Dancers’ Recipe for Success

Fourth-years’ cookbook fundraiser 

By Kaylin Maggard

Senior Production is a course that has been completed by the Juilliard senior dance class each year for decades. Through the years, many aspects of the class have changed, but its goal remains the same: teaching us all the elements needed to produce a full-scale dance production, including how to navigate fundraising, as we work tirelessly to create this show.

The Senior Production performance is held to a high standard, and our class is dedicated to exceeding expectations. With many obstacles and challenges arising this year, it is with grit and determination that we have produced what we hope will be a spectacular show—one we’re calling Forged in Chaos.

As we began to navigate how to move forward with this year’s show, we circulated ideas about how we could promote it. In years past, it had become a tradition for the senior class to hold bake sales as a means of fundraising. While we felt it was important to honor tradition, we also wanted to create something personal in this unprecedented time. Due to COVID-19 and the inability to have onsite productions, we were inspired to create this cookbook in lieu of bake sales.

Through the cookbook, we want to share how we have nourished our minds, bodies, and souls throughout the journey we have been on to become the people and artists that we are today. We have compiled recipes that offer a vast array of family customs, cultures, and styles, including vegetarian and vegan dishes. Each page welcomes you into our world and gives you a sense of our personalities. This cookbook represents the diverse individuals that make up our collective unit, and it is our hope that these recipes will bring you warmth and comfort in a way that allows you to feel right at home with us. We are immensely excited to present our cookbook, Forged in the Kitchen.

Kaylin Maggard is a fourth-year dancer

You can buy Forged in the Kitchen as well as this year’s Senior Production T-shirt at the Juilliard Store