Acorn

Issue date: 4/25/08 Section: Arts and Leisure

Media Credit: Courtesy of Amber LaCasse Five DUDS dances move through the Thomas H. Kean Black Box Theatre in the DoYo.

Media Credit: Courtesy of Amber LaCasse Dancers strike a pose in this semester's DUDS Dance Show.

This semester's dance show, entitled "alternate planes", was filled with pieces that were by turns cryptic and celebratory. One unifying thread was the holding of hands and inter-locking of arms. This gave all of the pieces, and the show as a whole, a sense of unity and cohesion.

The show began with the night's longest piece, "Near Light", choreographed by Adjunct Dance Professor Cheryl Clark. It set the tone for the night by having the dancers move as one, especially in the beginning.

As Clark moved in the middle of the stage, the line of dancers behind her moved their hands in unison, reminiscent of a flock of birds changing direction in unison.

Some of the night's pieces leaned toward the ominous. One such dance was "Purgatory Mind", choreographed by Anginese Phillips ('10).

It began with the dancers tapping their fingers on the floor, as if their hands were spiders. As the dance progressed, the movement became more fluid. But the backdrop of sound, comprised of whispers and static, maintained the creepy tone.

"Glory" was another ominous piece. It started out with three dancers seemingly in the "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" position.

Then the audience saw that the "speak no evil" person was pulling her mouth into an eerily wide smile.

She, along with other dancers, pulled others away by the mouth throughout the piece. This dance was reminiscent of recruitment to the dark side.

The end of the piece was the most poignant. Jamie Jung ('08) and Stephanie Patent ('08) ran their fingers across the chests of Christopher Metzger ('10) and Ian DeStefano ('10), looking in vain for signs of life.

The two girls then fell onto the men and seemingly died. Other dark themes in this piece included peril and struggle.

"Follow the Gleam," choreographed by Annalisa Ledson ('10), lent a lighter note to the performance line-up. The music was more upbeat.

The choreography featured a lot of hand-in-arm movement, which meant that the dancers were connected throughout much of the piece. Just as in "Glory", the emotion was clear, though in a different vein.

At one point, all of the dancers formed a circle at center stage, linked arms and moved as one. It was a poignant moment in the piece because everyone moved in unison, highlighting the communal and celebratory tone of the dance.

One of the more experimental pieces was "Changing of the Guards", choreographed by Liesel Hans ('08).

This dance stood out not only for the movement, but also for the use of sound. The most innovative aspect of this piece was the fact that the dancers used their pants instead of music to create sound.

The dancing featured staccato, crisp movement, reminiscent of military formations.

"The Pursuit", choreographed by Kelley Blessing ('09 told the straightforward story of a man pursuing a woman. Christopher Damurjian ('09) tried to capture the attention of Jill Homlish ('10), while dancing to an upbeat Latin musical setting. When there was a distance between the two dancers, they always seemed to find a way to reconnect through movement.

Rounding out the dance show performances were "Brooklyn Bridge", choreographed by Caitlin Gallagher ('08), "The Road to Awe", choreographed by Kristin Deiss ('08), "Blossoming Desert", choreographed by Rebecca Davis ('09), "Surface Bond", choreographed by Christopher Metzger ('10), "Polaris", choreographed by Rebecca Skedzielewski ('10) and "How You Came to Be", choreographed by Emily Weitzel ('08). As in dance shows of years past, "alternate planes" was filled with a lot of variety, making for an enjoyable, poignant show.

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