For four nights in a row, the department of theater and dance will artistically invade Pickard, providing the Bowdoin community with a variety of student dance pieces for their final spring show.
This year, the department split the spring show up into two separate recitals: Program A, which consists of the pieces from the department's repertory courses and independent studies, and Program B, which includes both the department's pieces and works by eight student dance groups.
This semester's three independent studies were inspired by Dance 270, "Choreography for Dancers," a class offered this past fall.
"We imagined that [Choreography for Dancers] might someday become a year-long sequence, so this was our trial to see what the student response would be to that course," said Senior Lecturer in Dance Paul Sarvis. "Three of the nine decided to continue as a cohort group to do independent studies. They're moving through this hand-in-hand."
These students—Rakiya Orange '11, Lily Bo Shapiro '12 and Kelsey MacEachern '10- have worked all semester to create three very different and distinct eight-to 12-minute pieces.
Orange's piece "Unconventional Flocks" is an exploration of movement through the world of birds and the patterns they form in the sky. Orange studied birds' migration patterns, communication, and natural habitats in order to generate the movement she created. The piece consists of four dancers, including Orange, and four other Bowdoin students.
"I came to the idea of using birds when I was trying to find music and I came across the M.I.A. song, "Hussel", that has bird sounds in it. I thought it would be really cool if I could use birds as my point of reference. I chose to make each of my dancers a particular bird," Orange said.
Shapiro's piece "descend/LOOP" is a study of repetitive movement that, according to Shapiro, "is based on falling in repetition." Shapiro's piece also includes five dancers, though she herself is not a dancer in the work.
Incorporating light into her choreography, Shapiro said she worked in the design elements of her piece as well by mixing her music and designing her own light motifs.
"For my choreography, I researched body work and the tension your body holds without you knowing about it," Shapiro said. "I also looked into the physics of falling, the infinite loops in computers and internet codes."
Merging her leadership in the student ballet dance group, Arabesque, with her independent study in choreography, MacEachern created a modern ballet piece called "Summertime" with music by George Gershwin and Billie Holiday.
MacEachern is also performing in "Liberatango," a duet lyrical piece with dancer Kathryn Savasuk '11 that will be performed in both the A and B program.
Described by Senior Lecturer in Dance Gwyneth Jones as a "wild romp with a prop," Dance 112's piece "Sure As I'm Sittin' Here" focuses on movement around a prop. In contrast, "Foul Play," the work of the dancers of Dance 212, according to Sarvis, "plays with the idea of the referee and with the idea that in sports, the referee is a part of the overall choreography." Dance 312's piece "Quadrille" is a dance for eight women with music by Invert, an unconventional string quartet.
EleMental, Taiko, Pivotal, Anokha, Obvious, Kokoro, and Intersection will perform along with the department show pieces in Program B. Traditionally, the Dance department hosts student dance groups in the semester shows once a year. This year's interest was larger than ever, with 13 groups auditioning for eight spots.
"The dance groups auditioned and we looked for a representation to different approaches and purposes," said Sarvis. "There's also consideration for the audience. The idea is to show audiences the greatest breadth, making a show that is balanced with the texture of the pieces, rhythm, and duration.
Josh Magno '11, lead choreographer for EleMental, expressed enthusiasm for the new A/B Program.
"I have really gotten to bond with different groups. EleMental and Obvious has always had a very good connection. A lot of people think we have competition, but we really totally back each other up," said Magno. "There's a lot of camaraderie."
Student interest in the group EleMental has increased dramatically since last year, causing Magno to make both stylistic and logistical changes for the group.
"We kept describing the group as lyrical hip-hop but we never really explored our lyrical end of that spectrum until now. I really wanted more of a lyrical, very emotional peace," he said.
The group will dance to "Stolen" by Boyce Avenue.
By supporting independent student dance groups as well as three independent studies in choreography, the department of theater and dance is exposing the Bowdoin campus to a large variety of dance forms. The hiring of a new professor, Charlotte Griffin, and the introduction of an intermediate ballet course in the fall promote the growth of dance as a greater presence on the Bowdoin campus.
"I feel like this dance show is completely different. From what I've seen since I've been at Bowdoin—especially because of the independent studies," said Orange. "I think they really mix things up and people will really enjoy it."
Program A will be performed Friday night and Program B will be performed Saturday night. Both performances will be at 8 p.m. in Pickard Theater.