Kristin Eberts / Picture Editor / ke277604@ohiou.edu

Dancers perform “Out of Line,” the second movement of the School of Dance’s Winter Dance Concert. The concert combines the efforts of both the students and faculty, and can be seen starting tonight in the Elizabeth Baker Theater in Kantner Hall at 8 p.m.

In Ohio University School of Dance’s annual Winter Dance Concert, professors and students break the traditional classroom relationship and become colleagues, working together as dancers and choreographers.

In assistant professor Ruben Graciani’s piece, “Office Space,” both he and associate professor Travis Gatling will perform alongside students.

Senior dance major Brandt Laverick, a performer in “Office Space,” said professors become less of an authority figure and more of a fellow dancer when they are performing with the students.

“You have more respect for them,” he said.

Gatling said he enjoys this aspect of the concert.

“It’s that moment where I’m not a professor, I’m a performer,” he said. “It’s not ‘Brandt the student,’ it’s ‘Brandt the person-I’m-dancing-with’…it’s no longer ‘Ruben the professor,’ it’s ‘Ruben the choreographer.’”

Along with “Office Space,” Graciani also choreographed the opening segment of the concert “The Missing Piece,” and was the rehearsal director for guest artist Stefanie Batten Bland’s piece “Apart One Word or Two.”

Batten Bland was in town for only the first two weeks of the quarter, so during that time the dancers worked with her for three to four hours every day, said Laverick, who is also performing in the piece.

This helped the dancers really get to know each other, he said.

As a professional dancer and choreographer in the Paris dance company sbbthegroup, Batten Bland was able to bring real-life experiences to student, Gatling said.

“That first-hand artistic, creative approach is good for the dancers,” he added. “We’ve had several (guest artists), but she’s the one that has really challenged our students.”

This year’s concert will also feature modern dance pieces by Gatling, professor Mickie Geller and professor Marina Walchli.

Modern dance shares some vocabulary with ballet but classical ballet tries to tell a story, Geller said. While some modern dances try to tell stories, others are more abstract, based more on movement and sound, she said.

“Modern dance can use any kind of movement,” Geller said.