Whenever Michele Mackowiak walks on stage, adrenaline rushes through her body as she prepares for her favorite part of dance: performing.
"I am a dance performance option, so performing is something I want to do as long as my body will allow me," she said. "Every opportunity I get, I jump on it to get more performance experience."
The sophomore dance and exercise science major will be performing with the Student Dance Association at the Festival of the Word and Dance at 6 p.m. Friday in Korsgaard Dance Studio. Ten other group and solo performances will round out the show.
FOTWAD, which has been a tradition within the Department of Theatre and Dance for 24 years, is a compilation of well-known and student-created songs, dances and acting pieces performed by many different majors and sometimes even faculty.
Actors don't normally dance, costume designers don't normally act and architects don't normally sing, but at FOTWAD they do. The student-run performances provide an opportunity for students to work in or perform in an area of theater or dance they do not usually get to touch.
"This is an opportunity for students to stretch their talents and perform outside their comfort zones," Michael Daehn, associate professor of theater education, said.
The festival has its roots in the 1970s when former Ball State theater faculty member Judy Yordon started the Festival of the Word to create an additional opportunity for theater students to perform, Sarah Mangelsdorf, assistant professor of dance, said. It became the FOTWAD in 1987 when dance was added to the Department of Theatre.
Mangelsdorf and Daehn decided to keep this tradition alive after Yordon retired.
"I enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of the performance and the chance to realize how inventive and talented the theater and dance students are," Mangelsdorf said.
The festival grants an opportunity for students from a variety of majors to showcase their talent and creativity in the fine arts in front of an audience.
The two largest pieces in the show are performed by students from the Singing for Non-Musical Theatre Majors class. The class, started by instructor of music performance Alexandra Kocoshis, began seven years ago as a way for theater and dance students not in the musical theater option to have a chance to sing. She started out with 13 students.
Today, the class has expanded to two sections with 23 students each and a waiting list. Students taking the class are from all different majors, including architecture and telecommunications.
"The fun part is getting kids from other departments that want to sing," Kocoshis said.
Each class will perform a different show at this year's FOTWAD. One will perform pieces from "The Music Man" and one from "Hairspray."
The performances are a 15- to 20-minute compilation of songs. The students take highlights from the musicals and piece them together with harmonies and solos. Some of the numbers are cut down and some are full.
Kocoshis said students come in with all different talent levels. She has to hear all the students and determine what they can handle to select the show the class will work on for the semester.
FOTWAD usually has a large audience for the size of the room it is held in - up to 150 people sitting on bleachers and mats on the floor, Daehn said. A majority of the audience is from the Department of Theatre and Dance.
"There is a real camaraderie in this department," he said. "Friends come out to acknowledge the work that friends do."
Daehn added that the festival is nice for theater and dance students because there is less pressure for this performance than they are used to - students rehearse for four hours a night, six nights per week when preparing for a big production.
"The audience will see performances by students who are dedicated to developing their craft," Mangelsdorf said.
What: The Festival of the Word and Dance
When: 6 p.m. Friday
Where: Korsgaard Dance Studio, Ball Gym Room 213
Who: Open to the public, Free
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