14 student-choreographed pieces came to life in the Mabel Brown Room on the nights of Dec. 7 and 8 as part of the annual Choreography Showcase.
The event featured dance majors and minors from Professor Cynthia McLaughlin’s research and choreography class. Student-choreographers consisted of the upperclassmen in the course who crafted the pieces throughout the semester.
The performance opened with senior Sylvan Williams’ piece titled “Bummer and Lazarus,” which told the tale of two dogs and their playful journey.
“It’s a cute, little, true story of these two dogs in San Francisco in the 1860s in a time when the city was overcome with strays and the problem really reached a point where civilians were encouraged to trap and poison unclean dogs,” Williams said. “Bummer and Lazarus were exempt from these laws because of their companionship and devotion to each other. It just captured the hearts of San Franciscans and cemented them into the history of the city.”
Over this past summer, Williams studied abroad in Antananarivo, Madagascar and saw first-hand similar situations that Bummer and Lazarus faced in San Francisco. “I saw dogs in varying states of life and death, starving dogs, dogs with mange, all these horrible things,” Williams said. “I also saw dogs being dogs, just playing with each other and running around … I saw kids making toys out of deflated balloons and scraps of twine laughing and playing with each other … Those two aspects really connected with me, how people or animals in really difficult situations are still able to create a life of joy for themselves and the people they love.”
Following “Bummer and Lazarus” was junior Ally Parenteau’s “Essence,” which followed the aspects of lucid dreaming. Next was senior Samantha Parks’ piece “Form,” which had a focus on “how the dancers’ bodies looked in space with each other,” according to Parks.
Parks said her choreographed piece was inspired by a dance exercise she executed over the summer at a choreography workshop.
“You would imagine that you are in a cube, and each corner and edge of the cube would have a letter of the alphabet, and then from inside the cube, you would spell out specific words with the parts of your body, hitting the different parts of the cube,” Parks said.
Through her research for the piece, Parks found a study where r e s e a r c h e r s were “tracing [where dancers’] movements went and they were creating letters and numbers and symbols out of that. If they were fast and sharp or if they were curving and slow and it made different thoughts.”
Other pieces featured throughout the performances were student-choreographed by juniors Maya Mahoney, Marinna Toth, Faith Daley, Abigail McBride, Mackenzie Casperson, Alex Walton, Molly Clouthier, Ashley Lary and Allyson Crisa. Seniors Olivia Powell and Analisa Palla also choreographed their own pieces.
McLaughlin said the group of studentchoreographers this year were dedicated throughout the entire semester. “You have a class of 14 students where they’re all there every class and it’s a tough class, it’s a lot that is asked of them,” McLaughlin said. “I feel like it’s a group where everybody’s in really fully. E v e r y b o d y ’ s showing up really fully so that’s exciting, it fosters that sort of culture which is great.”
Mc L aug h l i n added, “I feel they’re all paying attention to pretty profound and sometimes dark things [we are] grappling with as humans on the planet and I really applaud them for being willing to approach material that’s daunting often … That takes a certain kind of care especially with the other people you’re working with, keeping everyone connected in that way.”
Nicole Dumont can be contacted at
ndumont@kscequinox.com
