Alaly describes her choreography as “soft” and “delicate,” but also adds that her work has been described as “freaky” and “disturbing,” probably due to her tendency to “contort the body into shapes that are full of tension.” This latter description will likely fits her work in “The Oresteia.”

Alaly is very positive about her experience in the dance program at Harvard, citing the “creative energy” of the students and the “good environment” as especially beneficial for her art.

“I’ve really been encouraged to push myself. The program is small enough that they can encourage dancers to branch out and try new things.” Indeed, the intimacy of Harvard’s program inspired Alaly to become so involved in choreography: there weren’t many others who were qualified to tackle the job.

This fall Alaly plans to move to New York City, where she will pursue a career in dance and choreography. But given her interests in special education, law, and business, Alaly says that going back to school and starting on an entirely different path is always a possibility.

—Madeleine J. Bäverstam

JOHANNA S. KARLIN ’05

When Johanna S. Karlin ’05 arrived at Harvard her freshman fall, she wasted no time stepping into the spotlight, “auditioning for anything and everything—I auditioned for 20 shows,” she says.

The result of her first round of Common Casting was the leading role of Gussie in the Stephen Sondheim musical “Merrily We Roll Along.” During her freshman spring, Karlin was one of four Harvard students chosen to act in “Reason,” a professional production directed by the Obie Award-winning experimental director Ping Chong, and sponsored by the Office for the Arts at Harvard (OFA).

Since her first year, Karlin has acted in multiple productions every semester. She was the Queen of the Fairies in “Iolanthe,” Mrs. Mister in “The Cradle Will Rock,” Yente in “Fiddler on the Roof,” and, most recently, Nettie in “Carousel.”

This past intersession, Karlin and a few of her friends spontaneously decided to produce and perform the musical “She Loves Me,” (Karlin played Amalia) in the span of one week. “The opportunity to pull something together for the sheer joy of doing it was one of the greatest things ever,” says Karlin.

The OFA has honored Karlin’s four years of involvement by awarding her this year’s Radcliffe Doris Cohen Levi Prize, which goes to “a Harvard college student who combines talent and energy with outstanding enthusiasm for musical theater at Harvard.”

Karlin works behind the scenes almost as much as she is on the stage, producing, directing, teching, serving as a proctor for the Freshman Arts Program, and as Campus Liaison for the 2002-2003 HRDC Board, organizing Common Casting and “making sure that everyone’s audition went well.”

“My sophomore spring I organized 20 shows for one week of auditions, and you’ve got people calling you saying, “I’ve got a conflict here’ and’ I’ve got a conflict there,’ and it’s very crazy because they’re all auditioning at the same time,” Karlin says. At the time Karlin was also business assistant for Hasty Pudding Theatricals (HPT) 153: “Fangs for the Memories” and business manager for HPT 154: “Snow Place Like Home.”