University dancers maneuvered and balanced their way through the past few months, choreographing, rehearsing and re-choreographing for the all-student-produced concert,
“Kinetic Intent.” The show opens tonight at 8 p.m. in the University’s Frances Dougherty Dance Theatre. Later performances will be Feb. 28 and March 1 at 8 p.m.
The concert comprises eight choreographic works, including graduate dance student Leslie Gallagher’s “Incarnation.” Four dancers will perform the piece — a tapestry of linear movement, improvisation and rhythmic manipulation with a Middle Eastern flavor.
Gallagher said “Incarnation” has transformed dramatically since she first conceived the idea last spring. When dancers performed the piece at last year’s Graduate Loft Series, it was set to music by Tool, a stark difference from its current, trance-like score by the band Hana.
Senior Philippa Anderson said her experience as a dancer in “Incarnation” has ebbed and flowed throughout months of rehearsals.
“Every choreographer that you’ll ever work with is really different,” she said. “That really shapes not only the piece but the whole experience. The process is really important.”
Anderson added that the tone of “Incarnation” differs from other dances she has performed in.
“This piece is very personal,” she said. “It’s not like other pieces I’ve been in where it’s about projecting to the audience. We’re focused on each other; the energy is more internal.
Energy abounds in senior Ruriko Aoyama’s theatrical dance, “Plunge Mania.” The choreography incorporates props such as plungers and a couch.
Senior Marco Davis will perform in both “Plunge Mania” and Emily Ross’ “(sometimes I have a hard time) Standing Still,” a lively, postmodern performance. Davis said he enjoyed both pieces’ extensive experimentation.
“I really liked the improv aspects of both of them,” he said. “It was fun because we just played around with a lot of different movement.”
Senior Edith Sumaquial said the theme of her dance, “In the Family,” was inspired by a Filipino folk dance called “Pandango Sa Ilaw.” The dancers in “In the Family” balance real lit candles on their hands as they move.
“It’s about grace and it’s about balance,” Sumaquial said.
She added that she is a first-generation Filipino-American and wants to bring attention to Filipino folk dance, which Americans don’t often see. Sumaquial said she also set out to fuse her cultural traditions with her own personality. This resulted in the traditional folk dance incorporated with hip-hop dance and modern music.
“I wanted to put in what my personality is now,” she said. “This is a big accumulation of everything good I feel I am at this point.”
Anderson said the concert showcases a myriad of personalities and dance styles.
“I just think this is a really good concert for people to come to because it’s really diverse,” she said. “It represents a tiny piece of the dance world.”
Anderson added that the concert is a once a year opportunity for audience members to view a show produced entirely by students.
“That aspect alone makes me happy for people to come and see it,” she said.
Tickets will be available at the door. The cost is $5 for students and senior citizens, $10 general admission.