September Newsletter

Member of the Month:

In this issue: Samantha Curbelo
Page 1... Climbing into the back of
Member of the Month Sams car, you are immedi-
ately greeted by the smell
of her Christmas Cookie
Page 2... air freshener, and are forced
Fall 2017 Showcase to shove away piles of cos-
Announcement tumes and dance shoes in
order to find room to sit.
Page 3... Our president is the mom
Unbounds of Unbound; picking us up to
drive us to rehearsal, making
Choreographer sure we brought water and
Spotlight have had something to eat,
and keeping us on task when
Page 4... we would rather joke around
An Interview with than practice our dances. She is the glue that holds our team
Jonathan Hsu together.
As a senior and four-year member of Unbound, Sam
was the natural choice to be voted in as president. Her 18+
years of dance experience have provided her with the tal-
ent and passion to expertly lead the team. Her background
Unbound Monthly
mostly consists of jazz and musical theater training, so she
September Edition, Volume One
excels at choreographing compelling full-company pieces in
these genres. In the winter,
Editor:
she always choreographs a
Nicole Bowcutt
Christmas Rockette piece
complete with sky-high kick-
Unbound Dance Team
lines and extremely precise
President: Samantha Curbelo
movement.
Vice President: Sarah Taylor
Thanks to her, Un-
Creative Director: Holly King
bound has performed in
more shows in 2017 than
in any year prior, and has
raised more money to pay for
new costumes and rehearsal
space than ever before. She
will be sorely missed after
she graduates this Decem-
ber!
All Photos: Jonathan Hsu
 Event Announcement:
Unbound Dance Teams
Fall 2017 Showcase
UMDs Unbound dance team is hold-
ing their annual Fall Showcase at 2 p.m. on
Nov. 19 in the Hoff Theater. The event will be
a conglomerate of dance performances from
Unbound dancers as well as other performance
groups on campus.
Im really excited for showcase this
year, says freshman Jemma Lehner, a member
of Unbound since September 2016. Its going
to be way bigger than last year, and the dances
are more complex.
The teams Fall 2016 Showcase had
about 60 audience-members. This year, they
are hoping to double that number.
Unbound has been working on new cho-
reography for the show since last spring, in-
cluding jazz, lyrical, and musical theater dances
featuring the whole team, and several small
group dances in genres such as contemporary
and hip hop.
All Photos: Roland Curbelo
So far, other performers besides Un-
bound include Revolutions dance team and
Faux Pas, an a cappella group. Unbounds
creative director Holly King has also reached
out to Prima Dolls dance team and Hip Hop Or-
chestra, as well as individual singers, dancers,
and slam poets.
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We really want a diverse showing of per-
formances for this showcase, King said. In
the past, its usually just our team perform-
ing and maybe one or two other groups. We
want to make it worth peoples money.
Thats because this year will be the
first showcase where admission is not free.
Unbound will be charging $5 per person for
entry to the show, and donations will also be
accepted. While the dance teams executive
board agreed they wanted to keep the show
affordable for all students and family mem-
bers that want to attend, they are also trying
to raise money for new costumes.
I dont think $5 is asking too much.
We just havent gotten new costumes in
years, said Unbounds president, Samantha
Curbelo.
Despite the teams frequent fund-
raising events, such as bake sales on Route
1 and fundraising nights at local restaurants
Chipotle and Blaze, they have been unable
to raise enough money for new costumes for
the whole team.
Says Curbelo, I think the money we
raise from showcase will definitely get us
there.
Students, family, friends and sup-
porters of the arts at UMD are encouraged to
attend. If you would like more information
on the event or know of a group that would
be interested in performing, please contact
Holly King at (301) 305-6188.
 " "

Briana Lopez, senior, decided to choreo-

graph the fun and upbeat Beyonc Mix
when she noticed the amount of modern and
lyrical pieces the team was performing.

" "

" "

Sarah Dean, senior, was inspired by the

message of Lady Gagas slowed-down ver-
sion of her song, Hair. She wanted to cho-
reograph movement with the same message.
" "

" "

Jemma Lehner, freshman, helped choreo-

graph Daughter, and made sure to include
movements inspired by her formal ballet
background.
All Photos: Nicole Bowcutt 3
 An Interview with Jonathan Hsu
Photographer for UMDs Dancers
1) What made you want to start photographing dancers?
As a dance major I was always around other dancers and I quickly discov-
ered I really liked to capture motion. Things like architecture or land-
scapes arent as interesting to me. Also, dancers always need head shots or
pictures for their portfolios and social media accounts, so it was an
easily-accessible demographic for me. One advantage Ive found is that
since Im also a dancer Ive developed an eye for what looks good on cam-
era, how to direct dancers, and the timing for when to take the picture.

2) Whats the most

interesting or rewarding
part of what you do?
I love going to a location that
Ive never been to and figuring out how to create an image
that seems unreal. Being able to put all the puzzle pieces
together: lighting, posing, location scouting, factoring in
weather, figuring out a dancers strengths, etc. Being able
to look into the back of my camera and see what I saw in my
head appear is so cool.

3) Do you have
an all-time
favorite photo youve taken? Why is it your
favorite?
Yes! So far my favorite image is one I took while I was at Bates
Dance Festival. It was with a ballerina and break dancer, and
the first time I had tried using Photoshop in an image. I had
placed a piano bench for the ballerina to jump off so she could
get higher and then taught myself how to take the bench out
in post-production. It was the first time I felt my image looked
like more than a snapshot. It helped me realize just how much
I still had to learn and the endless possibilities there were if I
All Photos: Jonathan Hsu learned how to use all the tools at my disposal.

If you would like to contact Jonathan Hsu Photography, visit his website www.jhsumedia.com or follow his
Instagram account @jhsumedia.
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