Author: Paula D. Davis

(e)merge
Choreography by Professor Dustyn Martincich

The dancers in this piece were exploring their own identities through this piece and created collages that expressed their many sides, experiences, expectations, and pressures. I then elaborated on their collages and in the white panels of their red skirts each dancer had elements from their own collage. These were sometimes more dimensional items or they were two-dimensional images created and printed onto special iron-on printer paper and then applied to the fabric

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Peripheral Illusions
Choreography by Professor Er-Dong Hu and Kourtney Ginn ’12
Assistant Costume Design, Shimra Fine

Professor Hu really wanted to work with “saucer” tutus for this piece to create interesting shapes both front and back lit. Our challenge was to find the right materials to really make the tutu very flat. And to get just the right color.

We Would Give Anything for What We Have
Choreography by Christina Oddo ’14

For senior Chrstina Oddo, we were looking for a very stylish and sleek contemporary pedestrian look. I was able to shop this piece on-line but then so fell in love with the gray silk pants with tuxedo stripes in a print that when I could not get enough of them in the right sizes I ended up making a couple more pairs!

In the Mood
Choreography by Professor Dustyn Martincich

. . . was inspired by classic jazz music and dance. Dustyn and I looked at images of 1950s jazz dance idiom and costumes to inspire the glittery tops with beaded fringe and the pink elbow length gloves.

A Choreographic Offering

. . . is a classic modern dance work by the renowned José Limón. The piece was set by a representative of the Limón foundation and the rehearsal direcotr was Professor Kelly Knox. The usual design used is dance dresses for the women and pants and tops for the men. Color choice is open and so we were able to use a group of existing dresses and then built some additonal dresses and the tops and pants for the men. These all had to be dyed extensively to create the total color pallette.

The Shadow of a Woman
Choreography by Professor Dustyn Martincich

Film Noir. Mystery. Women in 1950s inspired dress coats. Men in suits with fedoras. And a lot of smoke and low key lighting.

La Morte Approche
Choreography by Guest Artist Melissa Bobick

For this choreography, guest choreographer Melissa Bobick was interested in themes of grieving and approaching death. Together we explored imagery of the plague in the Middle Ages. The costumes were then designed to suggest another time period with accents of red to represent both death and the deep feelings of losing loved ones and facing one’s own mortality.

LINK TO PEER REVIEW OF DANCE CONCERT

Lone Windows
Choreography by Professor Dustyn Martincich

A full length dance piece based on the art and times of Edward Hopper. I also danced a small role in this piece–my first time onstage in 30 years!