Allegheny College students from the various dance courses along with the student jazz dance group JaDE and students from Movement Unlimited in Meadville will be performing in Allegheny’s annual holiday concert, Cookies and Milk, which has been occurring for more than 15 years for families and children in the Meadville community.

The concert is on Sunday, Dec. 6 with performances at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. in the Montgomery Performance Space.  The show is presented by the dance and movement studies program and is free and open to the public.

As always, cookies and refreshments will be served at 3 p.m. in the campus center lobby, which are provided by local bakers who are members of Creating Landscapes for Families.

Cookies and Milk will also serve as a chance for Allegheny’s dance department to collects toys to distribute during the holiday season. There will be a collection box for Toys for Tots at the concert where audience members will have the opportunity to contribute new, unwrapped toys to be gifted to a child who might otherwise not receive holiday presents.

This year’s concert corresponds with the College’s theme, “The Year of Meadville.”

Eleanor Weisman, assistant professor of dance and movement studies, has helped out with the concert for 12 years now.

“I look forward to seeing the children and families from the local community coming to campus,” Weisman said. “It is wonderful to see the children come on to the stage to join with the college student dancers. It is important to me that the young children see the college as a place where they are welcome, and perhaps one day they will decide to go to college.”

Weisman put an emphasis on the amount of hard work and effort that is put into the creation and success of the Cookies and Milk performance every year.

“It takes much work and time to produce all the behind the scenes work, such as getting the flyers designed and printed, writing a press release, hiring the technical staff and determining the show order,” Weisman said. “Various classes and student groups such as JaDE also put in many hours rehearsing and putting together the dances.”

Jake Wilson, ’18, is studying modern dance at the college and is participating in the event for the first time. He said that being a part of the show is all about the families and kids.

“The show is to bring the community together in order to create harmony and unity,” Wilson said. “People should come to the show because it not only very creative and very well instructed, but it is an awesome way to inspire the children to dance with a purpose and have a little fun with it.”

Alec Hutchin, ’18, highlighted the importance of Allegheny making a connection with the local community.

“Cookies and Milk will show how Allegheny can help bring the community together with the hope of giving the children a fun escape while helping them to bond a little as well,” said Hutchin. “It’s important for Allegheny to branch out to the younger members of the community and help them explore extracurricular activities other than just sports. This concert gives them a good opportunity for that.”

Call the Dance and Movement Studies office at 814-332-3388 to make a reservation.