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The curtains part, lights flare to life and throbbing drums fill the air as five dancers in red, white and black burst into motion. The Performing Dance Company show has begun.
The Performing Dance Company is the performance unit of the U’s Department of Modern Dance, founded in 1978. The company features graduate and undergraduate students from the department in both new choreography and recreations of historical works of modern dance. PDC has performed at festivals across the United States and in countries all over the world since its inception.
At this year’s show, which opens today, Oct. 24, PDC will be performing five premieres, four by members of the Department of Modern Dance faculty and one by guest choreographer Shaun Boyle. The students in the show have been rehearsing since the beginning of the semester and their hard work has paid off with five spectacular pieces.
The opening piece, titled Gambaru, is Boyle’s contribution to the program. The five dancers’ movements are fluid, foreceful and fierce. Their precise movements, serious faces and intense eye contact with the audience and with each other enhance the drama provided by the lighting and the music.
Sarah Stott, a junior in the department and one of the dancers in Gambaru, described the dance as “very energetic and even animalistic.”
The second piece, choreographed by Sharee Lane, an associate professor in the department, is called Tension, Quiet, and What’s in Between. The piece provides a strong contrast to the opener. The stage begins in blackness. Golden light slowly fills the stage, illuminating the leotard-clad dancers as their movements begin with the hesitant strains of classical music.
Stott, who also performs in this second piece explained that it “takes a lot of control…there’s a properness to it.”
Regarding Last Night, the third piece on the program, features premiere choreography by Pamela Geber Handman, an associate modern dance professor. The piece features music by the likes of Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney and Talking Heads. The dancers start with simple black costumes and a plain backdrop but the piece ends with colorful patterned shirts and psychedelic spinning lights on the stage.
Following intermission, the fourth piece of the program, …i had a little dream we walked into this world, and all the little things broke my heart…, is perhaps the most intriguing. Choreographed by Satu Hummasti, an associate professor, the piece features stuffed animals, glitter and sections where the dancers perform only to the music of their own breathing.
The final piece of the show, Spirit and Water in 4, is composed of four distinct parts that make what the program calls “a journey of ferocious energy.” From the ocean to outer space, the piece features incredible sets and costumes that complement the Caribbean-influenced choreography by A’Keitha Carey, a visiting assistant professor. The dancers vocalize throughout the performance, adding to the pulsing vitality of the piece.
While modern dance may appear easy or simple to the uninitiated, the dancers all show enormous talent and strength in the performance. In addition, many of the pieces were collaborations between the dancers and the choreographers. For instance, the students involved in the second piece on the program were encouraged to come up with sequences based on things like spatial patterns or calligraphy.
The PDC will have performances at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 24, 25 and 31 and Nov. 1. There will be an additional performance on Oct. 30 at 5:30 p.m. On Saturday, Oct. 25th, the performance will be free in support of the blackout game.
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