Newsletters 2007-2008

Written by Mary Taber, Director 2007-2008

Newsletter #1

It is my pleasure to bring you the first installment of the DOBC Alumni Newsletter! I hope it finds everyone happy and healthy. This past year was a particularly exciting one for DOBC as we saw many changes take place - very successfully I might add! Unfortunately (but also, fortunately as we were very pleased to see such enthusiastic interest) during the 2005-2006 season, the club became much too large for the Robsham Theatre to handle. In order to remedy the situation, we regrettably turned to an audition-based performance. We have managed to uphold our mission statement, however, by creating a year long studio class schedule, composed of ballet, lyrical, modern, jazz, tap, and hip hop. During the fall, the classes focused mainly on technique, allowing participants to enhance their basic dance skills, and in the spring, these skills were applied to choreographed lyrical, jazz, tap, and hip hop pieces which appeared at events such as Festival of Friendship, Dance Marathon, and A Room of Our Own. All the girls (and boy!) who participated worked really hard all semester and put together some really impressive pieces. Several pieces from our show also appeared in events like Just Art, a social justice inspired display of BC's artistic talents, and the 9th Annual Arts Festival.

Speaking of our February show, this year's performance, entitled Suspension, went off spectacularly. We were fortunate this year to be given an additional night to showcase our talents. While we were a little worried about ticket sales for our Thursday night show (not only because it was new for us, but also because we were competing with the Hundred Days Dance!) but our audience that night was incredibly supportive and enthusiastic, cheering us on the whole way. Both Friday performances saw houses very full of encouraging friends and family. All the pieces showed the many hours of hard work put in by all the dancers as well as the incredibly creative minds of our choreographers.

Unfortunately this year also brought the graduation of a number of our talented performers, including five of our amazing board members. Director Gen Dean has currently moved back to Boston to start an exciting post-college life. Our secretary, Colleen Kehoe, is putting her nursing education to good use at Mass General Hospital and living in Davis Square in Somerville. Although she misses BC and DOBC, she's realizing that the "real" world has its perks too! Erin Morely, our treasurer is currently working as a Legal Assistant at Skadden Arps, a corporate law firm in downtown Boston. She will be moving into a Beacon Hill apartment in September and still plans to attend law school in the next few years. Angela Thompson, Events and Publicity Director since her sophomore year is enjoying life in Stamford, CT and working for General Electric in their 2-year rotational Financial Management Program in a Financial Planning and Analysis Position. While she doesn't have plans for grad school right now, she hopes to make her way back into the academic circuit to pursue advanced degrees in philosophy. Finally, Becca Shaw, our Technology Director has recently moved to Newton Highlands and working in downtown Boston for the largest consulting firm in the world, Accenture. It'll be hard for us to lose these girls as their talents played an enormous role in smoothing the transition that DOBC undertook.

As we gear up for another fun-filled and exciting year of dance, this year's board is already hard at work to make this year's performance even better than ever. Feel free to check out the "Officers" page to meet the wonderful girls leading DOBC this year and ff you are a proud alumni of the Dance Organization and would like your information to appear in the next installment of our Alumni Newsletter, please email me, Mary Taber, at taberm@bc.edu.

We hope to see you at our show in February!

Newsletter #2

Hi again DOBC alumni! And Happy New Year!

We hope you all enjoyed a happy and healthy holiday season. For us, the holidays just mean that our annual performance is right around the corner, and this year, just as always, we are all very excited for another chance to perform for our friends and family. This year is particularly special for us because it represents an entire decade of performances! So,

Happy 10th Anniversary, DOBC!

It’s amazing to think about what a transformation the club has gone through over the past 10 years (13 including the first few foundation years). From a small organization offering studio classes to the BC campus, we have evolved into an organization serving hundreds of talented Boston College students. Whether it is for those who have always loved dancing but are just now starting to learn, or those who have been dancing since the day they stood on two feet, DOBC is extremely proud to be able to give so many people the chance to dance!

This year’s show promises to offer an eclectic mix of a multitude of dance styles. From the dark and twisty lyrical pieces to the elegant ballet to the super fun tap dances to the sexy jazz to the cool and funky hip hop pieces that I only wish I could actually do, “Release” is shaping up to be an excellent showcase of all of our talents. We really can’t wait to show it to you in February!

As for studio classes, I have gotten nothing but first-rate responses to them. The dancers are having a great time brushing up on their technique and performance skills and the teachers have all told me what a good time they have had teaching such a great group of dancers. We’re in the process of securing performance opportunities for second semester and we can’t wait to get the classes started again!

All in all, the 2007 – 2008 DOBC season is turning out to be a great one! We hope to see all of you at our show in February!

Love and dancing!

last updated: 8/18/09