The lights beamed down. Dancers strutted across the stage with the veracity of runway models. Their fashionable dresses caught the light in all the right ways.
And that was just the opening number.
This introductory piece from “Moving Visuals,” the Elon Dance Company Spring Concert, was entitled “Runaway.” It featured the choreography of guest artist Larry Keigwin and 14 members of the Elon Dance Company.
Inspired by visual art, the spring dance concert was born from the creative interpretations of art originating in nature and the observation of different artistic periods. The concert ran May 9-11.
Moving Visuals was comprised of eight respective pieces. Each of them had a unique visual style reflected through the lighting, music, costume design and choreography.
Following the dynamic opening, the show shifted into a more subdued piece inspired by Renaissance art. This piece, entitled “The Vigil,” was comprised of three students and choreographed by Jan Van Dyke, another guest artist. The three dancers, seniors Carly Flynn and Jessi Rexroad and freshman Fiona Koch, wore ankle-length Renaissance gowns that moved with fluidity and worked with the music and choreography to reflect the style of that period. The slow methodical movements employed in the piece left the audience wondering, “Is anything ever going to happen?”
The third piece of the first act was called “Voices of the Trees.” Jane Wellford choreographed this piece from inspired by trees. It was a four-part piece, each part employing the feeling and style of a different type of tree. Four different images of trees were projected onto a large screen behind the dancers. The dancers moved their arms and danced along with the trees, and as they came together toward the end of each part, they appeared to be a strong and unified forest.
Act One ended with an eerie piece by Renay Aumiller called “Acquiring Dawn.” The dance was inspired by Abstract Realism and Futurism and was set in a post-apocalyptic environment, complete with falling snow and an emotionally desolate feeling indicative of the bleak future imagined by the choreographer. Clad in short, simple dresses made of thick, sturdy fabric, the dancers brought forth a range of emotions: fear to isolation to a sense of triumph toward the end.
Act Two began with a vibrant and colorful piece called “Djealor,” choreographed by Jason Aryeh. Inspired by Pablo Picasso’s Black Period along with wooden African masks, this piece featured large, dynamic movements that filled the stage with life. The 10 dancers in the number wore unique unitards with bold tribal prints that accented the style of the piece. Their intrepid movements shook the theatre and the audience.
“Bent Blue” was the second number of the act. Choreographed by Jen Guy Metcalf, this piece gave the audience a lesson at the ballet bar, transferring the visual effects of Deconstructivist architecture to ballet technique. In the theme of deconstructivism, the dancers wore oversized men’s shirts that had been altered to fit their bodies in a stylish and elegant fashion. This unique approach gave classical ballet a refreshing makeover.
Then, the performance took a dive into the morose world that was Chris Burnside’s “Elegy for the Fallen.” It featured seven male dancers who, despite their technical abilities, severely stifled the buzz created by the previous piece. The First World War and artwork of Christopher Nevinson and Robert Neuman inspired the number. The dancers played the parts of soldiers dealing with some sort of conflict, propping each other up and, at times, turning on one another. Though it was intense and emotional, the content of the piece lacked depth and felt a bit cliché following the innovative works performed throughout the evening.
The Elon Dance Company definitely saved the largest piece for last. “Bare,” choreographed by Lauren Kearns, featured fifteen dancers and was inspired by the Minimalist Art Period. The piece began with only a few dancers at center stage. They were shrouded in transparent containers that hung from the ceiling. As they emerged from the encasing, the other dancers joined them for a lively performance that drew from the artwork of Eve Hesse and Agnes Martin. The active performance emphasized strong and complex rhythms, geometric body shapes and unremitting choreography that filled the theatre with sound and soul.
The breadth of credentials that accompanies the Elon University Dance Company is clearly visible in their performance of Moving Visuals. Though the show had its high and low points, it carried the audience on a journey as cathartic as it was entertaining.