By Ryan Broderick

Danceworks lies under the radar of a large amount of the theatergoers in Hofstra’s student body, and its most recent performance more than qualify it as a hidden gem on campus.

The Danceworks spring performance, held this past Saturday evening, had the rare quality of having a little something for everyone, which isn’t something legitimate dance is known for.

The show opened with a more experimental and atmospheric piece titled “Impetus” which at first seemed like an odd choice and an alarming testament to the tone of the rest of the show. It opened slow and brooding , slowly gaining steam and revealing what exactly the show’s organizer had in mind by picking this to warm up the less than embracing audience.

By the end, the dancers had achieved something that even members of the audience who weren’t dance aficionados could appreciate, a collage of movement that was as complex to look at, as it probably was to pull off and yet at the same time, incredibly entertaining.

The rest of the show followed the same tone except for an odd, but relieving choice in the middle with a ridiculous, but definitely crowd-pleasing hip hop piece. It was a nice breath of levity into a generally darker and more abrasive type of show.

The most impressive performance of the night though, as a whole piece, was the finale. It was a tap number opening with two lone wood block players that would end up keeping the time for the entire performance. But as the tap line slid and clambered about the stage, it became one hell of a mesmerizing dance number. A lot of its power though, has to be credited to the lighting staff, who really did quite an incredible job with the very bare bones attitude of the song.

The sort of work Danceworks does isn’t the type of approachable, accessible theater that many people tend to follo. What it is though, is a thought-provoking, challenging presentation that one wouldn’t ordinarily expect to find on campus. No, it’s not your night out at a musical, but for audience members looking for something beyond the typical, they’ll discover something that the more well-versed drama fans of Hofstra already know…that Danceworks is where it’s at.