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Dance Department Dazzles with “Degrees of Disarray”

The Connecticut College Department of Dance recently presented “Degrees of Disarray,” a series of senior capstone performances. T

The Connecticut College Department of Dance recently presented “Degrees of Disarray,” a series of senior capstone performances. The performance was a culmination of a semester-long senior capstone for dance majors. Dance majors had the option of either having a piece set on them by a choreographer of their choice or of choreographing a piece on a cast of their peers. The dance majors, under the guidance of their senior faculty adviser David Dorfman, produced the show. Those who chose to choreograph their own pieces held auditions, created ten minutes worth of choreography, and designed their sets and costumes. Together, the nine graduating seniors named the show. Initially, they considered “Entropy” but decided the term was too obscure. Eventually, they decided on “Degrees of Disarray,” a reference to the wide array of movement the show included.

The show featured student choreography and performances by Grace Bradley, Kelli Carlson, Emily Chin, Marissa Chura, Maddy Dickey, Kelley Fairman, Emily Green, Sénait Judge-Yoakam, and Augie Sherman; guest choreography by Kellie Ann Lynch, Derrick Yanford, and the Kate Weare Company; and faculty choreography by Shani Collins-Achille, David Dorfman, and Truth Hunter. Their performances embraced a wide array of artistic expressions. Through original soundtracks, spoken word, lighting, costume, and, of course, movement, these performances embodied all that the Connecticut College Dance Department has to offer. The assortment of choreography enabled the dance majors to make political statements, to question themselves and their environments, to dream and to remember, and to enjoy movement. In a description of her piece, titled Hive X, Kelley Fairman explained, “this piece emerged from apprehension. Where are we headed? What will we be when we get there?” Fairman used her capstone project to explore the concept of surveillance societies to create a high-intensity, erratic piece. In comparison, Sénait Judge-Yoakam choreographed To Whom it May Concern as a “love postcard/letter/note to many different people, places, and moments.” In the question and answer session that followed Friday evening’s show, Judge-Yoakam explained that her capstone performance was, in part, inspired by an injury she suffered last semester. Fairman, Judge-Yoakam, and others used their performances to further explore or channel different aspects of movement.

Degrees of Disarray” also featured a piece choreographed by Professor Shani-Collins Achille and Truth Hunter. Achille and Hunter choreographed We are Sons and Daughters of a Slave, But Children of the King for the students of West African Dance Repertory. The class travelled to Senegal over spring break to train and perform at the Ecole Des Sables and with Bakalama Dance Company. In the piece they performed, the dancers utilized images from the transatlantic slave trade, student and professional percussionists, and Contemporary and West African Dance to recognize the marginalized experiences of enslaved Africans during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. This powerful piece complemented the senior capstone performances and added greater meaning to the show’s title, “Degrees of Disarray.

For some of the senior dance majors, their capstones served as their final choreographic contributions for the foreseeable future. Some of the majors plan on going into admissions, event planning, interior design, computer science, environmental economics, and research. For others, their capstones provided a step towards their future dance careers after graduation. Some plan to pursue professional dance careers, while others hope to earn masters in dance therapy, choreograph, or open studios and teach. After four years of rigorous dance, development, and exploration, the dance majors deserve a final round of applause for their incredible performances.

 

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