On Dec. 22, 2009, Ball State University dance professor Susan Koper lost her son Dylan Heinztelman, 13, in a car crash as the family was driving from Muncie. On Sunday, the Student Dance Association is hosting Dancing for Dylan, a benefit concert to celebrate the life of Dylan and provide support for Koper and her family.
SDA officers Ashley Turner, Rachel Higgins and Emma Parker began brainstorming a way to help the family after the accident occurred.
"After the event happened I was just really shaken up about it and thought that something needed to be done to help Susan because she is one of the most beautiful people that I think anybody has ever known," Turner said. "We just wanted to do something to help her."
The idea began as just a dance concert but soon developed into a full concert featuring dancers from Ball State University and Dazzle, the dance studio where Koper used to teach, as well as performances from the Ball State Theatre Department and Burris Laboratory School where Dylan attended.
Audra Sokol, assistant professor of dance, is contributing by choreographing a piece set to a poem written by Dylan's older sister, Amelia Heintzelman. Amelia read the poem, titled "One Day" at the funeral and Turner said it really touched those who went so they decided to use it in the concert.
"It means a lot to me just that I can do something for a good friend and her family that is meaningful," Sokol said. "Something to help bring her spirits up."
The dance will feature students involved in SDA who have worked with Koper before in her ballet and modern dance classes. They have been rehearsing for several weeks for the event.
"You still wake up and you can't believe a good friend had something like this happen," Sokol said. "At times I feel powerless and wish there was a way to reverse time."
Not only will the concert support the family Dylan left behind but planning and performing in it has also helped some of the dancers cope with what has happened, Turner said.
"I guess it's just a way to manifest our emotions through something concrete. We all feel for Susan and we all feel for her family and we feel for the loss of Dylan," she said. "I think putting this together and putting energy towards this is kind of like a therapeutic way to deal with it."
Dancing for Dylan will be held Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in Pruis Hall. While the show is free of charge, donations to help pay for medical costs and other expenses for the family are welcome.
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