By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Winter Dance Concert “BiG Moves” ended with “In the Mood.” That buoyant tap number, however, represented just one of the many moods explored over the course of the hour-long performance.
The Bowling Green State University Department of Theatre and Film will present the winter dance concert, “BiG Moves” in the Thomas B. and Kathleen M. Donnell Theatre in the Wolfe Center for the Arts on the BGSU campus, Friday, Feb. 3 and Saturday, Feb. 4 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10, $5 for students, and $8 for seniors. They can be purchased in advance at bgsu.edu/the-arts/tickets.
As usual, the dance concert was bookended by exuberant tap dance numbers choreographed by director Colleen Murphy.
The dancers (Emma Brown, Payton Camera, Madeline Lindow, Corrianne Werning, and Mckinley Witt) in the opening number “So Good,” took Lady Bri’s lyrics to heart: “Keep hands a clappin’/ And your feet a stompin’/ you’ll be jumpin’ because it feels so good!”
The show ends with the Glenn Miller classic “In the Mood” that feels like a sock hop only with taps. (Justin Andrews, Rachel Bond, Ruby Brandon, Emma Brown, Maria Fallouh, Leah Lattanzi ,Claire Oliver, Ella Sidder, Morgan Ullrich, Mckinley Witt, and Regina Wolf .)
In between these high-spirited routines, the dancers touch on a chiaroscuro of emotions.
In “time’ the ensemble sets its reflection on the unrelenting demands of time to the music by Jon Hopkins and poetry by Colleen Eschweiler The piece is choreographed by Adrienne Letner and the dancers (Alejandro Alvarez, Rachel Bond, Ruby Brandon, Alexa Burak, Kate Hans, Jenna Hanson, Leah Lattanzi, Claire Oliver, Caroline Peek, Morgan Prachar, and Ella Sidder).
Also, choreographed by Letner and the dancers, “In My Blood” by Shawn Mendes is a reflection on the torment of depression and anxiety. (Jenna Hanson, Leah Lattanzi, Emily Ritchie, Morgan Ullrich, and Sky Yang.)
Sky Yang, Emily Ritche, Kayleigh Hahn , and Stephannie Gearhart, each choreographed and performed solo dances, each a personal meditation in motion.
A centerpiece of the performance was Tamara Metz Starr’s extended fantasy “Nowhere, and now, and here” with music by her daughter, Summit Starr, and Adam Wesley.
As with Starr’s other work, “Nowhere” has a whimsical surface over a deep pool of symbolism. The piece, which opens with a sequence of Starr chasing a butterfly, gives way to ghost-like dancers moving in front of projections of mushrooms. This offers a contrast between the fanciful toadstool that Starr is sitting on at the start and the beautiful grittiness of the forest floor.
“Nowhere” and the entire program benefit from the evocative lighting design of Steve Boone and Kris Weeks, who did the lighting design for three of the solo pieces.
The Bowling Green State University Department of Theatre and Film will present the winter dance concert, “BiG Moves” in the Thomas B. and Kathleen M. Donnell Theatre in the Wolfe Center for the Arts on the BGSU campus, Friday, Feb. 3 and Saturday, Feb. 4 at 8 p.m.
