Photos Courtesy of Sydney Bryant ’22
On Dec. 2 and 3 the Connecticut College Dance Department performed “Emerging” in Palmer Auditorium. The show included ten dances choreographed by professors, students, and two guest artists and displayed the hard work of talented student dancers from all class years. As a student who has attended almost every dance show performed at the College in the last four years, this show had many of the same styles as past shows, but incorporated new techniques that made this one of my favorites.
The show started with a bang. Choreographed by guest artist Jennifer Archibald, “Duty” fused powerful statements on feminism with militant drumming and soft piano, creating a clear picture of the weakness of feminism without intersectionality. My personal favorite part of the piece was a moment of unison early on when the dancers moved like warriors to the beat of staccato drumming. It was crisp and powerful. After speaking with other audience members, there was consensus that this piece had a different voice than the others and stood out as a fan favorite.
Three pieces choreographed by students Tali Sureck ‘23, Yeseri Rosa Vizcaino ‘23, and Zion Martin Hayes ‘23, for the fall Dance Club show were selected by faculty members to perform again. As the paper has already reviewed these performances, rather than discussing them again, I encourage you to read our previous article on the Dance Club show.
The third piece was another favorite. The Afro-Caribbean dance titled “Liberation Yearnings” was choreographed by Professor Rosemarie Roberts and moved away from the traditional styles showcased in the department. The music selection and story were beautiful and interesting to watch. After leaving their headpieces behind, the dancers braved a storm and tried to escape by running toward the end of the stage and abruptly stopping. The piece ended with a sense of togetherness as the dancers helped each other put their headpieces back on and move across the stage with a new sense of happiness. Personally, I loved this performance because I saw many new dancers I had yet to see in previous shows. It was clear that both the Afro-Caribbean and West African classes brought in new dancers, and from an audience perspective, this created more variety in the show.
Closing out the first half of the show was a dance entitled “Linger In the Limbo” by Professor Lisa Race. This piece featured a large group of dancers dressed in dark blues and was what I would deem “some of the same.” I will be the first to admit that I am simply not a huge fan of post-modern dance, which is the style traditionally practiced in the department and in this dance, but myself and others found this dance less interesting than the rest. There was a beautiful duet section with dancers Moqu Alqudah ‘23 and Bella Donatelli ‘25, which stood out as a favorite moment for all. However, with the exception of the poetry performed by Susanna Procario-Foley ‘23, nothing about this piece struck me.
Following Rosa Vizcaino’s piece after the intermission was Rachel Boggia’s piece titled “Trajectory.” This piece featured solely first-year dancers and showcased the various styles and personalities of these new dancers. A highlight for me was seeing Ariel Mayer ’26 show off her ballroom technique, with graceful steps and fantastic facial expressions that stood out from the rest of the piece. Although it was exciting and fun to see new faces and the talented first-year performers, much like “Linger In the Limbo,” this piece fell into the post-modern blur and felt somewhat disorganized. After discussing the piece with other audience members, I think there was simply too much scattered individual dancing occurring that made the piece feel less coherent than others.
Continuing his tradition of leaving the audience in utter confusion, Professor Shawn Hove’s piece, “looking for doors that are not there anymore,” followed the post-modern trend but was just wild enough to stand out. Dancers dressed in painter suits moved across the stage, yelling at each other and playing invisible instruments. An unforgettable moment was when Haley Michel ‘24 was dramatically lifted into the air where she hilariously played what appeared to be the invisible upright bass. This piece left me with many questions: Why painter suits? Why is Craig so sad? Why is there someone named Sour Patch? What was the dirt? …And so many more.
Closing out the show was a West African number choreographed by guest artist and Wesleyan Visiting Professor Iddi Saaka entitled “Together Again.” This piece was the fan favorite by far. The energy and excitement of the live drumming, yelling, and dancing together could be felt throughout the auditorium. Simply put by a fellow audience member, this dance was “pure joy.” A moment that exemplified this feeling for me was when Kelsey Halio ‘25 showed off her gymnastic abilities with a back walkover back handspring and Joel Embray ‘26 followed with a backflip, causing the audience to erupt in applause. The genuine smiles across each dancer’s face brought the dance to life and was clearly contagious as I looked around the audience to see people smiling, laughing, and clapping along. The joy felt in this dance brought the audiences both nights rightfully to their feet in a thundering round of applause.
Overall, this show was incredibly enjoyable to watch and showcased styles of dance that I rarely see explored in the department. Reflecting back on the many performances I have seen over the years, this is most definitely one of my favorites. Huge congratulations to all of the dancers, choreographers, musicians, and stage crew for an amazing performance!
