REVIEW: Defining Movement

Tuesday February 21st at 7 p.m. Washtenaw County Community College’s (WCC)  Dance4Unity resident dance company performed their choreographer’s showcase, Defining Movement. The show was held at WCC’s Towsley Auditorium, a really impressive small auditorium, perfect for intimate shows like this one.

The evening showcased the original choreography of the dancers in Dance4Unity. There was a range of dance styles showcased, with several hip-hop numbers, and a few modern/contemporary pieces as well. The show was aptly titled, as each student choreographer was given the chance to define movement in their own way, through their own original work. It was really wonderful to see students so inspired by movement, expressing themselves through dance. That students showcased their own personal expression through movement choreography on stage for an audience is really wonderful and inspiring to me personally, as a dancer and aspiring choreographer. I often feel too critical of myself as a dancer and a choreographer that I keep myself from choreographing or showcasing my choreography out of fear, but the bravery and openness of the students in this show really impressed me and inspired me to be braver in sharing my creativity through movement as well.

That being said, though the show was really strong in a variety of interesting concepts, many of the dancers’ technique was lacking. However, there were a few dancers that really stood out, like a male hip-hop dancer who performed a solo in “Second Chances”, a piece to Justin Timberlake’s “Losing My Way”. His movements were both sharp and on-point, and smooth and emotive. He could have used more of the stage, but overall he was a really impressive hip hop dancer. Another dancer who caught my eye was a female contemporary/hip-hop dancer who performed in “Chasing Memories”, a really innovative dance set to acoustic music, in which three people walked across the stage, as if they were walking down the street in every day life, then they froze, and she began dancing in a very mechanical way, posing and hitting certain points in the music, creating beautiful contemporary shapes with control and articulation. The dance conveyed a very interesting concept, and she danced beautifully. There were also some really great dancers in the hip-hop ensemble that performed several pieces in the show. However I sometimes felt that in these pieces the choreography was lacking innovative movements, and that the dancers could have used the stage more, creating different formations and using traveling movements. And with the heavily mixed music of today’s club hits, and the frequent booty-shaking, I couldn’t help but think, “This is the stage, not the club!” Most people can dance in a club, I knew these dancers were capable of higher performance-quality movements. I would love to see them raise the bar and work toward this in their next performance.

There were also a few pieces in which it seemed the student choreographers were not taking the show seriously. It was hard to believe they were allowed to have a place in the showcase. For instance, in “Tainted Love” two girls dressed in lingerie and garter belts, one in a bondage-type outfit, the other a french maid outfit, both leaving little to the imagination, danced a gothic bellydance number, to a heavy metal version of the song “Tainted Love”, with a man tied to a chair on the stage. I don’t recall seeing any actual bellydancing, but they did do a lot of crawling on the floor and prancing around the man in the chair on stage. It was very inappropriate and held no artistic value whatsoever. Another dance, a solo called “Everybody Boogie” was also questionable, and could have been emitted from the show. A woman danced around the stage as if she was dancing around her house with the radio on for several minutes. It was very drawn out, and did not appear to be choreographed in the least bit. It was great that the showcase gave everyone a chance to perform, however it sacrificed quite a bit of merit in allowing individuals to perform in the showcase who did not put time and serious effort into choreographing a dance.

All in all, Dance4Unity did a wonderful job in putting on their choreographer’s showcase, and I give them kudos for being creative and expressive through movement! It’s wonderful to see what nearby colleges are doing in the arts, and I will certainly be on the lookout for more performances at WCC.