TDC History

Origins of TDC As Remembered and Written in 2008 by Alice Trexler, Assoc. Prof Of Dance (initial appointment Fall 1978):

In the fall of 1978, Dance was administratively linked to Physical Education for a few years as this was the only way to have curricular studio space. During that fall, the dance faculty were mandated to find a new name for the "Dance Advisory Board." This student group had come into being several years earlier to assist curricular dance programming and promotion on campus. One of the half-time faculty suggested the name, "Tufts Dance Collective" which was adopted then and there. Interestingly "The Dance Collective" was a very well known  Boston-area professional group at that time which lasted until about 2006, so there was also concern about the "borrowing" of the words "dance" and "collective."

 In the beginning TDC assisted the dance faculty in writing grants to bring in big name modern dancers or dance groups. For those years, TDC always had about 30 members. The Merce Cunningham Co, Trisha Brown and Dancers, Adrienne Hawkins and Dancers, Zellsworth Dancers, and Harry (a company of Senta Driver) were some of the events greatly assisted by TDC.

By the mid-eighties, TDC  members began an interest in performing themselves. They started with events on the library roof and experimental choreography. Gradually more and more vernacular dance was presented and the modern/experimental pieces were the smaller amount of every performance. The early performances took place in the old Cousens Dance Space and Alumni Hall. When Dance moved to Jackson, TDC performed in half the gym for a number of years. After the first Dance Lab was rigged up in Jackson, their audiences became so full, that seating conditions were hazardous. TDC didn't want to leave Jackson, but by about 2000, they were on their way to performances in Cohen Auditorium where they happen today.

Now (2008) TDC is known as an organization in which any Tufts student can dance and have fun. Its large-cast hip-hop pieces and occasional "man dances" provide a social opportunity for participants and a cheerful evening for many friends. The openness to all Tufts students and the rehearsal to performance process are elements derived from the original members' experiences with the Dance Program in the eighties.

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