Hannah Jones/Winonan

Last week, the Winona State University department of theatre and dance put on its annual senior dance show.

This year’s installment, “Gillswan Song,” directed by Erin Gilliland and Sydney Swanson, was a crowd-pleaser all the way through.

According to Gilliland and Swanson, the name came about when the PAC’s custodian Bill Koutsky combined their last names as a suggested title.

“It’s been quite a process,” said Gilliland, looking back on the show’s stages of production.

Both she and Swanson not only directed, but also each choreographed one number and performed in several others.

The show had something for everyone. From classical ballet to hip-hop, from traditional Nigerian to interpretive, the show hosted a vast scope of genres.

Each dance was unique, and each audience member found something to like.
Jenna Buckle, a freshman and dance enthusiast coming to the show to see her friends perform, was impressed by the dancers’ skill.

“I didn’t think it would be that good!” she said. “It was really well choreographed.”

Meanwhile, sitting a few rows down, freshman Ross “The Boss” McNall confessed that although he does not typically enjoy dance, he was enjoying “Gillswan Song.”

He was actually not expecting to have fun when he came.

“I got more and more entertained as the show went on,” he said.

He especially liked the high-energy contemporary number, “Do You Wanna Play a Game?” because it had a hip-hop feel that he found more relatable than some of the classical or interpretive numbers.

“It was the dopest dance,” he said.

Gilliland and Swanson looked happy to be receiving these good reviews from all sides after the show.

Although “Gillswan” was a huge investment of time and patience down to the smallest managerial details, both co-directors found they enjoyed themselves as much as the audience did.

“It wouldn’t have been possible without all the dancers who auditioned, and the crew, too,” Swanson said.

Before the show, she and Gilliland had been sitting at the ticket-vending table outside the door, and afterward, she still had the red lipstick on from performing in the final number, a playful medley of songs from “Grease.”

The dancers were all milling about, wearing costumes as different and vibrant as the numbers themselves.

As they accepted hugs and congratulations from friends and family, some were still dressed in hip-hop parachute pants and midriffs, others were dripping with sequins from dancing to Aretha Franklin’s “Freedom,” and others still were wearing shredded beggar costumes.

Both Gilliland and Swanson have been dancing since they were 3 or 4 years old.
While they have that in common, the directors differed in their plans for the future.

Swanson, who intends to be involved with Dancescape next year, has tentative plans to join a dance company after graduation.

“We’ll see how that goes,” she said.

Gilliland, on the other hand, is studying biology.

Her involvement in the dance program is purely for her own happiness and balance as she goes through her studies.

“It’s just something that’s part of me,” she said.

Gretchen Haga, the faculty advisor for the event, knows that it’s a wide array of students that come into dance studies.

“It’s great to see these students continue to develop expressive voices in the future,” she said, “no matter what career path unfolds for them.”

Haga described the department as a “community” of all majors and educational stages, coming together to share in a common passion.

Watching the performers interact onstage, it was easy to understand why.

Dancers leaped in unison, lifted one another, literally supported one another, and wore genuine smiles of excitement throughout most of the performance.

Many of the group performances, such as “Our Song” and “Veneration,” celebrated togetherness and friendship in a seamless flow of synchronized movements.

The “Grease” number, “We Go Together,” had the members of the crew moving and shaking onstage with members of the cast.

They did look like they belonged together, several of them performing their last senior show at Winona State and preparing for their own future plans.

When at last the entire cast rushed onstage for curtain call, the audience thundered its approval. “Gillswan Song” had sent the department seniors off on a high note.

As the last dancer in a spangled sequin dress vanished down the hallway to help clean up and strike the stage after the performance, Gilliland and Swanson lingered, still smiling, with circles of pleased audience-goers wishing them well.

However their futures unfold, no matter where or how, it’s likely that Gilliland and Swanson will still be dancing.

Contact Hannah at [email protected]