Gallery • 10 Photos

From the piece "Relinquish," choreographed by Mayra Hernandez and her Advanced Dance class. CLEO FALVEY / SAGAMORE STAFF

The lights dimmed, and the audience watched as dancers, illuminated only by the glow of the cell phones they were holding, walked onstage during the first dance of the night in Progressions 2016, which was called “Honey.”

Progressions, which runs from May 5-7 in the Roberts / Dubbs Auditorium at 7:30 p.m., combines creative choreography, artistic music and talented dancers, creating a strong and worthwhile show.

The opening piece, “Honey,” performed by dance teacher Christien Polos’ Beginning Dance class, featured an original element of tap dance interspersed with the dancers in bare feet — a mix of hip-hop and modern styles.

After “Honey” came the piece “Clever and Wise” by Kathleen Exar, which featured two sets of dancers in either white dresses or black patterned shirts. Jumping, leaping and spinning across the stage, the black and white clad dancers alternated formations as they performed to an upbeat electropop song by the xx.

“Bird Set Free,” performed and created by the choreography class, featured dancers in blue dresses who began their dance sitting in a v – shape and lifting their arms and heads in sync, creating an avian-like structure.

Mayra Hernandez’s Advanced Dance class created the piece “Relinquish.” The dance highlighted angular body movements and often featured one or two dancers moving in contrast to the mass of twenty other dancers.

“If I Had A Boat” was choreographed by senior Johanna Kepler and featured dancers from Cantico. Set to an acoustic, lyrical song, the performance offered a balance of a collaborative whole with individual jumps and movements.

Senior Lucy Abrams, junior Naomi Goodheart, senior Jessica Leipman, and sophomore Karin Pan performed the piece “Just For Now.” In the piece, the four dancers in peach dresses entered and stood in a horizontal line facing the audience. Throughout the piece, they broke into pairs, supporting each others’ lifts and extensions.

“Dew,” choreographed by dance teacher Mayra Hernandez, featured dancers in white jumpsuits lit by the bright purple light strips lining the stage. Smaller groups of dancers jumped and leaped their way across the stage.

Lastly, the piece “Medicine,” performed by the choreography class, finished the night. The highlight of the piece was when three dancers knelt down on the floor, creating a staircase for another dancer to climb. From there, the dancer did a trust fall onto four other dancers, who lifted her up over their heads and spun her around.

Over the course of the show, the dances both contrasted each other and worked together throughout a variety of setting and motifs.There were many different lighting and dance formations, but general themes of support and collaboration between artists tied the production from a series of unique pieces to a unified whole.