This coming weekend, The College of Wooster Dance Company will put on its annual fall performance.
The dance pieces follow a contemporary trend and explore themes of time, space and movement.
The concert is looking to highlight not only the dancers and choreographers from its company, but also student lighting design and the space in which the dances are being performed.
The fall dance concert has been performed in many alternative spaces throughout the years. Alyssa Wilmot, director of the dance concert, visiting associate professor of dance and an alumnus, said there was even a time when the dance company performed the fall concert in a dorm.
Keeping in line with recent traditions, the company will again be performing in the round for this year’s concert.† Unlike a proscenium arch stage in which the audience sits far away from the performers and only gets one perspective, the atmosphere of the round allows audience members to have a more intimate experience with each dance piece and forces dancers and choreographers to conceptualize for audiences on all sides.
Intended to be a way for audience members to delve deeper into the importance and understanding of dance and its creation, Wilmot encourages audience members to take into consideration that dance and movement are capable of communicating.
Many of the pieces performed this weekend will tell a story, act as an outlet for personal expression and emotion or act as a physical investigation of the elements of dance.
Where some of the pieces may have abstract meanings or concepts, forcing the audience to be insightful, others may be quite obvious allowing the viewer to remain more passive.
Also setting this year’s fall dance concert apart is the number of new choreographers. About two-thirds of the dance pieces were composed by students.† Watching a first time choreographer can be an interesting experience, according to dance major Lindsay Phillips ’11, “the first few years a person choreographs their influences are very clear which I think this is the case with this concert.”
Audience members will be able to see the unique take on dance these new choreographers have and the risks they are willing to talk. Phillips is looking forward to the reception of all the strong and diverse dancers within the company.
Many of the choreographers this year have chosen to dance in their own pieces, which she believes is something that can make a dance piece even stronger. “Regardless of their technique, choreographers tend to dance their own work best since it comes from their bodies and their minds,” Phillips commented.
The performance will take place on Friday, Nov. 19 and Saturday, Nov. 20 at 8:15 p.m. in Freelander Theater in the round.
You can look forward to seeing works by Phillips, Mara Bartlett-Asenjo ’11, Nana Boamah-Acheampong ’11, Maria Cox ’12, Adriana Maxton ’13, Ellie Lawrence ’11, Owen Renyolds ’11, Darius Dixon ’13, Aaron Yi ’12 and Cathy Trainor ’11.† Also, Wilmot will be presenting a dance instillation.
Additional reporting for this article by Madelyn Halstead.