MITCHELL LIERMAN
liermanm2@lopers.unk.edu

The Dance Program at UNK gave a sneak peak of the guest artist feature piece for their upcoming spring dance concert ‘Plucked’ on Saturday.

The piece, choreographed by Kathy Diehl, Assistant Professor of Dance at Idaho State University, featured eight dance students. Rehearsals ran from Tuesday to Saturday, and lasted at least four hours each night.

Diehl was invited to UNK to choregraph this piece and teach seminars.

“I got here Tuesday evening and jumped right into rehearsal,” Diehl said. “We started with one piece and kind of shifted gears to get into a second piece.”

The changes arose from Diehl’s philosophy of working with students. “I like to invite the students into a collaborative process,” Diehl said. “I like them to contribute to the material with their own movement ideas.”

Mary Dworak, an Elementary Education major with a minor in Dance, performed in the piece and worked with Diehl throughout the week. “It was really awesome being in her piece — how we were able to collaborate even though she’s super talented and has danced all over the world,” Dworak said. 

The piece will be featured in ‘Plucked’ under the direction of Noelle Bohaty, Dance Program Director and Assistant Professor of Dance, Technique & Choreography at UNK. ‘Plucked’ will run in the Miriam Drake Theater in the Fine Arts Building  from Jan. 30 to Feb. 1 next year.