Senior dancers take their final curtain call

Six dance majors showed off their senior projects this weekend. “Six in the City” was the culmination of their many years studying dance at VCU. The concert featured the seniors’ dancing pieces in which they choreographed.

Darby Pack’s piece “Roots” used simple and strong movements to convey a sense of cultural pride to the viewer. “Don’t loose the aesthetic of black hair. In the natural it’s beautiful. Hair maintenance is cultural,” was the refrain of the poem that was spoken throughout the dance. Many of the movements centered around the dancers touching and massaging each other’s hair. When Pack spoke about damaging and changing black hair the dancers flailed and looked pained. The words and movements were coordinated particularly well during the beauty parlor section.

“Parallel Distinction,” choreographed by Erica Collins, was a joy to watch. By the details of the piece it was obvious Collins had put a great deal of thought into what she wanted her dance to be about. Ballet, tap, jazz and modern dance were part of the piece. Collins did a great job having the dancers and the styles come into conflict and then work with each other. At one point, certain dancers would do the same steps in their own styles and it came across beautifully.

It seemed as if Jacqui Long was greatly influenced by Latin and hip-hop dance styles in “Slowly Healing.” Long’s dance was sexy and provocative. The dancers had a great amount of energy and love for the audience, which was obvious by the way they would slink around the stage. “Slowly Healing” went through three beat changes. It began with the dancers oozing sex, then became more solemn and tranquil and ended with a low-key seductive tone.

The placement and movements of the dancers in Jordan Livermon’s “fallingcaught” were reminiscent of an antique painting. The costumes, on which the lace trimming was all slightly different, added to the antique tone as well. One interesting part was when the group of women convened and then flipped two girls over the group. It was obvious that Livermon mastered what was appealing to the eye with her stage pictures. Toward the end, the dancers came to the center of the stage and stood at the edge while staring at the audience. On a certain beat they would all freeze in different positions and it looked amazing.

Bonnie Love’s “Out in the Rain” had dancers in sleek, black outfits communicating with each other. While one sect of dancers performed a routine, a pair would either argue or show affection for each other. At the end, two dancers were “arguing” and one of the girls dropped the other on the floor. The shadows and lighting accented the piece extremely well.

“The Greatest of Things” had a fun, flavorful side to it that balanced its epic nature well. Shavonna Cohen brought out the best in these dancers, particularly when they paired up with each other. The dancers’ bodies moved together very naturally and the first pair, especially had great chemistry. They were also great dancing with fellow males and females as well. The women danced toward each other swaying their hips. Then the men danced and leaped around to a fun, tribal beat.

These six women each showed a beautifully different dance focusing on how they have changed since first coming to VCU. At the end of the concert they came on stage and received a deserved round of applause for the love, sweat and tears they put into and received from VCU’s dance department.