Underwear, pasta make appearance in modern dance

Dance Review

Throw away the ballet slippers and the tutus. The Contemporary Dance Ensemble, presented by the school of theatre and dance in Latimer–Shaeffer Theatre from March 25 to 27 at 8 p.m., was not a typical G-rated dance performance.

The ensemble consisted of seven distinct dance performances, each of which combined several outrageous elements. Some of these included the use of apples, rolling pins and colanders as props, which effectively aroused the audience's attention and provided a unique glance at contemporary dance styles.

Eclectic musical choices played an important role in various dance pieces. The second performance included a hip-hop song by Del Tha Funky Homosapien, in a piece titled "Different Than What?," choreographed and performed by senior Emily Oleson. Oleson's performance was a barefoot solo during which she removed multiple articles of clothing until she was down to a pair of underwear and sports bra-like top.

Other pieces included dramatically bold makeup, as seen in "Snafu," which was choreographed by senior Christina Clark. The five performers, junior Laura Baylarski, and sophomores Michelle Grazio, Kara Priddy, Lindsey Rutherford and Dawn Young, each had costumes of a different color (red, yellow, blue, green and purple) with makeup to match.

The five dancers wore costumes designed by associate professor of theatre Pamela S. Johnson and senior Emily R. Gipson, who used symmetrical cuts over one shoulder and below the opposite knee. The designers chose this cut, and five solid colors (red, yellow, blue, green and purple) to emphasize the movements of the dancers.

Senior Anna Hillard thought that these elements were effective for the piece. "The motions were jerky, and the costumes very angular," Hillard said. "Those two factors worked well together, and, I think, portrayed the intent of the choreographers."

Another interesting aspect of the dance ensemble was the skillful use of props in some of the pieces. The sixth performance, "Mangia!," was a light-hearted selection that poked fun at Italian culture.

"I think the audience members enjoyed 'Mangia!' most," senior Katie Martz said. "The performance was entertaining, the costumes were colorful and [I liked the] 'I Love Lucy' style designs. It's not every day people dance with colanders that are filled with pasta."

The performance used colanders filled with pasta and rolling pins to complement the Italian music and play up the stereotype that Italians are known for their hearty meals. Performers sophomore Tiffany Brooks, senior Whitney Heptinstall, Young and Oleson surprised and delighted audiences as pasta was tossed around on stage toward the end of the performance.

"I thought that the audience responded best to the piece about the food," freshman Melissa Showalter said. "It was light and something that the audience could feel comfortable responding to."

"Voodoo 2-step," performed by seniors Erica Mercke and Julia Vessey, portrayed a unique, bolder style than previous pieces. The performers in this piece wore gypsy-like skirts and tops with dangly jewelry designed by costume designer Kathleen A. Conery. As the music played, the two performers used each other's bodies to perform several difficult moves.

The piece seemed overtly sexual as the performers suggestively rolled around on top of each other.

At the end of the ensemble, audiences and performers alike seemed satisfied with the performance.

"I didn't have a least-favorite part," Showalter said. "The hard work the people put into the performance was evident in every piece, whether or not the style appealed to me."

Martz liked observing the diverse dance performances.

"I liked being exposed to a different style of dance. I tend to think of dance in terms of ballet, tap and jazz. The choreographers used the different genres of performance art to create pieces that I am not used to."

Sophomore Kathleen Ferraro, a performer in the seventh piece, "Bite," felt the ensemble turned out well.

"My favorite part about performing in the Contemporary Dance Ensemble was the fact that we got to work with the costume department to create our own costumes hand sewn for us individually," Ferraro said. "It was interesting to see how everything came together."