Students from the annual Spring Dance Concert perform “Sing! Sing! Sing!,” choreographed by ballet teacher CK Shelley Cook.
Each and every spring, the annual Student Dance Concert is performed in the Paul Mellon Arts Center. It is the culmination of a year of hard work by the dance faculty and students, resulting in a two-hour production that goes on twice. This year, the concert featured 17 dances choreographed by students, dance faculty, and guest choreographers.
The show opened with a piece by Dance Company’s co-President, Lily James ’17, “Whist.” Her dance was prefaced with a short clip of her explaining her process of choreographing. She mentioned that the process was very collaborative and that the help of her dancers was crucial to the creation of the final dance. The song used was “Still” by Seinabo Sey. It was a fresh and upbeat tune that set the perfect tone for the rest of the concert. The costumes were simple, comprised of white flowy shirts and black shorts. The dance was a lyrical piece, and the 22 dancers were graceful in all their jumps and turns. Kitan Ayeni ’19 stated, “Lily was an amazing choreographer, and it was really cool to see people with varying levels of experience come together to make such a fluid piece.”
Another student group to grace the stage was Hip Hop Club. Its 21 members were clad in camouflage t-shirts and black leggings. The music was a medley of various hip-hop artists including Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Missy Elliot. The transitions between each song were seamless, and the group used a number of triangular formations in their piece. All of the movements were precise, sharp and in sync. The audience was entranced, and people everywhere were moving to beat, as if under a spell cast by the rainbow lighting.
Choate was lucky enough this year to have the help of professional dancer and choreographer Lacina Coulibaly in choreographing a dance for select members of the Dance Company, “We Are Then I Am.” His piece was accompanied by the song “He Ran All The Way” by Bobby McFerrin. The song’s rapid drum beats and clicks influenced the dancers in their brisk movements on the stage. One very interesting moment in the dance was when the music faded to a complete silence, and the dancers shuffled in a diamond shape until the next song began. The piece was unique and allowed room for interpretation in the audience.
This year’s dance concert included a mixture of student and faculty choreography.
Zara Harding ’18 contributed a new dynamic to the Choate community with her piece, “Dip Low.” It featured the Jamaican style of dance music, Dancehall. Both “Jet Blue Jet” and “Pon De Floor,” songs by Major Lazer, provided strong and electrifying beats. Harding utilized a number of different formations in her piece. The costumes consisted of black tank tops and shorts with a flannel shirt tied around the dancers’ waists. The piece was a hit with the audience, receiving outrageous applause. Emily McDermott ’19 said, “The piece was a really great experience for the audience to view a new style of dance from a different culture.”
Another popular and complicated dance was “Trappist 1.” The piece was choreographed by the Thursday Dance Company in collaboration with Emily Lutin and was a “group effort” according to Katie Lee ’18, who explained the dance in a video played during the performance. The song accompanying the dance was “I Miss You” by Ta-ku. The backdrop for this dance was the work of Dilan Bozer ’17, a visual arts concentration student, who created video art to be played behind the dancers. It was bold, with saturated images of eye irises, jellyfish, roses, and other colorful objects. All of the elements of this piece combined together creating something that was reminiscent of an “artsy” pop music video.
The final dance of the night was “Sing! Sing! Sing!” with choreography by dance faculty member, Shelley Collock. The costumes, which were created with the help of Deighna DeRiu, were typical flapper dresses in a variation of colors, and the song for the dance was “Sing, Sing, Sing” by Benny Goodman. The ensemble danced in front of a blue backdrop with transparent white splotches. The dance was a high note and the perfect way to end the night of entertainment.
This year’s Student Dance Concert was nothing short of amazing. Jalah Scott ’20 commented on the whole production saying, “It was really fun to work on the project from the beginning to the end. It was really cool to work slowly from the beginning of the year and build up a presentation for the entire school.” All of the hours of hard work put in by the students and faculty translated on stage in the well thought out and captivating dances.
