Life > December 6, 2003

By Scott St. Amand

Contributing Reporter

The university dance company’s Fall Faculty & Guest Artist Concert, held Nov. 21-23, was a tour-de-force through the ages of dance from the most classical, orthodox ballet to the interpretive modern and even a bit of Latin and hip-hop was included in the mix.

From the start, the audience was caught by the beat of Take Five, an effervescent number in which the dancer’s pirouettes and colorful costumes drew in the audience.

In the next piece, we were whisked back in time to the Kirov Ballet, a Russian classical ballet of decidedly Danish themes.

The costumes of the Markitenka hearkened back to dancing through the fertile alpine fields with the sound of a far removed shepherd’s horn accenting beautifully executed spins, jumps and pointe.

Breaking into the modern were the pieces entitled Push-pull and Working It. These two successive numbers were far cries from the classical ballet of the Markitenka, and indeed each held its own brand of unique style and appeal.

Push-pull had a subtle Asian theme, where Working It was a hip-hop and jazz infused number in which the music and consequently the dance style switched from jazz to Work it by Missy Elliott.

During the jazz flow, the style was more classical, whereas the dancers clad in black spandex with neon accents who performed to the hip-hop beats looked more like they were dancing at a beautifully choreographed frat party.

One of the many highlights in the show was the solo modern dance by freshman Presidential scholar Meaghan Lynch.

The solo was a very modern interpretive dance, and a piece of “paper” art by Cris Cristofaro added to the modernity and symbolism that might have been lost on the audience.

“Sometimes I wonder how people interpret modern dance,” Lynch said.

“It is sort of similar to the appreciation of abstract or surrealist art. Sometimes you can look at the picture of the movement and know that it just pleases your eyes, without even needing to know the meaning of why it was created.”

Rosa, Rosa, Rosa was a wonderful Spanish number that employed nearly the entire troupe of dancers.

The first part of the number was slow, whereas the second part of the number was steeped in flamenco guitar riffs and slap bass lines.

The spandex neon leotards and wispy bohemian sarongs coupled with the wonderfully synchronized dance made the number one of the most enjoyable out of the entire show.

The finale was the Grand Tarantelle. A classical ballet replete with pointe and synchronized leaps, this finale was the single most technically sound number of the night.

Each wave-like flourish of the dancers’ legs was like finely tuned clockwork — so technical, yet so truly beautiful.

If you missed this performance, don’t make the same mistake twice.