Image Courtesy of Sydney Brian.
On the weekend of Feb. 18, Connecticut College dance students of all class years choreographed and performed their own unique pieces for the Student Works Concert, held every spring. The show featured eight dances, including five solo performances, two duets, and one group number. Each dance was choreographed by one or two students who expressed interest in choreographing and attended feedback sessions with Dance Department faculty members to refine their work.
“We follow some of the principles for feedback created by Liz Lerman, a choreographer from DC. Essentially, people say what they see in the work in a neutral, non-evaluative way,” Dance Department Chair Heidi Henderson shared. “Choreographers can ask questions of the viewers, to specify what they are working on or struggling with. This method creates a supportive atmosphere.”
The Student Works Concert was a truly collaborative show. Not only did students serve as choreographers and performers, but they also assisted as production managers and crew members. The students taking Professor Shawn Hove’s Dance Production class this semester even designed the concert’s lighting.
Mary DiMaggio ‘22 choreographed and performed a solo dance titled “Treehouse.” She began the dance lying on the floor, and stretched in a candlestick position, while dressed in a brightly colored and patterned outfit. These elements established the dance’s themes of youthfulness, joy, dreaming, and balance. She was also inspired by “funky-shaped trees in the arbo” when creating her dance. DiMaggio intended for her piece to look like “a dance performed in a treehouse under the stars, with the audience watching through a window.” She described the style of her dance as “modern for the most part, focusing on smooth movements with some sharper hits as well.” DiMaggio reflected on her choreographing experience, “to start with one idea unsure of where it would go, and then develop that idea over time to create a dance was a very cool experience, and it was interesting to see where different ideas came into play within the dance and compare the finished product to where I started.”
Corinne Robbins ‘25 also choreographed and performed a solo dance called “fare you well, land lovers.” She danced in silence at the beginning and end of her piece, with music playing in the middle portion. The lighting design in Robbins’ piece was unique, and created an image of an ocean. When asked about her style of dance, she said, “I would describe my style of dance to be mainly contemporary with some modern…for my piece I focused on the concepts of losing control after feeling restrained, and returning back to what’s familiar.” She was inspired by a piece her two sisters performed a few years ago. One of her sisters danced while her other sister read her original poetry. “Their piece was about my mom, who she is and who she is expected to be, and it used a lot of ocean themes and large movement. I wanted to create choreography based on the story they told, and my personal reaction to it,” Robbins shared.
Jocelyn Lewis ‘24 and Emily O’Brien ‘24 choreographed and performed an untitled dance to the classic song “When I’m Sixty-Four” by The Beatles. Their collaborative piece had a fun and lighthearted tone. Their humorous gestures and movements allowed the audience to sense a dialogue between the two dancers.
Yeseri Rosa Vizcaino ‘23 choreographed a lively dance that she performed with Hisa Amaya ‘23. The dance was set to upbeat drum music and the two dancers wore white dresses with flowy skirts, which they utilized in the choreography. The dance is very personal to Vizcaino, who hoped to celebrate the life of a close family friend she lost last year. She drew inspiration from the Dominican celebration “Fiesta de Los Palos,” which honors Catholic saints and the anniversaries of family deaths.
Bella Donatelli ‘25 choreographed and performed a solo piece titled “Zenith.” Donatelli’s dance included several impressive turn sequences and highlighted her control and flexibility. In her program note, she wrote, “This piece explores the concept of the distortion of classical lines, shapes, and movement in general. Throughout the process, I found an interesting juxtaposition of control and freedom within movement.”
The concert’s final dance was choreographed by dance major Mary Fitzgerald ‘22 and performed by a group of six dancers: Alyssa Bodmer ‘23, Chloe Davis ‘25, Genevieve Kuhlmann ‘22, Molly McGovern ‘22, Susanna Procario-Foley ‘23, and Zoe Zitner ‘24. Each dancer began the same dance sequence at different times, creating a sort of ripple effect, and the dance finished in unison. In her program note, Fitzgerald explained, “In this piece, I was really interested in exploring how information changes as it goes from person to person, and what the implications of those changes are.” Ethan Chin ‘25, who designed the lighting for Fitzgerald’s piece, said “Mary’s timeless piece really stood out to me with the idea of individualism coming together to form something bigger. I was able to use effects throughout the piece to subconsciously draw the audience’s focus at specific times to emphasize the way each dancer performs their combination.”
Henderson expressed, “Although the whole thing is super quick, less than a month to make a dance, the process is thoughtful and kind, the results are collaborative, exciting to watch, and the whole atmosphere creates community.” The Student Works Concert was a joyful and inspiring celebration of dance and student creativity. The Dance Department’s next performance is the Senior Capstone Concert on April 21, 22, and 23 in Palmer Auditorium.
