Though Wilcox Hall’s dining facilities reopened last week, the building’s dance studio remains closed for construction, throwing the practice schedules of many campus dance troupes off track.
These groups all scheduled their practice times in the studio last year before being informed of plans for the building’s renovation.
The ongoing construction has therefore caused some frustration, particularly because the Wilcox studio, located directly above the dining hall, is one of the most utilized dance spaces on campus.
Though it is not one of the three largest rehearsal spaces on campus, the studio was used by all dance groups to rehearse smaller pieces.
“Having Wilcox closed has definitely affected the dance community as a whole,” diSiac president Perry Nagin ’09 said in an e-mail.
She added that the decrease in the number of available rehearsal spaces “puts every company in a difficult position since the space allotted to student dance groups is already so minimal that fighting for even fewer spots adds unnecessary tension.”
Nagin said that the closing of the Wilcox studio has left diSiac with the following options for practice space: Dillon Gym’s group fitness room, multipurpose room and dance studio; the dance studio in Whitman College and the Hagan Dance Studio at 185 Nassau St.
These spaces are shared by about 20 theater and dance companies, Nagin explained, and the free spaces in Dillon are not available until after group fitness classes are done.
The dance studio in Whitman is not available until 4:30 p.m., and diSiac only has one rehearsal slot in Hagan, since the use of that space is allotted by the Program in Theater and Dance, Nagin added.
Nagin said that diSiac did not use the Wilcox studio as often as other groups but that the renovation “does affect us more ... in that the groups that used it more often are now in need of the space typically reserved for larger groups.”
The closing of the Wilcox space, however, has been partially alleviated by the opening of the Whitman dance studio.
“We have found [the Wilcox closing] a bit of an inconvenience, but it hasn’t been horrible,” Naacho co-president Maya Srinivasan ’10 said in an e-mail. “Thankfully, they started scheduling Whitman this year, so we didn’t find it too difficult to find adequate rehearsal space.”
“Two years ago, I would say Wilcox dance studio being unavailable would have been a major inconvenience because it was one of only a few quality dance studios on campus large enough [to] fit our company,” Naacho business manager Ankit Bhatia ’10 said in an e-mail.
“Because [the] Whitman dance studio is available, we now have similar amounts of rehearsal space as we did in the past,” he added.
TapCats artistic director Stephanie Anderson ’10 noted that the troupe’s “main difficulty has been in scheduling rehearsals for large group pieces.”
The TapCats are thus limited to rehearsing in the Dillon multipurpose room for two hours per week because other spaces are either too small or cause too much of an echo.
“We’re anxiously waiting for our six hours of Wilcox space to become available,” Anderson added in an e-mail.
Likewise, though the availability of Whitman mitigates the situation for Naacho, the group is looking forward to the return of the Wilcox studio.
“Wilcox was really nice and spacious ... so hopefully they’ll be finishing up with their construction soon,” Srinivasan said.
“We have traditionally held our group rehearsals in Wilcox and are looking forward to getting that studio back soon,” Bhatia added.
Performing Arts Council president Jennie Sirignano ’10 was not available for comment.
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