Dee Evasic and KC Shonk

Choreographers of “Belly Dance”

Juniors in U of M’s Dance Department

KC Shonk:

Q: What made you decide to study dance?

A: My parents put me in dance classes when I was two and a half years old for the typical

reasons most parents would do that—I had a lot of energy and it was darn cute when I bounced around to music. I loved it and haven’t stopped dancing since. It is truly a part of my identity and I know that no matter where in life I am, I will be dancing in some capacity. It only made sense for me to pursue dance in college because it makes me happy and my parents have always said to do what makes you happy and the money will follow.

Q: What was your inspiration for this dance?

A: My best friend, Danielle Evasic and myself collaboratively choreographed this dance, Belly

Dance. When we work together we can’t help but to be goof balls and to have fun. The inspiration for this dance was the quirky little ways that her and I communicate with each other without necessarily speaking. We are almost always able to tell what the other person means by strange looks we give each other or weird noises we make. We used those aspects to create a duet in our sophomore year dance composition class in a self accompaniment study in which we had to create a dance made up to a sound score we made with our bodies while we moved. We then decided, because we had so much fun with the dance and because it was received well by our audience, to expand the duet into a group piece for the Freshman Touring Company.

Q: How does your past choreography compare with the choreography you set on FTC?

A: Usually my choreography is more grand, athletic, and often based on a more serious topic but

because we knew, having been in FTC two years ago that the space that FTC typically performs in is limited, we tried to make the choreography somewhat stationary yet still expansive so that the dancers could do the dance in any space. I also didn’t want the piece for FTC to be too serious because the group performs for all different age groups and I think humor is something all ages can quickly understand and enjoy being involved in so we wanted keep the piece light-hearted and fun.

Q: What is it like working with the freshman?

A: It was a blast working with the freshman. I was really excited to work with them because,

being a junior in the dance department, we don’t have that many classes together and I really wanted to get to know them. They are so talented and goofy and were really open to trying new and quirky things with us. I always looked forward to going to rehearsal because it was like getting to hang out with a group of my friends who are excited to learn from me.

Q: What was the rehearsal process like?

A: Because Danielle and I had already made a piece with the same concept we had an

abnormally easy time creating choreography. We would meet during the weeks leading up to our rehearsals with FTC and choreograph a chunk of movement at a time. We would then come into rehearsal, teach the movement to the freshman and watch how they did it. We’d then put them in different formations, change facings, and add transitions, levels and sounds to the movement to create the piece.

Q: How does music influence your movement?

A: Because our piece was self-accompaniment the movement really influenced the music or

sound for the work.

Q: Do you have any pets?

A: Yes, I have a German Short-Haired Pointer named Grizz and he is the sweetest doggy. I love

him. I have two cats as well that I am allergic to, so we don’t get along that well—they’re cute but they make me itchy.

Q: Where have you travelled for dance and where would you like to go?

A: I have traveled to major United States hubs for dance such as New York, Los Angeles and

Chicago, but I would love to travel overseas for dance too. I would really like to go to the Netherlands to learn from the incredible Netherlands Dance Theatre. I would be really interested in traveling pretty much anywhere to dance and hope to do so after graduation.

Q: Favorite food?

A: My favorite food is Spongebob Squarepants shaped Kraft mac-n-cheese.

Dee Evasic:

Q: What was the rehearsal process like?

A: It was such a great experience making a work with my best friend, and just being ourselves:

weird and quirky.

Q: How did music influence your movement/choreography for FTC?

A: Music very much influenced KC and I’s movement because our dance was a self-

accompanied piece. We had fun creating different patterns and beats with our bellies.

Q: What was your favorite style of dance growing up? Has it changed? If so, what is it now?

A: Growing up my favorite style of dance was competition jazzy jazz. Now it is contemporary

and modern.

Q: Do you have any pets?

A: I have two dogs. One named Bigg- a full sized collie, and the other Blu- a merle sheltie.