Brianna Cinigilo

Columnist

The Spring Dance Concert was not a show for everyone. The DanceWorks shows are usually fast paced and attention grabbing. The dances in this show – almost all of them choreographed by faculty members from the dance department – were longer, more complex and contained their own theme or story. This was a show for those who have a true appreciation for dance and its artistry. 

 The opening number, “Come As You Are,” featured the dancers in giant gray tutus which complimented the different movements throughout the piece. They began with music from Bach, which was accompanied by ballet-styled dancing, but ended with music from Nirvana and the Pixies, where a more contemporary style of dance was used. 

 The dancing was elegant, but the performers also expressed their playful sides by “messing up” certain steps and goofing around in a few spots throughout the dance. The piece was fun and one of my favorites.

One of the most aesthetically-pleasing pieces was “Lost Edges.” A screen projected the image of a forest, which was set in front of the dancers, making them appear almost ghost-like, as if they were woodland spirits. Unfortunately, the screen was rather distracting. There were many instances where I found myself admiring how interesting the screen looked instead of watching the dancers.

The music was eerie and at times piercingly loud and unnatural, adding to the distractions in this piece. The dancing was elegant and featured amazing partner work, but it was a bit lost behind the screen and music.

“¡Por la Vida! (To Life),” was an exciting tap piece that was constantly active. The dancers costumes were bright, colorful and styled as if they were in the disco era. When I first saw them, I thought they were odd, but after the first few minutes of the dance, I felt they worked well. The way the different colors moved on the dancers’ legs and arms as they tapped looked like different strands of a rainbow joining together to dance. 

 One of my favorite parts of the piece was the argument between two of the dancers. The entire debate was completely conveyed, not through words, but through the sounds they made in their tapping. It truly spoke to how much can be said through movement, particularly dance. 

 The show ended perfectly with the fast-paced jazz piece, “I See You.” This dance was basically the visual of what goes on in everyone’s head at the end of a long week of work and the start of the weekend. The dancers, who were all dressed in suits, displayed a variety of movements, from spins and lifts to fist pumps and snaps. It was a great, up-beat conclusion to the show that I loved.