Shadows and Echoes was unique because it showcases the choreography of Dance MFA students. The show consisted of four very different pieces and an intermission.
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| MFA Spring 2013 dance concert, Echoes and Shadows poster. Courtesy of CSULB Dept. of Dance website. |
The first piece entitled "The Wrecking Project" was a project that all of the current MFA students worked on and performed. The MFA students took choreography that dance faculty member, Gerald Casel, had previously created. They broke it down, rearranged it, and made it their own. This created a unique dance full of unexpected performance choices. The most memorable aspect of this piece was that the dancers made noises, spoke words, and even screamed at points throughout the ten minute dance.
Following, was a trio choreographed by Alison Hart entitled, "Panties and Pathologies". The piece was set to the famously known song "Love to Love You Baby" by Donna Summer. The opening began with one dancer on stage in her bra and underwear dancing about the space. Underwear then slowly begins to fall from the sky as the other two dancers enter (also in bra and underwear) and they start moving together in a diagonal movement phrase that consists of partnering and floor work. The dance progresses and more underwear falls from the sky. The three dancers start layering by putting more and more pairs of underwear on. After they have almost every single pair of underwear on they begin the diagonal movement phrase again and the piece ends. This piece was enjoyable to watch, and was kind of funny in the sense that some of the movements the dancers did were movements that women secretly do everyday while getting ready in the morning. Like shaking your legs, trying to decide what pair of underwear to wear, and checking yourself out in a mirror.
After a 15 minutes intermission a piece choreographed by MFA student Liz Curtis entitled, "Enso" was presented. Liz had a strong cast of dancers that presented smooth repeated movements that were circular and endless. The six dancers did not move in unison but in a way that was still very connected. Liz did an excellent job of choreographing multiple things onstage at once, but it was not too overwhelming to the audience. The partnering was very intertwined, nonstop, and smooth. The movement had a sense of being into the ground, which gave the dancers more stability. As a viewer you could watch this dance over and over again and never get bored because there were so many layers and movements within the piece that you could focus on. Overall very enjoyable, beautiful, and pleasing to the eye.
The final piece by choreographer Maggie Phillips is entitled "As One". This piece had a large female cast that moved in complete unison or like the title "as one". The feeling the audience gets from this piece is almost eerie in a sense due to the fact the dancers all had black veils covering their faces. As the dance progresses the whole cast runs onto the stage and lifts the veils for a final section of strong unified dancing. The ending section of the dance was very entertaining to the viewer. One of Maggie's dancers Meghan Magoun, a third year dance major, really enjoyed working with Maggie Phillips and performing her choreography. "I like the adrenaline of knowing anything can happen at any moment but you have to keep going," she says happily recalling her performance experience. "It's all worth it in the end."
For more information about CSULB's Department of Dance and upcoming performances visit their website at http://www.csulb.edu/depts/dance/.
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