On Oct. 3 and 4, eight members of the Class of 2029 performed in “The First Year Project,” an annual cabaret-style showcase hosted by the theater department that gives first years the chance to showcase their performance chops. This year, the 45-minute show featured dancing, singing and acting.
Each year, the first year students have creative control over the theme of "The First Year Project.” This year’s theme was “transition.” Performer Walker Rivard ’29 said the theme resonated with the cast members because they have been “dealing with a lot of transition” undergoing their first term at the College.
The acts included performances of scenes from plays “Our Town,” “Macbeth” and “John Proctor is the Villain” as well as numbers from musicals including “Come From Away,” “The Addams Family” and “Ragtime.” Each act related to the theme in some way.
Rivard said he appreciated the “small” size of the team, as it “led to a lot of really interesting collaboration.”
For example, Nathaniel Lopez ’29 worked with performers to create a dance number to “Green Light” by Lorde.
Lopez said he wanted his choreography to reflect the combination of the performers’ “nerves and excitement” characterizing this transitional point in their lives.
Director of “The First Year Project” Sarah Wansley, who is currently the BOLD Artistic Director at Northern Stage in White River Junction and has previously taught at Dartmouth, said she witnessed a “really powerful” display of “peer leadership.”
Wansley also praised the way in which students collaborated to make acts like the dance scene happen, even when it involved venturing into less familiar territory.
“Not all of them identify as dancers, but they were so brave to just jump in and say, ‘I will learn this dance,’” Wansley said.
Between acts, the performers discussed things that they were “letting go of,” “holding onto” and “gaining” during their transition into college life. The show’s musical director Kevin David Thomas, who is also the co-director of education at Northern Stage, said that it was important to emphasize different perspectives during this transitional period.
“The way [people] feel about [transition] can be vastly different, whether it’s transition away from your family or transition away from your friends or transition away from where you live,” Thomas said.
The project itself was also highly inclusive. With no auditions or cuts, any ’29 with a passion for theater performance could join. Rocco Panzica ’29 said the process provided a “taste of theater at Dartmouth” for the first years.
“Just like whatever you wanted to do, you had the opportunity to perform something on stage,” Panzica said.
Lopez said the process enhanced his “collaboration skills” because he had to work “under an extreme time crunch.” Indeed, following its conception the students put the project together over the course of 10 days; the students had to decide on the theme and acts and choreograph it all in under two weeks.
Thomas said they made the most out of those 10 days.
“Because everyone is so smart and so efficient and so brilliant, we can still make use of that limited amount of time and just jump right in and see where we get,” Thomas said.
Performer Katie McCabe ’29 said the cast members also befriended other first years who shared their passion for performance.
“Being able to bond over a shared interest is so powerful — and I think it’s where you can truly find some of your best friends,” said McCabe.
