March 12, 2024
The Oakland University Repertory Dance Company will present Just on March 22-23 in the atrium of the Engineering Center on the campus of Oakland University.
“Just is named after the first full work that I choreographed in the Fall Semester,” said Thayer Jonutz, associate professor of dance and director of the Repertory Dance Company. “The original Just was inspired by devastating loss and the community that finds its way there to pick you up, literally off the floor, in support. Just became the overarching theme for this year’s show and has been the springboard for four additional works, all of which are titled with the work Just at the beginning. For example, a second full ensemble work is titled and themed Just Wave.”
This year’s show will mark the fifth time the Repertory Dance Company has performed inside the OU Engineering Building.
“The Engineering Building is so cool to perform in with its industrial architecture and aesthetic,” Jonutz said. “It offers a unique viewing experience to the audience in that you can watch from the ground level, as well as the stairs and balcony level. Another element that makes the space different from a traditional theatre space is spontaneity that it offers. Every year we have Engineering students and faculty that end up stopping on their way out of the building to watch out creation in action.”
The OU Repertory Dance Company will be joined by students from Oxford High School’s Dance Conservatory during the Friday, March 22 performance.
“We have a longstanding partnership with Oxford High School’s Dance Conservatory,” Jonutz said. “Every year, we, the Repertory Dance Company, perform at their winter showcase and we teach a master class for their students.
“For a handful of years before COVID, our Dance Department would invite the Oxford Conservatory to perform a piece during one of our shows,” Jonutz added. “With this being the first year of returning this invitation, I wanted to do something bold. Some of the dancers will take class in the morning and then for the rest of the day I will ambitiously create a brand-new work combining my Repertory Dance Company Dancers and the Oxford High School dancers to be performed that night.”
Admission to Just is free, but “pay as you wish” donations will be accepted with proceeds being put toward the Repertory Dance Company’s summer tour in Costa Rica.
“I have been blessed with numerous foreign dance tours throughout my career that have all been life altering,” Jonutz said. “I am one of the recipients of a URC Faculty Fellowship that will fund my vision of performing my work and teaching a variety of master classes at the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica this summer. As I have progressively detailed this project out, I was inspired to expand the vision to include my students. All of Just will be performed in Costa Rica!”
For more information about this and other upcoming performances, visit www.oakland.edu/smtd/performances-and-events.