2008 Woodie Awards
Moving Stories brings passion to the stage
Luanne Linares
Issue date: 11/29/07 Section: Life!
The weekend of Nov 15-17, the dance department gave emerging choreographers the chance to showcase their original choreographed works and demonstrate to the audience, the dance faculty and themselves, just how far they have come in dance and how innovative they can be.
The show, Moving Stories, was a ten act montage of pieces not held together by any specific theme except the power and grace of movement. Each choreographer utilized the space in their own way, highlighting their own movements, or those of the other dancers they selected for their pieces.
In addition to the different styles of movement the choreographers chose to demonstrate, their emotions also took on a wide range. In the hour and half show the audience experienced sadness, anger, fear, surprise and love - all brought out through the imaginations and talents of the students. No matter their choice of expression, all the choreographers made sure their unique messages were conveyed. All of the pieces had an energy and life to them, whether it was through the movement, the emotion or even the costumes and lighting.
Brandon Girouard '08 chose to work the emotional route with his piece and, acting as the soloist, he danced alone from his ensemble. His movements were very strong and defined in anger while his core moved gracefully behind him in complete unison. It seemed that he was trying to distance himself from them literally, and figuratively he was trying to break the addiction to conformity. The audience was mesmerized by his determination and passion for the message he was sending.
Will Porter '08 had a message for the audience too, but unlike Giroud's, it was more humorous. A ballet inspired by the life and death of Mozart, played by Lindsay Munz '10, the movement was staggered and random, and illustrated the isolation of Mozart against the fluidity and life of the ensemble behind her. The audience laughed at the exaggeration of Mozart, but saw that behind the humor was the idea that in death, art is forgotten, an idea that Mozart seemed to understand all too well.
The show, Moving Stories, was a ten act montage of pieces not held together by any specific theme except the power and grace of movement. Each choreographer utilized the space in their own way, highlighting their own movements, or those of the other dancers they selected for their pieces.
In addition to the different styles of movement the choreographers chose to demonstrate, their emotions also took on a wide range. In the hour and half show the audience experienced sadness, anger, fear, surprise and love - all brought out through the imaginations and talents of the students. No matter their choice of expression, all the choreographers made sure their unique messages were conveyed. All of the pieces had an energy and life to them, whether it was through the movement, the emotion or even the costumes and lighting.
Brandon Girouard '08 chose to work the emotional route with his piece and, acting as the soloist, he danced alone from his ensemble. His movements were very strong and defined in anger while his core moved gracefully behind him in complete unison. It seemed that he was trying to distance himself from them literally, and figuratively he was trying to break the addiction to conformity. The audience was mesmerized by his determination and passion for the message he was sending.
Will Porter '08 had a message for the audience too, but unlike Giroud's, it was more humorous. A ballet inspired by the life and death of Mozart, played by Lindsay Munz '10, the movement was staggered and random, and illustrated the isolation of Mozart against the fluidity and life of the ensemble behind her. The audience laughed at the exaggeration of Mozart, but saw that behind the humor was the idea that in death, art is forgotten, an idea that Mozart seemed to understand all too well.