Q&A: diSiac Dance Company

This week, Street got the chance to talk to the officers of diSiac about their dance company's growth over the last 15 years. President Danielle Holman '14, Vice President Allison Metts '15 and Artistic Director Austin Giangeruso '14 offered an inside look into diSiac's artistic inspirations, presence on campus and all the work leading up to their spring show, "Ablaze."

Allison Metts is also an Associate Editor of Design for The Daily Princetonian.

The Daily Princetonian: Tell us a little about the history of the company.

Austin Giangeruso: We were established in 1998 by a group of people who didn’t have too much background experience. There were already other companies on campus, but they wanted another outlet. They didn’t really segment themselves into any particular style, and we’ve tried to carry that over to today. We were initially called International Heat of Princeton, known as IHOP, and we performed in the Forbes blackbox. We’ve come a long way from there — but we don’t forget our roots.

DP: What are some of the things that have changed about the company in your time here?

AG: Stylistically, what I really like is that we’re doing a lot of fusion with contemporary and hip-hop, whereas we used to just have very separate contemporary and hip-hop pieces. The trend in the dance world right now is a lot of fusion, and I think we’re kind of doing something similar. I think that’s really exciting for hip-hop dancers who want to do contemporary [and vice versa] — it’s an outlet to do a little bit of both. I’ve seen that change a lot since I’ve been here.

Danielle Holman: Also, the company’s the biggest it’s ever been, and with that there’s so much diversity in the styles that we do. Like Austin was saying, we’ve got the fusion style, but we’ve also done Bollywood, we’ve done African, we’ve done styles that I don’t even really know how to categorize. So that diversity has also been really interesting and fun for the last couple of years.

AG: We don’t like to be complacent. That’s something our company was founded on — the tradition of always pushing ourselves, of not being scared to take risks.

DP: What are some things that have stayed the same? Things that are integral to the company?

AG: [For] every performance, [such as] This Side of Princeton and Tiger Night, we always have one section called “whips and chains,” and that’s what the founders created. It’s pretty simplistic movement, but it weirdly works. That’s a tradition that we keep.

Allison Metts: It looks like an army ... and the artistic directors get in trouble [with the alumni] if they try to change it. And there’s the family aspect as well.

DH: It’s so awesome to see the alums come back and still be as excited about diSiac as they were when they were here. They still feel really connected to the company, and I definitely think that there’s a strong family vibe.

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DP: How would you describe the image of diSiac on campus? What image would you guys want to project?

AG: I think people have this idea of what diSiac is, and they may think that we’re elitist, that we think we’re professional dancers. But if you hang out with us, we’re actually just some of the weirdest — like, I’m actually worried for some of our sanities. Some of us may need to be locked up. People are going to think what they want to think, but we like to promote our diversity. We aren’t just a group of people who’ve danced since they were three. Yes, that exists, but there are people who started dancing in diSiac. So I’d like to promote that image more: the fun, loving family, like any other organization on campus.

AM: A few years ago, there was one filler with interviews of all of us. Afterward, someone said, “You actually get to see diSiac as human beings. Weird and funny.” That’s what we’re actually like.

DP: How do you decide on themes?

AG: How it works is that at the beginning of each semester, we have two theme meetings. The first one, we just throw out ideas, words, phrases.

DH: That’s where you really see the weirdness come out.

AM: Like “diSiac presents: Space.”

AG: Yeah, that’s not happening while I’m here. So the second meeting is when people start getting serious. We do votes for certain words and people start suggesting piece ideas, filler ideas. Then we really start narrowing down on “This is what we’ve done in the past,” or “This sounds too dance industry-y,” which can be great, but sometimes you want to avoid that, especially depending on the theater you’re in. We also work according to the location.

DP: You mentioned the impact of location. How does performing at Berlind or Frist affect the choreography and how you approach the show?

DH: I think that choreographers work very differently when they know it’s going to be performed in Berlind. The space is so different — it’s a bigger stage, the lighting is so much more complex, and it somehow makes the overall audience experience seem even more real and more exciting. In that way, I think choreographers are pushed to try really crazy things. In Frist, it’s really intimate, and you’re really close to the audience, and there’s something really great about that relationship as well.

AG: Also, the Frist stage is a lot smaller, so the choreographers are challenged to actually allow so many people to dance on the stage. In Berlind, things seem almost more dramatic and your movement can be more expansive, whereas in Frist is, as Danielle said, it’s intimate, more laidback, more subtle.

DP: Why the theme of “Ablaze”?

AG: In regards to “Ablaze” — I came up with it, and at first I really liked it because when people say “ablaze,” they wouldn’t necessarily think of a dance performance, but it would be intriguing. I also like it because it’s tangible. The immediate connotation is fire, so that element added cohesion to the show automatically. But the worry is how we can make every piece not just about fire. We do have a drug dealer piece and a sexy, passionate partners’ piece. But there are also pieces about being burnt out, about catching stardust, about being ablaze with greed. It was a lot of fun because the choreographers got to push and see where they can take “Ablaze.” It was both cohesive and challenging.

DH: What I like the most about “Ablaze” is that, like Austin said, you think about fire, but you also think, “Okay, how are they going to make it work?” It gets people thinking about the show and maybe even thinking what they would do if they were to work with it. We try to find themes that make us think as much we want the audience to think. Something that’s not just a statement, but an idea.

DP: How would you compare this show to fall semester’s “Rush”?

AG: It goes back to the theme. “Rush” was more abstract, whereas “Ablaze” is more tangible. I think the abstract worked in the Berlind, but this one is a little more fun. On the other hand, we do have our sad, serious contemporary pieces. I don’t really know how to label the differences, but to me there’s just a little more cohesion. I loved “Rush,” but it seemed more disjointed.

AM: It’s weird because we’ve been living in the show for all this time. It’s hard to see it from an outside perspective. But with “Rush,” I think it was more that right off the bat people were thinking, “We can do this, this, this.” But with “Ablaze,” there is the idea of fire and flame that serves as a common thread, and it’s interesting to see how the pieces come about.

DH: I think there’s a lot more attention to detail in this show. Not that there wasn’t before, but given what we’ve talked about before — we’re a lot closer to the audience, so if there’s one arm out of the way, you notice it. So we’re definitely challenging each other to be on top of our stuff and know our choreography, know where we’re supposed to be, in a different way than in Berlind. I also think just dynamics-wise, in the spring we always feel a little closer. In the fall, we take a lot of new people, but by the end we’re all a lot closer.

AG: And style-wise, in this show, it’s a little different. We have a more upbeat, almost jazzy contemporary than in “Rush.” There’s also a really intricate, slow hip-hop that has changed a little from the fall, which is really exciting.

DP: What would you say to those who have never seen a diSiac show?

AG: This might sound cheesy, but when we do pick-ups, we always say, “You think you know, but you have no idea.” I think that applies to people who have never come to a diSiac show — you just never know!

AM: And you definitely want to come find out!