by Valentina Rojas

From the moment the audience entered the room, the environment was one of community and learning. Before the performance began, the dancers sat on the floor, stretching and talking amongst each other and smiling as they recognized audience members. The air was relaxed, and the dancers seemed excited to show the audience what they had learned.

March 27 was the second and last day of the Choreography Class’ showcase. The performance, which was more like a class than anything else, had basically one purpose; to show the audience what they had learned this year so far. Christien Polos, the director of the class, welcomed everyone warmly and jumped right into the first lesson with eagerness.

Polos began by reviewing what the class had begun with that year. He explained to the audience how he wanted to force his dancers, who all had come from different dancing styles, to open up their senses so they knew how to move, instead of focusing on technique.

Later in the show, Polos gradually introduced different techniques the dancers use. He explained to the audience how floating, gliding, slashing and punching can all be the same move, but can have many different effects. He had the dancers demonstrate the moves behind him as he continued discussing these basics.

He then had the class write their names out by using movements instead of words, and he then had dancers in the class give examples in duets, beginning the first choreographed dance pieces of the night. He explained to the audience that in order to teach this to the dancers, he had them create phrases and then teach them to each other and blend them to create a whole new piece/phrase.

The dancers then showed how they had learned to create relationships with movement by blending together all kinds of techniques. The first group, junior Johanna Kepler and freshman Ceci Cipullo, used fast and abrupt movements to create tension, in contrast to the second group, junior Anijah Lender and sophomore Ofri Arbel, who used gentle and floating actions to convey harmony and peacefulness.

Polos then had his independent study student, senior Hannah Weighhart, come to the floor and dance a piece she choreographed herself. His challenge to her was to stay entirely on the floor while dancing. She did this beautifully, starting off as though she was sleeping and slowly awakening, then inching up higher and higher off the floor with almost every movement, her feet pointed throughout the piece as she moved gracefully.

Polos’ next unit was based on the use of props. He challenged his students to use their props in every way possible except for their actual purpose. The first prop were bright green yoga balls, which, mixed with the music, created an intense synchronization of movements and color in the dark room.

The second prop was a sheet. In contrast to the quick energetic movements from the prior piece, the dancers moved softly, controlling it carefully instead of letting the sheet take the audience’s attention.

The fourth and final prop used was a bar. The dancers, Cipullo, freshman Mary Corcoran and Lender, used direct and tight movements. Matching the beat of the music, the dancers moved around the bar rigidly, and kept direct eye contact with the audience and giving off a supernatural alien feel.

For the last piece the entire class re-performed the piece they had done at the Martin Luther King Jr. Assembly, the famous “I Have A Dream Speech” playing in the background. The piece demonstrated to the audience how truly united the community of this class was. At the end of the show, Polos repeated this point to the audience.

“This community of trust and care is huge in this class,” Polos said. “Most classes don’t get the ability to learn off each other as much as they do, and not with this sense of community. No one gets left behind.”

Valentina Rojas can be contacted at [email protected]