A mad hatter circled a convulsing woman dressed as a man while a small boy wearing pants made of puffy white feathers twirled across the stage: an unusual cast of characters confronted a rapt audience.

The opening piece of the Fall Faculty Dance Concert, performed last Friday and Saturday night during Parents’ Weekend, was consistent with the overall feeling of the evening’s varied performances—a diverse display of colors, sounds, and movements that came together to create a lush, multi-faceted experience.

The Fall Dance Concert is an annual showcase at the ’92 Theatre in which the Dance department faculty direct, choreograph, and perform original pieces. In the past, it has offered a broad range of styles, and this year was no exception. From riotous, grass-skirted West African dancing to subtly beautiful solo performances, the show was a sampling of the possibilities of dance.

“Players,” directed by Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance Kim Root and choreographed in conjunction with Visiting Artist Darla Stanley, was by far the most political and thought-provoking of the works in the show. Throughout the piece, Stanley’s movements were unhappily inward-looking, convulsive jabs of legs and arms. Root circled her, vying for Stanley’s attention, transitioning quickly between comical knee-slapping, flapping, and sleeping motifs. The dance took on an increasingly heartrending mood after Stanley exited, returning as a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Root stated that “Players,” though its initial vision was not political, developed themes related to the war in Iraq, addressing Root’s role as a passive bystander of the conflict.

“The piece became an exploration of my own culpability, of America’s culpability, and it attempts to expose some of the players in their various roles,” Root said.

Whereas “Players” was intellectual and introspective, “SWOP! Circa NEW MILLENIUM (A fusion of Swing and Hip-Hop)” was pure fun. Choreographed by Visiting Dance Instructor Ronald Burton the piece began with spotlights on Burton and his partner Shani Borden doing stop-action poses. These movements quickly transformed into an athletic and highly choreographed partner dance.

The West African Dancers, meanwhile, drew viewers into its frenzied world. Accompanied by a large group of drummers, the dancers pranced on-stage, rocking back and forth and throwing their arms out in front of them. Both the performers and the audience were wrapped in the pulsing beat of feet, drums, and swaying skirts.

Kate Heller ’09, a dancer in the show, was not at all nervous about performing in front of peers and parents.

“Performances are great because getting all decked out in the traditional dress really helps get me into the spirit of it all,” Heller said. “This performance was especially fun because I didn’t feel any pressure. We were all just up there having a good time together.”

“La Nuit,” a piece choreographed and performed by Jody Sperling ’92, succeeded in creating its own individual sensory world. Shrouded in voluminous black fabric, Sperling twirled around the stage, allowing the low blue light to play across the rippling surface of her cloak. Slowly and dramatically, she removed her outer layer, revealing a full-skirted, gem-studded dress that shimmered as she spun. Finally, with undivided attention from the audience, Sperling stripped to a skimpy leather bra and shorts, dramatically donned a pair of sunglasses, and stared up into a sudden beam of light. Radiant and defiant, Sperling ended the piece by rejecting the encumbrance of the cloth whose beauty she had just lovingly explored.

Professor Root enjoyed the diversity of the nights’ many dance performances.

“I liked the balance of pieces and the variety of styles presented,” Root said. “It is a nice representation of the kind of dance that goes on in the Wesleyan Dance Department.”