The "Resilient Soul" show on Sept. 22 will feature a dance choreographed and performed by Elon University junior Julie Crothers.
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By Natalie Allison ’13
A solo dance that junior Julie Crothers choreographed during a recent internship is the same one she’ll perform this weekend at an arts concert in New York City.
Crothers, a native of Nashville, Tenn., interned at the Bates Dance Festival in Maine over the summer and via a lottery system, was selected to perform in the Young Choreographers/New Works showcase. She choreographed a solo about her prosthesis, having been born with an underdeveloped arm, and performed at the showcase in August.
“It turned out to be a really big hit,” Crothers said. “It was a personal journey for me.”
After showing the video of her dance to her father, who, through a small chain of mutual contacts passed the video along to a dancer producing the upcoming concert in New York City, Crothers was invited to perform her dance in the city.
The “Resilient Soul” concert on Saturday, Sept. 22, will feature dance, photography and painting that highlight the transformative power of art on the human experience. The concert begins at 7 p.m. at the West Side Dance Project/Joria Mainstage Theater on West 36th Street.
Ticket information can be found here.
“Through art, they’re highlighting different stories of resiliency and people overcoming different situations in their life,” Crothers said of the performers taking part in the concert.
Lauren Kearns, an associate professor of dance at Elon University, said Crothers has contributed to the dance program by performing in both faculty and student dance pieces and choreographing for the university’s student-run dance organization, DanceWorks.
“I believe her experience at Bates, in combination with her Elon dance training, has allowed her to create a powerful and moving solo,” Kearns said. “I feel confident that Julie’s upcoming performance in New York City will be the first of many professional performances in her career.”
Though Crothers, a dance and arts administration major, doesn’t know what kind of job she’ll have after her May 2014 graduation, she’s certain her situation will serve as a platform to help others.
“It’s so vague now, but I would love to do some kind of nonprofit work,” she said. “I just love sharing my story as a whole and I feel like my personality as well as my situation has a lot of power to affect people in similar and other situations. So I feel like it’s kind of my duty.”