Dancers Produce Creative Routines
'Ridiculously Good Dances' features strong dancers
Lauren Turlik
Issue date: 5/2/06 Section: Arts
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Most final projects and final exams at Trinity College require the student to write lengthy papers or take multiple-hour tests. However, the final assignment for students in Professor Lesley Farlow's course "Making Dances" showed their knowledge in a more creative and original manner. The students were asked to choreograph two separate dances. The first was a solo: the student being tested had to create a dance based on the talents and techniques of another dancer. This challenged both of the involved artists to incorporate the other's style and ideas into one fluid piece.
The second part of the assignment was more specific: the choreographer had to produce a duet or trio. The music was chosen for them and they had to include some sort of prop, which varied from a deck of cards, sleeping bags, cell phones, and a piano bench. Also, the dance had to have a section of partnering (two people dancing together with one supporting or at least touching the other) and a score (a set of instructions or guidelines that were different for each piece). The final result was a showcase of eleven final projects aptly titled "Ridiculously Good Dances."
As a whole, the performance had a very casual feel. The audience sat on purple cushions on the floor of Seabury 47 while the dancers and choreographers sat on the side, squished in one corner. Farlow multitasked by operating the lights and music while keeping her toddler entertained. Before each dance, the dancers would emerge from the audience and at the end, their classmates, and biggest fans, cheered and whistled for them.
The first performance was "In The Works," choreographed by Meredith DeJesus '06 and performed by DeJesus and Stefanie Pagano-Kor '06. This dancing duo has made several stage appearances together and continue to work wonderfully as a team. The piece began like a rehearsal, the two rehearsing steps and discussing changes. Soon, smooth jazzy music by Paris Combo began. DeJesus, as always, is the stronger dancer in the pair while Pagano-Kor contrasts with her delicate fluidity in movements and flexibility.
The second part of the assignment was more specific: the choreographer had to produce a duet or trio. The music was chosen for them and they had to include some sort of prop, which varied from a deck of cards, sleeping bags, cell phones, and a piano bench. Also, the dance had to have a section of partnering (two people dancing together with one supporting or at least touching the other) and a score (a set of instructions or guidelines that were different for each piece). The final result was a showcase of eleven final projects aptly titled "Ridiculously Good Dances."
As a whole, the performance had a very casual feel. The audience sat on purple cushions on the floor of Seabury 47 while the dancers and choreographers sat on the side, squished in one corner. Farlow multitasked by operating the lights and music while keeping her toddler entertained. Before each dance, the dancers would emerge from the audience and at the end, their classmates, and biggest fans, cheered and whistled for them.
The first performance was "In The Works," choreographed by Meredith DeJesus '06 and performed by DeJesus and Stefanie Pagano-Kor '06. This dancing duo has made several stage appearances together and continue to work wonderfully as a team. The piece began like a rehearsal, the two rehearsing steps and discussing changes. Soon, smooth jazzy music by Paris Combo began. DeJesus, as always, is the stronger dancer in the pair while Pagano-Kor contrasts with her delicate fluidity in movements and flexibility.
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