The Choreographers' Showcase At Valencia.

Milin Huang
2/12/2015

The Choreographers' Showcase At Valencia.

Valencia College’s dance department presented a Choreographers’ Showcase in in it’s 17^th year of performances. It was held on Friday, Nov. 20th and Saturday, Nov. 21^st in Valencia’s East Campus Performing Arts Center. The performance was started at 8:00PM on both nights. 

photo from dance department 

 Designed to showcase student choreography, the Choreographers’ Showcase provides students with a creative outlet to show their work.  In addition, dancers from Daytona State College were welcomed to perform alongside Valencia College’s dancers.

As the night curtain fell over the sunlit sky, one after another the members of the audience, who were mostly Valencia students and their family members, entered the theater in anticipation of the ballet recital. The chattering buzzed with excitement, and as the lights dimmed to signal the start of the show, the audience sat in silence gazing at the stage.  In the darkness, the dancers appeared in file, and with the sudden flick of a light switch and the down bow of a cello, their dance began rippling from the stage.

The dancers combined graceful motions like birds opening their wings, and willow trees undulating in the breeze. Using their powerful limbs, the dancers sprung up into the air like fireworks bursting into the audience. The audience was hypnotized by their movements.

To conclude the first part, the dancers performed a piece entitled “The Riches” which employed money as a theme.  The music was infectious and the audience was fully engaged in the music, laughing, and enjoying the contrasting combination of traditional ballet and modern styles. After intermission, the dancers came back on stage to perform the opening act of the second part, entitled “Sweet Jealousy”.  Within the first two minutes, the music was suddenly cut off to audience’s surprise.  But, the professionalism of the dancers — who continued unfazed despite the technical difficulties and resetting when the lights were dimmed — and the understanding of the audience — who after the third reset and attempt by the dancers, delivered a well deserved applause when the music did not fail — left within everyone at the theater a sensation of camaraderie and awe.

For the final act, a large group of dancers came together to perform a piece with tribal undertones called “A Ritual Dynamic”. This piece was long enough to end the entire show, heating the air between the audience and dancers that wonderful night. “It was a really impressive show. Coming from my old high school ballet show, it was nice to see how much more disciplined the college level students are,” said one of audience members.