It’s been a while since I’ve made it to a dance concert, so I went into the HCC Spring Dance Concert on Saturday night with inflated expectations and optimism. While certain aspects of the show kept me captivated, others had me sneaking peeks at the time I had left to bare through the show. Here’s the play by play:
The show opened up with Dancin’ with the Duke, which was a ballroom jazz piece performed by 2 sets of partners. The music was by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, giving you an idea of the old-fashioned theme that the piece was going for. I grew up in a dance studio where the value of performance was ingrained into the fiber of my being. No matter how talented you are or how much technique you have, I was taught that your job when dancing for an audience is to entertain them. The dancers, in my opinion, were too polite. To make an old styled dance like this come to life it is crucial to over-exaggerate every movement and facial expression. While the dancers needed more energy, the choreography was cute and fit well with the music.
The next piece was a solo performed by Hope Boyd, called Volt. Hope is an intriguing dancer and the emotion she showed throughout kept me engaged until the end. The stage lightning during Volt was also impressive. It enhanced the mood and quality of the whole piece.
HCC incorporated film into the concert as well, which is something I had never seen done before. Learning Balinese was a video that showed the students learning Balinese dance form throughout the semester. While I understood the purpose for showing the video, I would have much rather seen the students perform a routine that they learned during the concert. The video lasted too long and wasn’t as captivating as the live performance I came to see.
The next piece, Spring into Motion, was an explicit representation of over consumption and the effect humans have on the environment. The choreography and execution of this piece were beautiful. The notable problem I had was with a specific movement that attempted to imitate drinking water by the dancers holding a bottle or cup of water in their hand while abruptly pouring it into their open mouths… only this could have been mistaken for a similar, yet more inappropriate action. My dirty mind’s conclusion was confirmed by other snickers I heard from the rest of the audience. Choreographers and dancers, I beg you to be careful when using this move, especially when you’re audience is predominantly hormone-filled college students. Thanks.
Daybreak was performed next, which quickly became my favorite piece of the concert. It brought back the quartet from the first piece, Dancin’ with the Duke, and I am so glad I got to see these dancers perform a different style. They killed it. Created to celebrate Black History Month, this piece was intense and exemplified the dancers’ strengths and emotion.
Next we had another film presentation. This piece, however, was much more successful than the first. Violoncello was a project done by one of the students, Rachel Serrano, that portrayed playing human bodies like string instruments. The concept was unique and fascinating, but again, I would have rather seen a live performance and read about the process on my own time.
Nomophobia ended the concert, which was a high-energy, circus-themed piece making fun of our obsession with cell phones. I loved the fun choreography but thought the use of jazz music conflicted with the modern issue of overusing technology. A mixture of more modern, even robotic music may have helped better convey the theme. Since nomophobia means the fear of being out of mobile phone contact, it would have been entertaining if the dancers lost their imaginary mobile phones to show us the chaos we face when we’re off the grid. I loved the satirical circus theme, but the message could have been portrayed more effectively with more choreography.
Overall, I’m glad I experienced some live dance and am interested to see these dancers improve. As far as Saturday’s show goes, however, I’m thankful it only lasted about an hour.
This article appears in Apr 28 – May 4, 2016.