancers and choreographers are into their final preparations for the event. Among those featured in the performance will be Texas Tech junior Emily Lowke. Although her official major is pre-nursing, she admits that dancing takes up all of her free time.
Lowke has danced competitively for fifteen years, touring with the Celebrity Dance Convention and Competition. Since October, however, she has been busy with DanceTech, a cross-departmental collaboration that sees students contributing on both sides of the footlights.
"DanceTech is run by the University Dance Company which is made up of all the dance professors," says Lowke. "The professors create choreography and they select students to realize their concepts on the stage. It's a showcase of multiple talents."
The pieces in last year's iteration of DanceTech had a continuous thread involving outdoor presentations. This year, however, the pieces are independent of each other. Some of the works are centered around global warming, reunions, or aerial skills—but Lowke is careful to not give away too much.
"I'm in two of the performances myself, and I'm looking forward to seeing the others," says Lowke. "The [aerial silks] are gorgeous and such a beautiful challenge to work with."
A performance like this might have been impossible were it not for the new Theatre and Dance building that opened this past fall.
"It's a new experience, a bigger space," says Lowke. It's a different audience experience depending on where you sit, and the black box provides that opportunity. Something to get used to for sure, but it's a great new opportunity and a new challenge."
After DanceTech, Lowke will appear in Guys and Dolls in a featured role. For Lowke, it's all about the love of the art.
"I've love performing at Tech, and I can't wait to share these experiences with everyone."