Dance Organizations Struggle to Find Practice and Performance Spaces

Loyola student dance organizations are struggling to find adequate spaces for rehearsals and performances, which has become a greater concern during the fall 2023 semester due to the inability to reserve Mullady Theater. 

In years past, dance organizations would use Mullady for rehearsals and performances, according to Jeaneatte Ringer, a fourth-year Loyola student and the rehearsal director for Loyola’s multi-genre organization The Dance Company. 

Centennial Forum, the first floor of Mertz Hall which includes Mullady, is currently closed for maintenance, Loyola spokesperson Matt McDermott wrote in an email to The Phoenix on behalf of Campus Reservations. 

Ringer said there was no communication from Loyola about the theater being unavailable to reserve as a space during the fall semester. 

“Over the summer, they closed off Mullady for construction without telling any of the dance organizations, so we lost our space to perform and our space to practice,” Ringer said. “They were just acting like we had never used it.”

Third-year Neva Lang, the president of The Dance Company, said the organization found out they couldn’t use Mullady when it was unavailable to reserve on 25Live Pro, Loyola’s campus reservations website.

“Campus Reservations has worked with multiple student groups to find and accommodate practice and performance spaces that meet their needs including Gentile Arena concourse, Athletic Hall of Fame, and spaces within Damen Student Center,” McDermott wrote. 

Lang, a dance and psychology double major, said when she contacted Campus Reservations, she was offered these three locations, but they were inadequate because of issues with spacing or the type of flooring. She said the space in Damen was open with little privacy and the best out of the options was Gentile Arena concourse, which has concrete floors. 

“Everything was just on solid concrete, so when we usually like to do a lot of like contemporary, jazz and lyrical work we were all of a sudden limited to dancing in gym shoes,” Lang said. 

Adriana Rodriguez and Ellie Jayne, the co-captains of the hip hop dance organization called Scorch, said they were also unaware Mullady would be indefinitely unavailable to reserve and found out when they couldn’t find it on 25Live Pro. They said Mullady was primarily used as a rehearsal space during previous semesters when it was available to reserve.

Rodriguez said she asked Campus Reservations about other available spaces for Scorch and was offered hallways, including ones on Damen’s second floor and in Gentile Arena. 

“When we asked if we could use Mundelein theaters or any of their studios, they said no because that’s only reserved for performing arts students,” Rodriguez said. 

Jayne said she feels the university has the resources to allow them to use the theaters in Mundelein for a short period of time for their performances, which are once every semester.

The Department of Fine and Performing Arts did not respond to The Phoenix’s requests for comment.

For Scorch’s fall semester performance Dec. 9, Rodriguez said they tentatively have the Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, BVM Multi-Purpose Room in Damen reserved for their performance.

Jayne said because its carpet floors are not ideal to dance on, they are unsure where they will be performing and have looked at locations off campus. 

Jayne also said outsourcing to perform off campus is expensive since they would have to fund it themselves and shift fundraising money that previously went to costumes or a videographer monitoring the performance. 

“Now that we don’t have that readily available space, we really have to delegate our money because we haven’t gotten any from the school in the past,” Jayne said. 

Lang said a temporary performance space on campus wouldn’t encapsulate the same feeling as Mullady because it would entail a makeshift stage, no dimmable stage lighting and music from an AUX cord. 

“After removing Mullady Theater, we are really scarce on what resources we have,” Lang said. “We don’t have the facility to really put on what was traditionally put on by [The Dance Company] and a bunch of other dance orgs.”

Lang said even when Mullady was available, organizations had to compete for the space. 

“There was not enough space from the get-go to facilitate and accommodate all the groups that were utilizing the space,” Lang said. 

Jayne said during previous semesters when Scorch couldn’t reserve Mullady they would find random places to practice, including the Crown Center lobby and the first floor of Mertz.

Juan Bahena, the vice president of Salsa Club, said the organization only used Mullady once last year when the Rambler Room, also in Centennial Forum, was unavailable. He said when they used the theater, 60 to 70 people showed up to practice but the space was too confined. 

“Even during practice, we had a couple of people who would just walk out on us because they didn’t feel comfortable or also they didn’t feel like they had space to dance,” Bahena said. 

Bahena said the organization typically reserves the Rambler Room but it has been closed off since last year. To prepare for their half-time performance at the Loyola men’s basketball game Nov. 18, he said Salsa Club was practicing at whatever vacant spaces they could find, including the . 

“One of the spaces was in the 7th floor [Mundelein] greenhouse room,” Bahena said. “If there aren’t students and it’s empty, we’ll just take advantage of it.”

Bahena, a second-year, said he hasn’t seen Loyola take any action regarding the issue and would like to see the university prioritize a space dedicated to dance organizations. 

Jayne, who is also on the Korean Student Organization’s dance team Ko/Op, said finding rehearsal and performance spaces is an issue dance organizations are facing collectively. 

“It feels like a team effort, like we’re all struggling together trying to figure out what to do about this problem,” Jayne said. “It’s a domino effect of poor communication skills and organization on the university’s part.”

Ringer, said it’s unfortunate the university isn’t showing care for students’ leisure because these dance organizations are a great space for people to enjoy and be creative.

“This is just something we do because we love it, and I know that’s how other dance orgs feel too,” Ringer said. “They are not taking the time to understand dance and what dancers might need for us to be safe or to be able to show what we work on.” 

This article was written by Fathima Shirazi

Featured image courtesy of Andi Revesz / The Phoenix