School of Dance Alumni return to FSU with MANCC Artists

Photo: Shamar Watt (BFA ‘15) and fellow collaborators rehearse MANCC Artist Cynthia Oliver’s Virago-Man Dem. Credit: MANCC photo by Chris Cameron

Three School of Dance alumni returned to FSU in 2015-16 with Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography (MANCC) visiting artists: Aline Wachsmuth (BFA ‘08) with Alex Ketley, Maggie Cloud (BFA ‘10) with John Jasperse and Shamar Watt (BFA ‘15) with Cynthia Oliver. MANCC hosts artists for 1-3 weeks, offering time, space and research opportunities to further their work. When FSU alums return with prominent artists, it provides students with a glimpse of the possibilities of a life in dance after graduation. Cloud and Watt each took time from their rehearsal schedules to host a Q&A with students about the realities of a professional dance life, which proved illuminating to students. Freshman Mary Catherine Womack, who attended Watt’s talk, says

“Listening to Shamar speak gave me confidence. At FSU I have learned so much and gained many new perspectives. Hearing from a graduate who went to New York and booked multiple jobs is inspiring and reassuring. It makes the “dance-world” seem not so scary.”