Winona State University’s Theatre and Dance Department held Dancescape 2018 auditions this past Monday and Tuesday, Aug. 28 and 29. Dancescape is Winona State’s annual dance performance with choreography by faculty, students, and guest artists and will be performed February 15-17, 2018.

This will be the department’s 28th annual showcase of dancers, and every year it is one of the major productions of the theatre and dance department. No act has ever been replicated, so every year they perform brand new dances.

Piecing the show together starts in August with open auditions being held. Dances are then worked, choreographed and methodically broken up to display the feeling a choreographer desires to elicit in the crowd. When second semester rolls around, the dancers begin tech rehearsals. During this time, performers are in the theater almost every night for a week before the show begins. Every year, the department encourages people of all dance levels in the community to come and audition.

Senior Ella Dierberger auditioned with very little to no dance experience when she first arrived in Winona her freshman year. She did not let her lack of experience discourage her from trying something new and she encourages others to do the same.

“Being consistently involved in Dancescape and dance society over the years has helped me shape my dancing abilities and become more confident on stage,” Dierberger said. “Everyone is very welcoming and you are surrounded by people of all skill levels, so I would not let a lack of dance knowledge discourage you from coming.”