Reason #28397 Why You Should Go to College

April 22, 2013



The annual Destiny Rising gala benefits the awesome New York City Dance Alliance Foundation, which is dedicated to helping young dancers fund their college educations. So how fitting is it that at last night’s Destiny Rising performance, it was a college dance company that stole the show?

That would be the Conservatory Dance Company of Point Park University, which performed Garfield Lemonius’ Memoirs. I have this terrible stereotype in my head of college dance groups doing sedate, solemn, stuffy pieces, but Memoirs allowed Point Park’s beautiful dancers to show us the full range of their talents. Clad in flowing red dresses, the company’s guys and girls tore through the intricate, emotionally wrenching choreography.

The best part? The cast included two of our favorite NYCDA alums, Kali Grinder and Victoria McWilliams, both recipients of NYCDA Foundation scholarships. And they were in top form. It looks like college has allowed them to both grow as dancers and mature as artists—and that’s what the college dance experience is all about, Charlie Brown.

That’s not to mention all of the evening’s other fun performances. For the bunheads, there was the ABT Studio Company’s exceptional Catherine Hurlin and Oliver Oguma in the kicky Flames of Paris pas de deux, followed by New York City Ballet’s Brittany Pollack and Jonathan Stafford (real-life couple alert!) in the White Swan pas. For the contemporary buffs, there was Cedar Lake standout Jon Bond’s lush The Devil Was Me, featuring several other CL dancers (including our baby-who’s-all-grown-up-now, Ida Saki). And for everyone, there was Grace Buckley’s gleeful Sing, Sing, Sing, starring the likes of Amber Jackson, Corey Snide, Ryan Steele and Jakob Karr. They dared us to stop smiling. I couldn’t.

Want to find out more about the NYCDA Foundation and how you can apply for scholarships? Take a look at the organization’s website.