The dance and music programs at the University of Idaho have been bringing their talents together for the past 26 years to hold the acclaimed production Dancers Drum- mers Dreamers (DDD).
The concert features an incorporation of dance theater and body percussion in a student-choreographed performance with live accompaniment of originally com- posed music.
In 1991, the UI music and dance pro- grams decided to collaborate in concert with the goal of letting students in both programs create original work to perform and get pro- fessional experience on a large scale project.
Since then, DDD has grown in both student participation and audience popularity. Belle Baggs, a professor in the dance program and co-program coordinator of DDD said that this performance is distinctive because of its combined effort.
“DDD is unique because of its collabora- tive experience, we work so separately at the beginning and then bring it all together in the end,” Baggs said.
Baggs said the founders of DDD, Diane Walker of the dance program and Dan Bukvich of the music program decided the two had a lot in common and would make a good team.
“(Walker and Bukvich) wanted to create this unique collaboration because there’s a lot of things that we share, there’s so much interconnection between the two fields.”
Baggs said that students take on all aspects of the production from running the rehearsals to costume design as well as choreographing the dances and composing the music.
The performers in the production are all UI dance and music students of all years and levels of experience. Baggs said that this year there is also a dual credit high school student participating.
“I think that’s a cool thing about the show, that it honors diversity, there are be- ginner students and advanced students with all different styles of dance and composi- tions,” Baggs said.
Baggs said this concert provides a chance to prepare for students to work on shows that are fast-paced and time consuming and that her job is to help in that process.
“Part of my job is to teach them what it’s like to be a part of a pre-professional process,” Baggs said. “We give feedback and support them but we do so in the sense that this is their show and they really have to rise to the occasion.”
Baggs said she works closely with her co- program coordinator, Melanie Meenan, to help the students through the process.
Choreographers and dancers are selected based on auditions and have to go through a strict process because, “It’s an honor to have your work on stage with live music and cos- tumes and lighting and all that,” Baggs said.
The two programs work separately and then come together during production week to combine their work and figure out how to seamlessly put the show together.
While this collaborative process is special, it can also make the project more chaotic. Baggs said the hardest part of the production, despite the similarities between music and dance, is that communicating between the two can be difficult.
“We might be trying to get out the same thing but how we get there can be a little convoluted,” Baggs said.
The chaos of putting together the pro- duction, however, adds to the excitement of the final product. Without the chaos, DDD would not be the same Baggs said.
“It’s a creative collaborative process, it’s very chaotic, it has to be,” Baggs said.
The performance is renowned for its cre- ativity. Baggs said she pushes her students to make their work imaginative and high energy. The Dance show is family friendly.
The show features all kinds of dance styles with theater elements and live music, these elements attract the large audience its know for. Its an all in one show, Baggs said.
The performances will be at 7:30 p.m. March 23 to 25 at the Hartung Theatre. Tickets can be purchased for $9 for students and seniors and $12 for the general public at the UI Ticket Office in the Kibbie Dome.