In Spring 2023, rumors began bubbling up in the Department of Dance. It was exciting news just to hear that the Martha Graham Dance Company was coming to Hancher Auditorium—but even more thrilling was the news that some selected students would have the opportunity to perform Panorama, a large ensemble dance originally choreographed by Martha Graham in 1935. 

“I was already interested in working with undergraduates on a project,” explains Katelyn Perez, a talented graduate student who stepped into the role of rehearsal director for Panorama. “When our department chair, Rebekah Kowal, reached out to me about the collaboration with the Martha Graham Dance Company, it just seemed like the perfect fit.”

Katelyn is a second-year MFA candidate in dance on the performance track. After graduating from Sam Houston State University with a BFA in dance, she came to Iowa looking for a place to grow both her performance and choreographic practice. She was also interested in attending a university that offered dance theory and an environment to further her creative research. 

Katelyn began her dance career in a small studio in Victoria, Texas—a small city comparable to the size of Iowa City. As she advanced in her practice, she began dancing with the Victoria Ballet Theatre, a local ballet company, and eventually became a company member. 

“A lot of my training with the company was in a form of movement called pantomime,” Katelyn explains. “Pantomime is used in story ballet to convey complex emotions, characters, and narratives without speaking. This experience of clear, emotive gesture has really influenced my creative processes.” 

Katelyn’s research looks at the way history emerges in the contemporary body. Her deep understanding and exploration of embodied archives and gesture makes Katelyn an ideal candidate for guiding the ensemble of 38 student-dancers through Martha Graham’s archival dance, Panorama. 

Martha Graham was an artist who radically changed the landscape of modern dance. She was a dancer, teacher, and choreographer, and she created and codified the revolutionary Graham technique—a modern dance style based on the opposition between contraction and release. 

“Graham technique is very difficult but it’s also very powerful,” Katelyn describes the codified technique. “You can see it in Panorama, even in the quiet, gentle moments, you can still see the energy and strength of her movements.”

In early January, Katelyn and Panorama’s 38 student dancers had the opportunity to work with Virginie Mécène, the current director of Graham 2 (the dance company comprising the most advanced students of the Martha Graham School) and program director at the Martha Graham Center for Contemporary Dance. “Working with Virginie was amazing,” says Katelyn. “I think it was inspiring for our dancers to hear all her stories about working with Martha and her experience performing the piece.”

During that week, Katelyn worked closely with Virginie to set the piece and place the dancers in groups. “We have a broad range of dancers from first-year students to graduate students,” Katelyn describes the process. “We organized groups and sections based on height and skill, but we also consciously wanted to put more advanced students in a position where they’d be seen.”

Since learning Panorama’s choreography from Virginie, Katelyn has been responsible for running practices and tightening the piece in preparation for the show. 

“Katelyn has really stepped into this role with so much charisma,” says Stephanie Miracle, Assistant Professor of Dance and one of the faculty liaisons for Panorama. “She has such a wonderful quality of command and flexibility. Not only has she developed a beautiful rapport with the students but her partnership with Virginie has also been beautiful to watch.” 

As rehearsal director, Katelyn allows the students autonomy. There is an atmosphere in the studio of energy and camaraderie among the dancers that is a testament to the environment she cultivates. 

In tandem with her role as rehearsal director, Katelyn also choreographed “Graham Reflections” for the UI Dance Company’s home concert, Dances Described, which was presented in February 2024. Panorama and the Graham technique are very difficult, and Katelyn created the piece as a choreographic response that traced the effect of these historic (and demanding) movements within the body. 

During Virginie’s residency in January, Katelyn worked with six UI Dance Company dancers who were in Panorama, using daily journal prompts as the basis for the “Reflections” piece. 

“My prompts asked the dancers to reflect on what it was like to embody Graham as well as the changes and shifts they felt in their bodies,” Katelyn explains her collaborative choreographic process. 

It was important for Katelyn to highlight each dancer’s experience. She used common gestures from Panorama and their weekly Graham classes to create solo performances and share their journal responses. 

The dance was developed in six weeks for the Dances Described concert. Douglas Baker, a dance accompanist who received his BA degrees in Piano and Japanese at the University of Iowa in 2015, worked with Katelyn and her cast to create an original musical composition for the piece.

“Watching the final product performed onstage was so rewarding,” Katelyn says. “It made me even more excited to see the entire ensemble of students perform these same gestures in Panorama.”

Katelyn will continue to lead the ensemble of 38 UI student-dancers until Virginie Mécène returns to Iowa City with the Martha Graham Dance Company for GRAHAM100—a performance celebrating 100 years of the Martha Graham Dance Company—at Hancher Auditorium.

“I’m really excited to see the movements settle into the dancers’ bodies,” Katelyn says. “Panorama is a very difficult dance; it requires immense focus to keep up with the complex timing and placement of each step. Watching the dancers become more confident with each week and taking ownership of this powerful movement is the most rewarding part of this experience.”

The UI dance-student ensemble will take to the Hancher stage, dressed in vibrant red, to open GRAHAM100 on March 29, 2024.