The spring Dance concert “Escape” was a sensation, as audience members ranging from college students to proud parents to dance enthusiasts came from all over on April 10 and 11 to take in this visual masterpiece.
Director Sarah McCormick arranged for the UTM dancers to perform in group work along with solo and duet pieces. When asked about the students’ majors to be involved in the Spring Dance Concert, McCormick explained that it is not restricted to Dance majors only.
“It’s mainly Dance majors; I had some minors, but there were several non-majors,” said McCormick.
McCormick also spoke on her method for choosing which dancers get to do which piece.
“The people who choreographed were all majors. In the spring I let sophomores and juniors choreograph,” said McCormick.
“I usually choose between three to four pieces. I try to give the dancers a chance to do something completely different.”
Along with working with the students, McCormick also offers them the chance to try new things. One piece in particular that sparked a new interest in audience members was “Stream of Consciousness” performed with a mixture of quirky items including a waving red sheet in the background and even rolling office chairs.
The dancers manipulated these chairs in such a way to create a very interesting dance; it was stunning as the girls appeared to swim or fly while rolling the chairs all around the stage.
“I wanted to do something whimsical. It’s called ‘Stream of Consciousness,’ and I was thinking about what that meant: so many things at one time,” said McCormick.
Although all of the pieces were beautiful and inspiring, one of the best dances was “Tears of the Saints,” choreographed by Emily Summerville.
Sophomore Communications major Christy Locke danced in this piece and also claimed it as her favorite; she has been dancing off and on for about six years. Locke said that the other dancers encourage her throughout the process.
“It’s a lot of fun. They help me along; if I don’t know how to do something they help,” said Locke.
It is hard to rank one dance over another when all are so beautiful and unique in their own ways. That is the art of it. These dances displayed honest expression in the most physical way. McCormick herself even dazzled the audience with her own solo piece “Feeling the Blues.” It was tight, bold and striking.
Overall, “Escape” was a beautiful show as the audience left with catharsis filling the aisles.
“I wanted a professional show, and I think that’s what we got,” said McCormick.
