Final Bow: Ally Crisa Takes Choreography Reins For Student Musical, Savors Signature Moment
Good day or bad, the stage is a magical universe for Ally Crisa ’25.
It’s where she gets lost in reverie and feels invincible. It’s where her passion is tapped, like a vein, and her creativity flows, not in ripples but waves.
As choreographer for Keene State’s student adaptation of Next To Normal, a one-time Broadway rock musical, it’s also where she’s supposed to be. Or so it feels for the ambitious senior.
“This process has been unlike anything I’ve ever done,” Ally says. “From the age of 2, I grew up dancing. I wanted to perform, teach, choreograph, and study dance. Where I’m at now, and in my college journey, this has been an amazing experience. It’s a complex task but working with the students and faculty and watching the show evolve has taught me and confirmed so much.”
Next to Normal runs through Saturday at the Redfern Arts Center. It was produced by Second Stage Theatre when it made its New York Premiere in 2008. Second Stage is a Broadway company exclusively devoted to living American writers and driven by showcasing “the bold and diverse voice of American creativity.”
A family trying to function without connection to their emotions or each other is the backdrop of broader human themes such as mental health, trauma, and, as director Kirstin O’Brien describes it “how everyone wears that differently.”
I want to continue to be bold, fearless, kind, and take chances. In college, that’s been my mantra.”
– Ally Crisa ’25
Ally, a native of Goffstown, N.H., says finding your fit matters when choosing a college. In the summer of her sophomore year of high school, just ahead of the COVID-19 outbreak, she toured all of the state’s colleges.
For her, Keene State felt safe, seemed the perfect size, and was a just-right distance from her hometown. Four years later, it “still feels like home the way it did the first day.”
She arrived and she never looked back. She believes, as we do, that YOU are the next best thing.
O’Brien, chair and associate professor for the Theatre and Dance Department, says she can recall one other instance only when a student served as director of choreography for a college-produced musical. Slotting Ally into that role was not only a no-brainer but “something I had wanted to do since I had her, in her first year, in my Foundations and Voice Movement class.”
“Ally ignites an energy within others. Her desire to work and create is unteachable … she just has it. She takes all walks of life and puts them into a creative space, and through movement and storytelling, a moving picture of what is inside her mind comes to life. Her choreography is a sensory experience.”
An outdoor enthusiast, a dancer since a year or so after she learned to walk, and a young adult who pushes boundaries with personal growth in mind, Ally has many layers. Among the things she enjoys away from class are coffee with friends, exploring waterfalls, crafting, and painting by numbers.
“Having creative options helps,” she says. “I work and operate from a place of passion; that’s pretty consistent. I’ve always been driven, I’m an extrovert in every way, and I feel connections to environments where I can help others learn and learn from them.”
Ally’s choreography appears in the second act during the song “I Wish I Were Here.” She directs four student dancers and called the song “special because it highlights mental health struggles amid moments of grief and the lengths individuals will go to reduce their pain and suffering.”
Ally says the dancing in the scene is modern/contemporary stylistically, which is untraditional in musicals.
“Usually, the movement is more upbeat, sharper, and higher energy. For this show and this piece, the movement goes with the music while having intensity, but it also contrasts with the heavy beat. Instead of sharp and jarring movements in jazz choreography, contemporary/modern is meant to be intense, but subtle and with more fluidity.”
She calls the finished choreography “a cohesive yet informed movement,” she is proud of. It allowed her to draw from both areas of her academic interests. “I’m always astonished by the level of detail in theater productions, all the moving parts, but being involved this way has opened my eyes even wider.”
Ally took a shop class and helped build and paint the eye-catching sets for the show. As a Keene State student, she has dabbled in the costume lab, selected casts, and created dance work for showcasing and peer review. She is part of Psi Chi, a national honors society for psychology majors.
She’s a respected role model and leader, O’Brien says. “I knew early on that I wanted to work with Ally this way and that I needed her for Next To Normal.” It doesn’t hurt that Ally is “one of the most exceptional dancers – movement and storytelling – that I’ve had the pleasure to watch perform.”
A willingness to take risks, be uncomfortable, and “give myself grace when the time requires it,” allows Ally to nurture her unique talents and strengths.
Theatre & dance students at Keene State participate in faculty-directed productions of this kind, attend master classes and workshops with visiting artists, and present work to community and scholarly audiences. More than five dozen students have roles in this faculty-directed musical, from the cast, creative team, pit band, production crew, and costume team.
Since the week following Labor Day, production work and rehearsals have been six days a week for three hours, sometimes more.
After college, Ally hopes to pursue professional choreography and performance dance opportunities and possibly pursue a master’s in counseling with certifications in play and movement therapies.
“I want to continue to be bold, fearless, kind, and take chances. In college, that’s been my mantra.”
“Ally is a true light.” O’Brien says, “My vision for this production became complete once I began collaborating with Ally. I only hope I can work again with her, and that her talents and hard work inspire other dance majors to work on our musicals … and even audition.
“She’s a wonderful example of what’s possible.”
Learn more about Next to Normal or purchase tickets
Learn more about the theatre & dance program at Keene State
Learn more about psychology as an academic major at Keene State
