Dancing can convey emotions through movement. In a duet performed by students, they tell a story of grief.
The dance “Shadows and Light” was choreographed by Director of the Dance Program and assistant professor Kathy Diehl and performed by senior Rena Ruiz and sophomore Mallory Christopher.
During the American College Dance Association Conference (ACDAC), adjudicators, students and teachers from around the region gathered to watch and perform 40 dances. There were four adjudication concerts in total, with each containing 10 or 11 dances each.
The adjudicators watch and take notes on the dances, though all they know is the title. They are not given the names of the dancers, choreographer or even school, so there is no bias.
“They’re giving you as much objective feedback as they can about what they’re seeing in the work, they’re evaluating choreography and performance. They’re looking at things through the lens of academia or scholarship around dance. It’s not a competition, it’s a sharing of artistic works, and then getting feedback on that from professionals in the field that you can then take into your next rehearsal,” Diehl said.
After all performances were seen and given feedback, the adjudicators then chose 10 performances to showcase at the Gala Concert.
The Colorado Mesa University (CMU) Dance Program attended the ACDAC to perform, and received exceptional feedback. The first excerpt of “Shadows and Light” was one of the pieces selected for the final concert.
Diehl is in her second year at CMU and in her first year as Director. The duet was one of many dances Diehl has choreographed for her students. It first premiered at the New Horizons Dance Concert, a dance performance that went from Feb. 16-18.
“It was a really big honor. It’s a big deal because we’re a small program and it was a very quiet, contemplative dance. It was unusual in the scheme of other dances that were presented with 15 or 20 dancers on stage, but our duet was still able to shine through. I am so proud of [Ruiz and Christopher],” Diehl said.
Ruiz stated that she was honored to perform Diehl’s choreography and proud of her and Christoper’s success. Christopher added that it meant a lot to tell a story of grief through their dance.
“It’s about overwhelming feelings of sadness, grief or despair; the really intense lows of life. We only performed the first excerpt [for ACDAC], the end of the dance does come to a lighter tone and we bring more dancers on stage. But the beginning is very sustained. We always talked about how waves move; you can’t really control the wave when it’s coming, and it just takes you over or takes you under, and that’s the feeling that it was based on,” Ruiz said.
“Shadows and Light” featured “Boat Song” by Meredith Monk, but contained moments of silence where the dancers were still performing.
“It didn’t really hit me until we actually started getting in our costumes. Then I was like ‘oh, this is actually happening.’ I was very grateful for the opportunity that we got, it was so surreal, especially on stage. It’s a beautiful theater with the entire dance community in attendance. There were people who were pioneers of dance and they’re watching and cheering for you. I got off stage and I was crying, it was just very emotional,” Christopher said.
There is one final concert being presented by the CMU Dance Society this semester. The pieces being featured will be exclusively choreographed by students.
“We’re holding it in the studio to showcase that beautiful space. It’s a really fun place to perform because the audience is much closer to you, which feels really nice as a dancer,” Diehl said.
