On Saturday, Nov. 2, the St. Olaf Dance Department put on their annual showcase Fresh Space, featuring a collection of dance performances ranging from polka and ballet to tap dancing and baile folklórico Mexicano. Fresh Space was open not only to St. Olaf students, but to the greater Northfield community. The program featured pieces by senior dance majors, the Ole Tap Collective, Division Street Dance in downtown Northfield, Carleton College, and the Northfield Arts Guild. It was a phenomenal way to broadcast a wide variety of genres and talents in the community.
What makes Fresh Space truly unique, however, are its requirements: none. If you want to dance, you are automatically in the show, whether you have years of experience or none at all. Thus, there was a wide variety of dance and taste in Saturday’s performance, which kept the show lively and entertaining. The Ole Tap Collective put on a piece to ABBA’s “Voulez-Vous,” choreographed by Emma Linder ’27; Veselica International Dance Company featured traditional dances from the Gaziantep Region of Turkey, and the ballet club performed “Ballerina Doll Variation” from the classic “Nutcracker.”
Fresh Space additionally acted as a place for junior and senior majors to test out their own projects, though this included sophomores as well. Ariel Edwards ’26 brought originality and talent to the stage with her piece “BLOO 2025 MUSICAL + VISUAL *wow* FACTOR,” in which she tap danced to and played along with Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon” on a flugelhorn. Lee Christianson ’27 performed a short but striking and thought-provoking modern dance piece titled “Re: Chickadee,” and Sara Griffith ’27 likewise choreographed a modern dance piece, “Side Quest,” that was quieter but equally expressive.
While I enjoyed the whole show, two dances in particular stuck out to me. The first was Ariel Edwards’ piece, “God on my Heart.” I loved how she chose to incorporate hip-hop into her choreography, and how it contrasted with gentler songs featured in the performance, as she chose nobigdyl.’s “pain on my mind.” I also loved her use of lighting, and how she started her dance by staring at the crowd, as it forced the audience to pay attention to her and her dance.
The second performance I enjoyed was “Jarabe Nayarita” by the Northfield Arts Guild, which featured baile folklórico Mexicano, a mix of local Mexican dances and ballet. The dancers, Atia Cole and Melanie Rodriguez, wore gorgeous, huge orange and blue floral skirts, and to watch them twirl and dance with glass cups balanced on their heads was extraordinary.
If you have a chance to see the dance department’s events later this year, I highly encourage you to attend, as talent and variety are abundant within this group.
