This month in the Juilliard Theater, the Juilliard Dance Ensemble will dance its collective heart out in works of Jiri Kilian, internationally celebrated choreographer and co-founder of the Netherlands Dance Theater, and two recent graduates of the Dance Division, Charlotte Griffin (B.F.A. '97) and Adam Hougland (B.F.A. '99). How did these two comparative unknowns find themselves in such august company, and what has it been like to return to the scene of their undergraduate studies?

Charlotte Griffin Photo by Mike Dion

After graduation, Adam's and Charlotte's paths diverged somewhat. Adam spent two years primarily as a dancer who also managed to choreograph. He began at Toronto Dance Theater, a company dedicated to the vision of its artistic director, Christopher House. This was folowed by a stint with Buglisi/Foreman Dance and a year with the Limón Dance Company, a group with a varied repertory as well as works by modern master José Limón. Adam's list of choreography credits began to grow with requests for Beyond, created in his senior year here, notably by Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Ballet Met, the Cincinnati Ballet, and the Louisville Ballet and continued with new work for Introdans in Arnhem, Holland, and the Limón Dance Company. During a comparable time period, Charlotte led the life of a freelance choreographer, moving from one short-term project to the next, some of which were combined with a heavy teaching load. Her credits include commissions from Princeton University, Rutgers University, and small companies such as Avodah in New York City and Chrysalis in Houston, Tex. She choreographed and taught at the American Dance Festival in Durham, N.C.; was an emerging choreographer-in-residence at the Bates Dance Festival in Lewiston, Me.; recreated solo work for Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal; and created new work for Eliot Feld's Kids Dance and the New York City Ballet's Choreographic Institute. Both choreographers acknowledge how much they benefited from recommendations that have come down the Juilliard pipeline, including major support from the late Benjamin Harkarvy, who continued to showcase their dances on the Juilliard stage in presentations that succeeded their graduation.

Having been thrown out into the proverbial cold, cruel world, what lessons were gleaned from their subsequent experiences and how does it feel to return to the proto-nurturing nest? Adam speaks of the pleasure of an invitation that provided a reason to return, though he finds it startling to realize he no longer knows any of the students. In that sense, he feels he is here to "do a job." No longer working with his friends, he is all the more grateful to have as his assistant fellow alum Elisa Clark (B.F.A. '01), someone he can "goof around with" trying out preliminary choreographic ideas, someone to trust, who knew him before and will be there after this particular creation. Adam is impressed with "the technical proficiency of the Juilliard dancers and their level of maturity." He notes that, when he was a student, there seemed to more of a separation between dancers with classical leanings and those who considered themselves contemporary. Now the dancers in his cast don't seem to "compartmentalize" in this manner.

Adam Hougland Photo by Michael Slobodian

They view choreography as information to be learned—"a movement is a movement," he says. This stands in contrast to many professional ballet dancers, who may have to be taught "how to roll their heads." He is grateful for the deepening understanding of Limón technique that he acquired while with that company; advanced tutelage from artistic director Carla Maxwell and Nina Watts, a senior company member, has enabled him to better help those coming from pure balletic training to cross the threshold into contemporary stylistic demands.

Charlotte's view of her return to the Dance Division is somewhat different, as she doesn't really feel she ever left. Besides sharing a December stage workshop with Adam in 2000, she has provided dances for Senior Showcase and two Summer Dance Intensives and remounted In Time Taken, Practising Joy, and Too Much, all choreographed as an undergraduate, for subsequent Juilliard Theater performances. Still, she discovered that, in her current rehearsals, she is acquainted with only a few of the dancers—a situation she describes as being "in a room full of strangers that's like home." What hasn't changed, she observes, is the degree of talent and the diverse skills of her cast. "You know that all 25 will look great onstage."

She goes on to say, "the more exposure I have to other pre-professional venues, the more I appreciate the quality and value of all the enhancing elements available at Juilliard that go into a production beyond the actual dancing"—referring to lighting, costume, and scenic design; the opportunity for original music played live; and stage management. She "adores" the chance to collaborate again with composer Milica Paranosic (manager of Juilliard's Music Technology Center), a partnership that began her junior year in the Composers and Choreographers workshop and has continued more than a dozen times since. "And where else," she says, "do you have someone like Keith Michael [the Dance Division's production coordinator]?" She enthuses about his ability to get things done "now" as he works with all those (herself included) who wish to postpone things till "later." The opportunity to interact once more with independent artists such as Marion Williams (costumes) and Clifton Taylor (lighting and sets) adds to her joy, along with additionally appreciated support from Barli Nugent (director of chamber music), Traci-Ann DiGesu (costume shop supervisor), and Caroline Pallister-Kulic (dance costume coordinator). All this contrasts with on-the-road experiences, where the hard lesson is "when to be flexible and when to stand one's ground." She muses on the time when one presenter, not caring for the avant-garde nature of her music, changed it without bothering to ask permission.

Spring Dance Performances Juilliard Theater Thursday-Sunday, Feb. 20-23 For time and ticket information, please see the calendar.

In her current project (the working title is Between the Shoes), Charlotte is excited to try a new approach, partially necessitated by the demands of her teaching schedule at Marymount Manhattan College. Ordinarily, Charlotte's modus operandi is to walk into rehearsal with every detail planned—though she may make adjustments while rehearsing. This time around, she is creating more intuitively and reactively, on the spot, which she hopes will result "in more honesty and less calculation."

Adam is using this opportunity to choreograph "the most extended and intricately woven piece in terms of spatial patterns" that he has attempted so far. The title, Intarsia (which refers to mosaic woodwork inlay), aptly reflects his interest in complicated layering of movement. He greatly appreciates the time to explore different ways of inventing and putting phrases together, as opposed to "doing what works because it's safe and the time is limited" (which is often the case in short gigs with busy repertory companies). He is using Tchaikovsky's Souvenir de Florence, to be played by the Juilliard Orchestra, conducted by David Briskin.

While both choreographers are Juilliard-trained, their styles diverge. Charlotte is interested in idiosyncratic movement, often using isolated body parts and drawn from gesture. Her zany, dead-pan naturalism has a spunky feel that she has labeled "theatrical-pedestrian."

Adam's stylistic preference is for a balletic-contemporary fusion that emphasizes lyrical yet energetic flow of movement, advanced partnering, and a near-symphonic deployment of the dancers in space. The movement phrases he has invented are not found in the vocabularies of traditional ballet and modern techniques, but they could not be executed without a full command of these disciplines.

Both Adam Hougland and Charlotte Griffin used the word gratitude to express their feeling for this opportunity to create for the Juilliard Dance Ensemble. They are grateful to the division's new artistic director, Lawrence Rhodes, who chose to follow through on his predecessor's plan to commission new work from these two especially talented choreographers. They are putting the finishing touches on their dances now. If their past creations are any guide, all those who come to see for themselves will not be disappointed.

Elizabeth Keen, a faculty member since 1989, teaches dance composition.