Kent State's School of Dance Highlights Student Talent

Dancers embody grace. They put in a tremendous amount of effort to make movement look effortless.

As a result, they can glide across the floor, twirl around a million times in a row or float into the air so easily you would think they had super powers.  After this year's 2011 Senior Dance Concert at Kent State, I'm still not convinced that they don't.

The 2011 Senior Dance Concert and the Student Dance Festival took place in the Louis O. Erdmann and William H. Zucchero (EZ) Theatre in the newly opened Roe Green Center for the School of Theatre and Dance last weekend.  This is a "black box" style theater, which looks exactly like it sounds. As you walk inside you find four black walls, a black ceiling and a black floor. The stage is the floor and the front row is nestled close to a small lip that divides the stage from the audience. The setup provides an intimate atmosphere where audience members feel as if they are engulfed in movement and music.

During the weekend run, 18 student pieces were performed.

The first three pieces were choreographed by three senior dance students – Amanda Black, Katie Naso and Tamara Landry. This project is the final requirement for their degrees. The faculty artistic adviser for this project was Barbara Verlezza.

Each of these student dances felt polished and professional. Small details, like finger and heel placements, were visible because of the close proximity of the performers to the audience. The closeness added a nice layer to the performance because there was always something to peel your eyes for.

While each piece was very different in terms of theme, they all had a vague similarity. Each dance seemed to blend what I, as a layman to the language of dance, would call "traditional" dance moves and movement that comes from a place that feels more freely formed.

I felt as if this juxtaposition really tapped into our modern cohabitation with technology as many of the movements felt like they came from some sort of mechanical influence. This skillful placement of somewhat jerky or pulsating movements created an interesting tension with the fluidity of other parts of the dance.

The next set of pieces were a part of the Student Dance Festival where junior Dance Performance and Choreography majors as well as senior Dance Education majors choreographed a total of 13 pieces.

These dances were all created under the direction of faculty director Joan Meggitt and student director Sabatino Verlezza. I was enamored with the creativity of these pieces that seemed to go out on a limb without losing any refinement.

While it was apparent that these were students a bit younger, it in no way meant that they lacked any talent. Students experimented with motion, music and costumes in a way that felt free and alive.

In a piece titled "Tohopka Onatah," the dancers entered their animal selves, morphing animal movements with rhythm and dance in a delightful way.

"Muscle Memory" seemed to embody a short circuit (perhaps to the brain) as the dancers got a little crazy and some movements appeared as twitches and wiggles.

"Branched" used the dancers breath and footsteps as the only sound in the piece. This choice stood out beautifully because every other piece in the performance I attended included music. 

At the close of each performance, the three seniors got a chance to showcase their talents as they performed "The Encounter with Angels." This piece was created by guest choreographer Richard Brandon Hall and was dedicated to his grandmother.  

The dance was full of elegance and drama. Each dancer performed a solo where she jumped, twirled and extended into a graceful sweep of color and emotion. After such a skillful performance,  these dancers have definitely earned their degrees. 

In all, the 2011 crew in the Kent State School of Theatre and Dance is professional, talented and heartfelt. Future performances will definitely be worth checking out.