Wearing exclusively gray dresses, the dancers create moving hills with their swaying arms. The music seemed to be translated into every movement that they made — it was as though the music had manifested physically.

This year’s Progressions, the annual showcase of the dance classes and clubs, was particularly unique; it was the only Progressions that has ever premiered on Zoom and was the first in two years, due to last year’s canceled performance. Featuring various types of dances and emotions, the show was intriguing to watch and gracefully dealt with the technical difficulties that occurred.

The first performance, “Lucid Dreams,” was performed by freshman Allison Cutler, sophomore Sophie Dole, junior Jordyn Duncan, sophomore Kelly Park, and freshman Uma Zierten-Singleton. The dance was entrancing through its consistency in mood — the beat picking up and the different formations made it interesting to watch, especially with only five performers.

Contrasting significantly with the first piece, the songs “Dawndididawn,” “Painkiller,” “90’s Love,” “Sriracha” were generally more upbeat; it was performed by The Popcorn Dance club in three small groups and a solo performance by junior Yuki Hoshi. Performers danced in their own styles, and they seemed to have fun, ending in fun camera spins, excited looks and improvised ending positions that could make anyone smile. The goodbye sequence at the end gave a glimpse of their personalities which was all thoroughly enjoyed.

“La La Latch” and “24K Magic” were performed by Lux, a new dance club focused more on hip hop styles. It felt more uniform, clothes and all, and both were recorded together in person. The movements that depicted the actual lyrics were great, and the “finest shoes” brushing motion was especially delightful. Though there were shorter excerpts of dancing, there was a sort of sassy attitude that was particular to this performance.

There was an initial showing up to part of the “I Am” performance, which was the next piece, but the dances were staggered and glitchy. The show was stopped by Hernandez, who explained that they would run it once more in an attempt to fix it, and it was mostly resolved. In the end, a video was attached so that people could enjoy watching it themselves, which was appreciated; many virtual shows did not do that regardless of technical difficulties.

After the re-run, dueting with the song “Hold Back,” senior Lily Woodward and her dance studio friend Ana Matei put on a stunning performance. The most eye-catching thing was the skill of the filming, quite regularly switching between two places: a desolated concrete area with a sand floor and a grassy lakeside. The switches were clean and well-cut.

They presented a seemingly more expressive and showy type of dance. There were expressions visible through their faces and how they danced (where it paused, slowed down). It was full of jumps and big arm motions and was exciting to watch. The visible connection between the two dancers made it feel like a story.

Though “The Rising” piece also had storytelling, it was definitely darker and more abstract. It started off with the performers seeming disoriented and confused, looking around and at themselves. There was a ticking like a clock and with the scattered solos with turns and leaps, even ponchés. The formations definitely were more complex, and the two-ringed circle with a center person, in particular, was a favorite, reminiscent of the Target logo.

The performance was also hard to understand and felt sort of like “controlled chaos,” varying greatly, yet being quite consistent at the same time. The ending of a soloist dancing alone to finish in an unexpected pose was very interesting as well, and though it was all mind-twisting, it was fun to watch!

All the dances were very well prepared, especially under the circumstances. It felt like a summary of this year, specifically reflecting the different stages of being with other people: online, outside, masks on inside, at home, all of them were portrayed. Perhaps it brings a feeling of normalcy of the experience, but it also marks how different it was from past years, bringing to light a hope that this strange time will come to an end.