Despite cramped seating, the Senior Choreography Showcase left audiences wanting more. Eleven seniors choreographed a variety of styles of music with creativity and personality.
The most creative piece of the night came early in the show. Shumura Calvin, who named her piece "Kuumba," used a combination of costuming, movements and music to give the audience a taste of traditional African dance. The music by Bada I AMM and Mother Earth was strictly percussionists giving the piece a more tribal feel.
The dancers entered the stage carrying baskets of fruit on their heads and laying them in front of the audience sitting on the floor. Wearing neutral-colored wraps around skirts and tank-style shirts, the dancers never stopped moving.
Calvin kept the movements big, arms flying from one side of the body to the other and legs kicking out when they jumped. She also utilized the entire stage area by moving the dancers all around.
Audiences had to wait until the end of the show for two other highlights. The second to last piece had audience members bobbing their heads to "Trust" by Janet Jackson. Choreographer Tiffany Wright contrasted styles of dance by incorporating ballet in the begining and end of the piece while keeping with jazz throughout the music.
Wright began the piece with a six ballerinas warming up on the bar in black leotards and tights. The dancers' warm-up was disrupted by a new set of dancers, dusted in glitter with bright blue sparkly tops, ready for more upbeat moves.
Despite the fact that Wright unexpectedly lost two dancers for the final performance, the piece kept the audience clapping.
The final piece of the night, "Flood," which was choreographed by Diane Mueller, had already won honors. After Saturday's perfomance, "Flood" was chosen as one of two pieces to perform at "Dance! Dance! Dance!" in two weeks.
Mueller's depiction of Noah's Ark was set to "Flood" by Jars of Clay and "A Day Without Rain" by Enya. Six dancers were paired and dressed in greens, browns and beiges; and a second set of dancers was dressed in blue representing the water.
The piece showed the calm before the rain and the chaos of the storm. It ended with the six main dancers stacked, holding different colored scarves representing a rainbow.
The Showcase lasted two hours, but audience members were ready for more. The diversity in music and styles, along with some of the choreographers' creativity and originality, helped this audience member forget about the hard floor she was sitting on.
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