Rutgers University encourages faculty who do research to engage undergraduates in the rigors and excitement of discovering new knowledge. An award was made to Claudia Gitelman to hire a research assistant to help her reconstruct  Hanya Holm's  Homage to Mahler.  Gitelman engaged Rachel Evers, a third year BFA dance major.

So began a reseach effort that saved for posterity the work of a major American artist.

Evers meticulously diagrammed the dance from the old video recording. She also studied the musical score, and she carefully matched musical bars with her blocking. Rehearsals began with Evers showing dancers their spatial patterns and gestures. This was a complex procedure, for only rarely did the dancers work in unison; more often dancers had different and interweaving paths. After learning the spatial and temporal shape of a segment, the dancers consulted the old video record for detail. Then began the process of perfecting each phrase and bringing all dancers to a common understanding of dynamic nuance and timing. Some phrases were difficult to understand and Evers was persistent and patient in rehearsing "trouble spots" until the cast worked with understanding and quality.

Gitelman intervened infrequently for Evers proved a capable teacher and rehearsal director. As rehearsals moved to the stage Gitelman made more suggestions, especially to dancers who had solo material within the groups. While lighting was designed and the entire work was dressed, Evers maintained a watchful eye for grooming the dances. She also contributed a calm, reliable support for the performers during the inevitable tensions of stage rehearsals and performances.

Says Evers,

The research challenged me to exercise all the skills of my previous training and it revealed new understanding that I may not have gained in any other way. In addition to using my training as a dancer and choreographer, I called upon my musical background and my experience teaching and directing colorguard. I found significant intellectual and emotional links of this work of Hanya Holm because of my study of the Nazi period and World War II. By examining Holm's work so carefully I developed a sincere reverence for her artistry and I hope that one day I may be as articulate and masterful in the craft of choreography as she.