7212. 1805. 0504. These were the three numbers of the songs played by a regular at a bar in New York. She sits down to finish her burger and beer. When the songs come on the bartender sings to her. The middle song "Miss Otis Regrets" sung by Ella Fitzgerald has stayed with the woman even as she left New York.
"That's where my relationship with the song began," dance instructor Christie Zimmerman said.
This specific song became Zimmerman's starting point in the dance concert "Steppin' Out With Gershwin on a Cole Winter's Night" premiering tonight in University Theatre.
Highlighting the talents of several choreographers and student dancers, the show is set to the music of Cole Porter and George Gershwin.
Trying to find a theme for the show, the faculty decided to choose a specific composer or two to tie all of their pieces together. Both Gershwin and Porter have a wide selection of music from which to choose ranging from classical to musical theater.
"Both of them have written the most long-lasting beautiful lyrics and melodies," Michael Worcel, dance professor and choreographer, said. "They will just never be outlived I don't think."
After choosing the composers, the choreographers set to work developing their pieces. For Zimmerman, this started with the song she was familiar with, "Miss Otis Regrets." From there she chose other Porter songs sung by Ella Fitzgerald and created a piece centered around love and relationships.
After choosing her songs, as a choreographer she must create movement to go along with the story she wanted to tell. For Zimmerman, she enjoys creating dances around a storyline. This story follows five couples at different stages in their relationships and how they deal with different situations such as cheating.
"For me, the choreography comes form the storytelling. The steps themselves aren't as important as what the steps are telling you," Zimmerman said.
Though still inspired by music, Worcel takes a different approach to his choreography. His piece does not tell a story but is instead just "dance for dance" he said.
"Music is what inspires me," Worcel said. "When I hear a piece of music, I will start seeing visions of movement and how I want it to fit together."
He also tends to come up with a title before he starts working, something most other choreographers do not do, he said. His piece, "Cole Beginnings, Hot Endings," features the style of dance found in old movie musicals from the '50s. It is set to Latin arrangements of Gershwin and Porter's music and contains jazz, tap and ballroom styles of dance.
Once the choreographers come up with the choreography, they must then teach it to the dancers.
"My dancers help me create the movement in the sense that if I choreograph a piece on one set of dancers; chances are if I was working with a different set of dancers a lot of my choreography would be different," Zimmerman said. "I try to play to my dancers' strengths."
Sometimes the movements in her head do not match the movements the dancers are doing, she said. Trying to get these two images to match is one of the challenges of the choreographer.
Senior dance major Ashley Turner recently choreographed a piece for the "Senior Choreography Showcase," which allowed her to see things from an angle other than the performer.
"As a choreographer it is easy to doubt or question yourself and constantly want to change the piece to make it better," Turner said. "There is a lot of trust that comes with choreographing. After being in the position of the performer and a choreographer, I've learned to be patient during the process."
She will be performing in three pieces during the concert, described as "eclectic" by Worcel due to the various arrangements by Gershwin and Porter. The best thing about dancing, Turner said, is the way in which she impacts the audience.
"I get to take the human body, something that all audience members are intimately familiar with, and use it as a performance mechanism to make them feel something," Turner said. "It is simplistic, brilliant and beautiful."
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