Members of the SMU Meadows Department of Dance perform “Pithecanthropus Erectus,” choreographed by Danny Buraczeski, Wednesday evening, inside the Bob Hope Auditorium as part of the department’s annual Fall Dance Concert. (TYLER WILLIAMS/The Daily Campus)
Running through Sunday, Meadows School of the Arts annual Fall Concert gives the Meadows dancers a chance to showcase world-renowned professional choreography. The event is a stunning display of leaps, lifts and lighting. It is the highlight of the fall semester for the dance program and should not be missed.
The recital’s opening act, entitled “Pithecanthropus Erectus,” is a modern jazz routine that derives many of its moves from the prehistoric era. The dancers, clad in tan Neanderthal-esque outfits, dance in a choppy, robotic fashion. Even though the number’s theme may be exciting, the music is dreary and may have been better suited for the middle of the production. However, the number continues with a stunning solo by dancer Albert Drake. The solo gave the monotonous number well-needed excitement.
The show’s second act “Alraune” is a compelling display of the incredible partnership between dancers Sidney Anthony and Harry Feril. The stage’s lighting and design allows the dancers to be the focus, beginning with the two intertwined with each other and making the audience perceive them as one being. Anthony gracefully struggles to be released from her partner; however the story allows the piece to encompass an array of appealing lifts that highlight Feril’s strength and Anthony’s flexibility. During the Wednesday showing, the end of the routine was met with a “Yes!” by a mesmerized audience member. “Alraune” is the night’s true gem.
The show continues with a chilling routine titled “Hello, Night.” The number features an all girl ensemble costumed to look almost evil in long, flowing dresses. With a stage dimly lit and shrouded in fog, the dance features haunting approaches from the backstage resembling ghosts. One of the highlights is when soloist Jasmine Black takes over the stage and faces her antagonist, Veronica Phillips. Both dancers exhibit an abundance of grace and ferocity in their parts and contribute an interesting story to the dance. While the ending may leave you asking what these girls symbolize, the piece is quite memorable.
“Beyond,” the concert’s next piece, features a number of dancers and their struggle with the unknown. The piece begins with one lone dancer under four solitary fluorescent lights and from the audience’s viewpoint, the dancer, Morgan Beckwith, wants out from under the lights. The music, perhaps the best of the night, plays a major role in the piece’s story telling. The ending shows one dancer bravely standing in the “unknown” and the others left prisoners under the lights, easily relaying the piece’s message of “uniformed life versus the unknown”.
The Fall Concert concludes with the African contemporary piece entitled “Daughters of the Cane.” The number features video, voiceovers and pictures spotlighting the lives of women and children who work in sugar cane plantations. Every dancer held what appeared to be sugar canes, and the dancers made the percussion beats themselves. The piece peaks with a brilliant solo by the talented Leah Mitchell with precise moves that carried strength as the music transitioned from tribal to a pop beat. “Daughters of the Cane” possessed the perfect amount of pace, sorrow, movement and skill to be a piece the audience is sure to remember. This show is one that should not be missed.
The Fall Concert runs through Sunday and tickets range form $7-$13.
