In Focus: Reif Dance Company Gets Intimate For Annual Company Show

The hours of practices, buckets of sweat, moments of triumphs and failures have all led to this special moment on stage. The Reif Dance Company’s annual “Company Show” is one some of the dancers look forward to all year long.

“It’s my favorite show personally just because you have Nutcracker, which is the Christmas thing of the year, and then you have Spring Show which kind of ends the year and it has, like, a theme but Company Show is something a little more real and a little more, like a different side of what people see of us,” says Logan Kuschel, a level six dancer with the company.

The Company Show incorporates a bit of everything, from modern music and dance to jazz.

“What you can see in this show is they sort of interweave the disciplines. We have maybe one or two strictly ballet pieces, but the rest incorporate everything that they’ve learned,” says Deidre Murnane, the director for Reif Dance Company.

The Company Show is extremely personal. It’s set in an intimate space, The Ives Theater, plus every step you see was choreographed by the dancers themselves.

“This year I was fortunate enough to choreograph two pieces in the show – one upon myself which is my senior solo and one upon eight other girls to music that a friend of mine actually made, which is really exciting,” says Alaina Margo, a level six dancer.

“One of my pieces, the music’s called “In My Blood” and also the performances and it’s self-choreographed, so I feel like I can express myself more,” says Sage Swanson, a level three dancer.

The girls are set to perform at the Reif Center this Saturday starting at 7:30 pm and Sunday starting at 2 pm. They say they hope audiences understand how much work goes into their performances.

“I think something that the audience should know is how hard it is. Like, we try to make it seem as easy as we can, you know? We don’t want them to know that we’re dying out there before we come on,” says level six dancer, Kelly Derfler with a laugh.