I was visiting the School to speak with former Arts Department Head Ms. Kalya Yannatos, who suggested that I try out one of the classes in the Colony Hall dance studio while on campus. As soon as I walked into the studio, I remember being mesmerized by the expansive space that was enlivened through the dancers’ energy and the golden sunlight streaming through the glass windows.
I was nervous about taking this class with a room full of high schoolers who I’d never met before and were not expecting me to be there. Additionally, as I had only been trained in Indian classical dance forms, I didn’t know what to expect from the class.
However, as soon as the teacher, Ms. Angharad Davies, introduced herself to me with her warm smile, and I began following along, I started to feel comfortable in the studio. Little did I know that the Colony Hall dance studio would become one of my favorite places on campus.
What I love most about the dance studio is that the nature and architecture surrounding Colony Hall are integrated into the experience of being inside the space. Since one of the studio walls is glass, the PMAC, Archbold, Lanphier Center, trees, and lawn become the backdrop of the room. As I look at myself in the mirror while dancing in class or while choreographing, I see my movement against the canvas of landscape behind me.
One of my favorite times in the studio is when I’m at the barre on a winter evening during ballet class. Through pliés and tendus, my gaze shifts toward the vibrant washes of purples, pinks, and oranges that fill the sky marking the sun’s retirement for the day.
I have interacted with the studio in many different ways evolving as a dancer over the past three years. For example, while learning remotely during the winter term of my freshman year, I would follow along with classes through the virtual student from my home’s basement. The studio looked even more vast and impressive through the camera’s wide lens. Dancing alone in my basement, I wanted nothing more than to rejoin my peers in that space and to feel their energy as we danced together.
The pandemic and the isolation it induced on the dance community have made me appreciate the Colony Hall dance studio even more for its ability to bring dancers together.
There are days in this space when I am frustrated with the dancer that I see in the mirror trying to embody the movement that I see in my mind. Yet there are many more times in the studio that I spend enjoying the experience of taking technique classes, working with student choreographers, and experimenting with classical Indian dance movements that make it a space that will forever remain close to my heart.
