Author: Paula D. Davis

Unterbűhne
Choreography by Guest Artist Elizabeth Corbett

This piece, choreographed by guest artist Elizabeth Corbett, was intended to represent the dance studio and the variety of personalities and approaches in the dance studio during class. This was expressed by having some dancers in white tutus, black tutus, and the standard wrap practice skirt.

Ready or Not . . .
Choreography by Katelyn Tsukada ’11

Senior Katelyn Tsukada used this dance piece to explore the world of dreams and youth visualized in the costumes through flowing pastel pajama pants and tops. As the piece turned more serious the dancers removed the tops to appear more vulnerable in camisole leotards.

Outwardly Gazing
Choreography by Kelsey Tangel ’11

For this piece, Kelsey wanted dancers that had a pedestrian and individual feel. She also wanted texture and layering yet wanted the dancers to also have some elements that unified them. I showed her a photo I had taken the previous summer in Scotland of a shop window which she loved. I then was able to purchase clothing that replicated the look but yet also kept the clothing danceable.

The Love Project
Choreography by Professor Kelly Knox

For this concert Kelly had conceived of a several section dance piece that dealt with the theme of love. Because the piece was multifaceted and dealt with a variety of perspectives of love I wanted a neutral design that still had some aspect that was specific. I came up with white dresses originally inspired by images of flowing white laundry drying on lines as well as a dream that I had. But within this “white field” of love I used many fabrics with lots of textures to evoke the layers and textures of love.

Low
Choreography by Guest Artist Michael Yasanek

For this work, about relationships, we chose to use contemporary pedestrian clothing. We wanted the mood to be dark and emotional and chose dark rich colors. This dance has one of the most beautifully evocative and saddest section of dance I have ever seen.

Frequencies
Choreography by Guest Artist Michael Neenan

This dance was a remount of a section of the work for Neenan’s company in Philadelphia, Ballet X. For our version we revised the costumes to be more appropriate to college dancers and also gave it more color than the original gray tops and bike shorts from the company’s version.

Co(n)ven(t)
Choreography by Professor Dustyn Martincich

Professor Martincich worked with our resident Toni Morrison expert, Professor Carmen Gillespie, in basing this dance on the Morrison novel, Paradise. Dustyn’s work frequently deals in character and how movement as well as costume can define and express a character. The challenge in dance is to strip back those individual costume character elements so that the dance and movement can speak unfettered. We used a soft rayon print that would move well. We then overdyed the fabric in reds and blues to represent the women from the town and from the “convent” and then added bits of antique crochet lace to differentiate each individual.

Peripheral Visions
Choreography by Professor Er-Dong Hu

For this dance Professor Hu and I wanted to create two distinct looks for the two different sections of the dance. In the first section we wanted volume on the bottom and for the second we wanted the emphasis to be on the upper torso. I created a dance/skirt pattern in which there is a sort of pant interior construction but the exterior reads like a skirt and made it up in silk crepe de chine. For the second look we kept the sienna and umber color palette but added in some brighter golds and teals to create hand painted tunics in silk. We then added in dashes of metallic bronze. The one man in the piece was dressed identically to the women.

Emerge Anew
Choreography by Sara Fenstermacher ’08

After already collaborating with Sara on one piece we had a wonderful collaboration for this piece. There was a sadness and also powerfulness to this piece. I thought that the really warm colors and bold horizontal color blocking in dance dresses out of slinky really heightened the emotions of this exceptional student work.

Siren
Choreography by Guest Artist Michael Foley

For this piece, we were inspired by ancient Greek statues and dress and the colors of the Aegean.