Creating community: Rider Dance Ensemble’s Workshop Week
By Sofia Santiago
While the rest of campus moved in, music and laughter echoed through the halls of the Bart Luedeke Center.
The source? New and returning members of Rider Dance Ensemble gathered for the club’s annual Workshop Week, from Sept. 2 to 6.
11 student choreographers held 45-minute classes throughout the week, where they taught under-a-minute dance combos to a variety of styles and songs. A jazz piece to “Read Your Mind” by Sabrina Carpenter, a tap number to “Yeah!” by Usher, a heels choreo to “Love Game” by Lady Gaga and a contemporary routine to “Dracula” by Labrinth were just a few of the different classes available.
The format of the classes is similar to how some professional auditions and intensives are run, serving as another helpful experience for dance majors and minors at Rider.
“For everyone outside of dance, it opens the doors for a lot of people that didn’t realize that that door was even there. Workshop week serves as an introduction.” said Zeno Rubach, junior game and interactive media design major, RDE President and choreographer for workshop week.
Sign-ups began at the start of the summer and were open to all returning club members and any students interested in the club. Incoming freshmen were also invited and encouraged to participate as a way to get acclimated to campus. Even Rider alumni who were former RDE members showed up to see old friends and enjoy the community.
“I’ve had multiple alumni text me and be like, ‘Can I come on Saturday or come on Sunday?’ And I’m like, ‘Yes, absolutely. Come, come hang out,’” Rubach said.
Planning for the week was led by the RDE executive board over the summer, during which prospective student choreographers submitted their proposals and waited to get approved. Once the choreographer lineup had been finalized, a schedule for the week was emailed to all students who had signed up.
Junior psychology major and RDE Vice President Laney Minko gave insights on how the schedule was organized. Attendees were divided and placed into groups in which they would attend classes throughout the week.
Since Workshop Week takes place before the beginning of the semester, club members who reside on campus had to move in early to attend.
“We have to book the rooms and make sure that we can hold an event before the school year even starts,” Minko explained.
On Sept. 2, the fun started with a scavenger hunt around campus, giving the groups a chance to get familiar with each other.
Sept. 3 and 4 marked the most intense days of the week. Full-club warmups led by different e-board members started at 11 a.m. and classes ran from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Each group had three classes a day with hour-long breaks in between, and each choreographer taught at least once per day.
Kristyn Helfand, a senior graphic design major, the merchandising chair of RDE and choreographer for Workshop Week, taught a musical theater combo to “Someone in the Crowd” from “La La Land.”
“When you’re a choreographer, you have to be really intentional about what you’re doing. You want to be mindful that it’s not going to look the same on everyone, and everyone’s a different skill level,” Helfand said. She attended other choreographers’ classes as well.
“When you’re a dancer, you want to make sure you’re perfecting the choreography and you’re really taking it in,” Helfand continued.
At 8 p.m. on Sept. 3 and 4, the whole club would gather again in SCI 102 for movie nights of the previous years’ fall and spring RDE showcases.
Abigail Noriega, sophomore dance major and treasurer of RDE, who ran warmups that Friday, said, “I love movie nights. I also love taking the actual classes, but I think the movie nights are just where everybody gets to be themselves and have slightly less stress.”
On Sept. 5, no movie night meant the schedule started and ended an hour later. Finally, on Sept. 6, the 2023-24 RDE president and vice president returned to teach a masterclass. This year, Victoria Yzaguirre, ’25, and Jared Hiller, ’25, taught a contemporary combo to “End of August” by Noah Kahan. As soon as other club members saw the pair, greetings and hugs were in order.
“It’s really nostalgic, and this song out of all the songs on his album makes me very emotional. We’re just super excited. It’s nice that other alums came back [to] dance with us and hang out,” Yzaguirre said.
Hiller said, “It’s just a really good experience. … We loved doing it when we were here at Rider. It’s a mini community, honestly. And when you find your community here at Rider, it kind of makes your experience, academically and socially.”
The week ended with a photo shoot and picnic on the Campus Green. Throughout the week, photos were taken by Joanna Avitto, ’23, another RDE alum.
Avitto started doing workshop-week pictures the year that she graduated, and she later asked to come back to take dance pictures for her portfolio.
“I had asked to come back, and then every year since, they’ve asked me to come back and do it, and I’m happy to. I love seeing how the club is growing and how big a part of peoples’ college career [RDE] becomes. It’s really special, and I love documenting it for them so they have the memories,” Avitto said.
Helfand summarized what RDE Workshop Week means for new members, returning members and alums, stating: “There’s a big emphasis on community and being together, because anyone can join the dance ensemble, no matter their experience level. If they’ve been dancing for 10 years, or if this is their first day ever dancing, it’s really just about trying new things and having fun.”
