Quietly tucked away in the second floor of the auditorium is a small dance studio where on a rainy and thunderous Oct. 12, the students of several Dance 41 classes practiced their latest piece.
Full of fluidic and deliberate movement, the set looks to provide a piece that’s open to interpretation with a general theme of finding one’s path in mind.
“Sometimes we get off track and we have to find ourselves, find our way,” said Jessica Torres who is leading this particular set of nine students, “It’s a hopeful piece where everyone finds their way.”
One segment has several of the dancers walking along an imaginary rope and falling off, only to get up and keep trying or stop and take a moment to regather themselves from the fall.
Torres shared that there were a few different ideas for the set at the beginning of the semester, such as focusing on the light which then led into the current focus.
Breathing, more importantly taking the moment to actually take a deep breath and slow down as we try and find our way, is a critical focus in bringing the theme of the still unnamed piece to life.
“It’s still unnamed, at first I thought of Into the Light but as we did more and saw what the dancers could do it shifted,” said Torres.
The set is accompanied by a melodic tune called “Unspoken Words” by David Karagianis, whose work is characterized by an emphasis on the human condition.
Throughout the piece, the dancers could be heard breathing heavily and even letting out louder huffs to build and accentuate stress.
“We wanted it to be thought provoking and really resonate with our audience while still being open to interpretation.” said Torres, “We all have our own paths and struggles.”
Stress and de-stressing is symbolized heavily in the back half of the performance, where push and pull factors in our lives that induce these feelings are displayed by a trio of dancers pushing and pulling each other across the stage in a chaotic yet highly coordinated manner.
However, the piece also takes a moment to recognize that there are others in our lives to help us through these times, predominantly represented by the moment when dancer Christopher Martin picks up another, Aaliya Coreman-McNeal, holding her in a firm embrace.
“It feels like I’m looking down a path with numerous trials and there’s a light encouraging people, sometimes it’s another person, to keep moving,” said Coreman-McNeal.
This part of the choreography is rather representative of the bond the students have made as well.
During their breaks they would all congregate together and take photos of their time together, sharing stories with excitement.
One student, Bia Quintanilha, was out on Oct. 12 after having gotten into a car accident in the rain. She was unharmed but garnered concern from her fellow dancers which went to show the level of comradery between within the cast.
Even with Quintanilha off-set, the practice went well, much to the praise of Torres who was happy with the progress despite missing a dancer with a key solo segment.
“Each person has a spotlight at some point,” said Torres.
But one spotlight was Torres herself, who is pregnant, something which she says has been an interesting challenge to deal with.
“I can’t overly demonstrate now so it’s been humbling to have to explain better and take a step back. It really brought out the best in the dancers and has let them rise to the occasion,” said Toress.
There is an initial showing today in Q-113 at 6 p.m. The dance classes will all perform in an ensemble Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. and Nov. 12 at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the Auditorium of the Liberal Arts Campus.