First year contemporary dance students showed a lot of talent, creativity and skin in the presentation of their first show, Spirale last Wednesday and Thursday night.
Dancers spun, crawled, leaped and jerked their way into the imaginations of audiences at the two packed shows. They performed numbers like Lentement, La Folie-the clockwork shuffle of shirt-and-tie clad wind-up dolls and Luau-a Polynesian themed piece with gangster hula girls and a delightfully bare chested tribe of Tiki men.
The performance had no running theme but the title Spirale was chosen by the organizing committee to represent the coming together of these new students.
First years don’t normally put on a show since they receive no official training in choreography until year two. This class, however, didn’t see any reason to wait. They have been collaborating since early last semester to choreograph and perform Spirale’s 14 solo, duet and group pieces.
Organizers said Concordia’s Contemporary Dance Department looks for students with a good artistic sense, rather than individual dance experience.
Though the dancers’ levels of training may have differed, inventiveness abounded from each piece. Some dances of note included the punchy solo Untitled performed to the music of X-Men by Sira Faye in a body-hugging white dress.
Creole Love Dance, a Hawaiian-style duet brought back memories of Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon getting down at the beach party. The timely Hijab made beautiful use of costuming in this solo performed by the graceful Kamala Brownrigg. And Once Upon Some Dust + Time was a group piece involving nylon facemasks that played out like a spooky dream.
It may not be too late to catch the first year dancers since they have submitted an application to the Art Matters, the student-initiated festival put on by the Faculty of Fine Arts.
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