Students explored religion, art and all things dance before heading home for Thanksgiving break. The Terpsichore fall dance performance, held in the World Music Hall the weekend of Nov. 19-21, offered an eclectic mix of pieces and styles.
Terpsichore performs on campus once a semester, and auditions for both the core group and other choreographed pieces are open to all students. This fall’s brief program featured eight dances that encompassed a wide variety of music and multiple styles.
In “All Candles Blow Towards Jerusalem,” the choreographer Jacqueline Rubinstein ’07 prepared what the program described as “an exploration of several religions in comparison with each other.” Dressed in black, the dancers used simple white sheets of fabric to help convey the differences between religious groups. Mixing several songs and styles from different religious traditions, including early Hinduism/the Verdic Tradition, Jainism and Buddhism, Judaism and Gospel Christianity, Rubinstein effectively created an interesting and thought-provoking ensemble that completely engaged the audience.
The Terpsichore Core dancers opened the show with a well-performed and interestingly choreographed modern piece, and closed the show with the finale, a short but fun jazz dance complete with hats and ties, both choreographed by Hallie Dalsimer ’05.
“The performances went really well,” said core dancer Nell Bridger ’06 “It always helps when the audience is receptive…I received pretty good feedback overall. I think the show was short but sweet, and pretty accessible.”
Entirely student run, the rehearsal atmosphere was entertaining and free-form.
“The choreography tends to be a little last minute, but we always pull it together and manage to put on a successful show. It’s a lot of fun,” Bridger said.
“Untitled 11,” an intricate modern dance with flowing yellow costumes, choreographed by Pia Silva ’06 and Rachel Cohen ’06 to music by Erykah Badu was particularly popular with Laura Wilson-Tobin ’07.
“I really liked most of the show,” she said “It was cool to see so many people I know dancing who I never knew were even interested in it.”
In fact, for many of the featured performers this Terpsichore performance was their first dance show.
“We Mean No Harm,” a piece choreographed by Joe John Sanchez III ’07 and dancers, left the audience laughing with its rather different approach. Starting with a “tour” of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the audience was “led” through different paintings that came to life such as “The Last Supper” and “Looks Like Four of a Kind (Dogs Playing Poker).” Each painting was set to a different type of music, including George Michael, Divinyls, the Backstreet Boys and Diana King.
Molly Gaebe ’07 hilariously played Jesus in “The Last Supper,” complete with “walking on water” and other interesting dance moves. Gaebe said she really enjoyed performing in her first Terpsichore show.
“[It was] a lot of fun,” she said. “I loved the parody involved in the piece, and the rest of the dancers were great to work with, as well as Joe John, the choreographer. Joe John wanted us to contribute, and he often incorporated our ideas into the final piece.”
From Erykah Badu to Justin Timberlake, from George Michael to Jazz Jury, the Terpsichore dancers and choreographers performed an hour of fun and interesting material.
Leave a Reply