Courtesy of @conncolldanceseniors
As the 2024-2025 academic year comes to a close, three seniors within the Connecticut College Dance Department at last saw the “Light Near the End.” On April 18 and 19, Haley Lowenthal ‘25, Kesley Halio ‘25, and Bella Donatelli ‘25 presented their respective senior honors theses to a packed house, the culmination of a year’s worth of painstaking research, choreographic experimentation, and conceptual originality.
Those who make an effort to regularly attend live performance events are perhaps familiar with the ritual of the opening. Audiences are silently told when performance activity is set to begin; deducing the precise moment to turn their collective attention to the stage from the slow dim of lights, the descending volume of speech, perhaps the abrupt pause of a pre-show playlist. Lowenthal’s thesis, however, subverted any such expectation. Without warning, dancers began traversing the stage before the production officially began, catching viewers off-guard in an intriguing, choreographically counterintuitive opening. Suspense continued to build as dancers increased the complexity and force of their cross-space passes, leaving audiences in eager anticipation of movement yet to be seen.
Entitled “For Yesterday, For Tomorrow,” Lowenthal’s piece flew by as quickly as the final days of the spring semester continue to rapidly turn from future to past. A combination of jazzy audio, solo and duet moments, glimpses of lighthearted humor, and dynamic shifts in dancer musicality rendered “For Yesterday, For Tomorrow” captivating, bringing tears to many viewers’ eyes.
In particular, Lowenthal’s solo (danced by Abby Wagner ‘27) to Van Morrison’s tune “Stranded” proved especially resonant, taking ample space for moments of stillness between fully-embodied technical feats of grace. Wagner’s sudden pencil turns seemed to resemble a character teetering on the edge of the world, while her playful wiggles lended a degree of lightness to an otherwise contemplative, somber work. Elements of narrative storytelling within Lowenthal’s work reflect the choreographer’s supplementary written material, including a collection of poems termed “‘But’ — A Reflection on Existing as Self.” Lowenthal’s poetry discusses confusion and comfort of self-discovery, an inquiry into the roots of inner identity.
Halio’s thesis shared a different kind of narrative with audiences, conveying a personalized, scientific look at Parkinson’s Disease through an artful blend of athletic motion, verbal speech, and vulnerable storytelling. As both choreographer and performer, Halio herself began “Tremors of Silver ~ A Battle of the Brain” by telling the story of her grandfather. Whilst recounting her relative’s tremors, Halio allowed her own hand to shake back and forth in an unsteady manner, reappropriating a hallmark symptom of Parkinson’s as gestural inspiration.
Dancers in Halio’s thesis circled in and out of relationship with one another as the piece progressed, giving the impression of neurons similarly coming in and out of contact. Bursts of energetic athleticism from these “neurons” easily caught viewer attention, bringing transparency to the level of effort required to execute the piece. One repetitive headstand duet between Annabelle Breton ‘25 and Hannah Treiber ‘26 became distinctly satisfying to watch: a contrast drawn by Treiber’s forward exit from the position away from Breton. Later in the piece, the cast repeatedly caught and threw Breton out of a circle-shaped formation, perhaps nodding to what Halio describes as the “gradual loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the brain” behind the onset of Parkinson’s. Above all, Halio’s thesis championed her cause. Not only were facts of causation interwoven with movement, but a QR code was provided to encourage donations to “Kelsey’s fundraiser for Parkinson’s Research Through the Michael J. Fox Foundation.”
Around 40 minutes following the production’s official start, Donatelli’s “to be perceived” thesis closed “Light Near the End” on a high note—literally. Nine separate spotlights adorned dancers as they took the stage, an unusual lighting choice highlighting each individual’s unique physical interpretation of this choreographer’s choice of powerful, operatic audio. Donatelli employed near-identical musical selections to open and close the piece, returning to her opening formation in a conclusive display of maximized movement intensity.
Each transition between section breaks flowed seamlessly, permitting audiences to become lost in the work without interruption in visual or auditory stimulation. Multiple viewers could be heard after the show saying “they didn’t want the piece to end,” a testament to Donatelli’s engaging creativity and choreographic capability to—as the old saying goes— “leave them wanting more.” Cast members rarely moved in unison, empowering each individual to autonomously interpret given gestures. No matter where the viewer’s gaze fell, multiple elements always seemed to be simultaneously occurring (like the shadowy black figure carefully creeping behind a trio in unrestrained motion)—helping “to be perceived” to become an exciting experiment in how much the eye can perceive at any one moment.
“Autonomy” seems an appropriate word to describe Donatelli’s thesis, since this mythology-centric creation is, after all, grounded in pushback against persistent sexist narratives. “Mythology possesses inexhaustible social, moral, and ideological elements; reflecting cultures across the world and through time, each with their own evolving narrative,” explained the choreographer in an interview with “The College Voice.” “to be perceived is a work that attempts to combat and reclaim these narratives. Through comparative mythology, movement, and technology, this research seeks to unveil the prejudiced cultural subtexts, however obvious or obscure, impacting our day to day lives.”
Yet what could have inspired such a specified area of focus? For Donatelli, the answer lies in personal experience. “When I came to Connecticut College and took a class on the history of the Roman Empire, I realized how sexual, violent, and hateful their mythologies truly were,” Donatelli shared. “It was a horrifying wake up call…As a woman, an artist, and a classicist, it’s disturbing to see these hateful stories that I grew up with, disguised as fairy tales, predetermine my role in society and how I am to be perceived by others.”
It’s no surprise, then, that Donatelli’s goals for the work revolve around reshaping these tropes for the benefit of cast members and audiences alike. “As a choreographer, I hope to create a space for the cast members and audience to witness the ways we wish to be perceived in all our strength, power and vulnerability,” Donatelli revealed. “ …my cast and I worked together to create choreography and a structure that reflects their internal journeys and how they interact with each other as a collective community.”
From onstage dynamics to post-show hugs, close-knit community was evident throughout the entirety of “Light Near the End.” Congratulations to Haley Lowenthal, Kesley Halio, and Bella Donatelli on a successful conclusion to this huge endeavor—the dance department will miss your light for years to come.
