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There is a concept in dance called unity: the organization of movements into a coherent whole, maintained by the natural flow from one movement to the next. Unity was perhaps a major theme of Progressions, the annual year-end dance concert featuring performances from all four full-year dance classes.

Every year, lower-level classes are placed toward the beginning of the show and higher-level classes toward the end so that each performance builds upon the complexity of the last. The individual parts differ, but there is a unifying thread throughout—the growth of the students into mature dancers.

This year, Progressions, which took place May 9, 10 and 11, was also marked by the forward movement of someone else: Performing Arts Curriculum Coordinator Lynn Modell, who will leave her post at the end of this school year.

Modell’s departure never took over the show, but on the last night, it was hard not to read a sense of loss in the yearning motions of the mournful “Are We Alone?” choreographed by performing arts teacher Christien Polos and performed by students in his Advanced Jazz/Modern Dance class.

The theme of that particular piece, however, is perhaps more accurately described as loneliness. Every time the three soloists (sophomore Sophia Moreno, freshman Morgan Lemos and sophomore Hannah Weighart) appeared in the corner of the stage, caught up in their own fragile spins while the rest of the dancers moved as one mass, one felt their isolation.

Likewise, in the sequence where a mass of other dancers reached for Weighart in desperate motions that made ocean waves of their arms, one saw the saddest truth of all: sometimes, the ones we love are calling for us, but in the depths of our loneliness, we cannot hear them.

A second piece, “Our Dance,” performed by students of the same class and choreographed by the students themselves, reprised this yearning for intimacy. Set to “The Dance” by singer-songwriter Charlotte Martin, the piece saw the dancers hugging their bodies inward to Martin’s refrain, “Why can’t you take me in your arms?”

The piece also evoked the theme of growing up. The dancers, all girls, wore white pastoral dresses that returned them to their innocence, and the dance often saw them rising from the ground in a reflection of their growth.

Similarly, in ”Optimistic Gridlock,” a piece choreographed and performed by the members of Modell’s Choreography class, the dancers fell to the stage again and again. But by the end of the performance, the soloists rejoined each other, moving together as one.

When asked what the members of her class wanted the audience to take from the piece, junior Imoh Udoh-Warren said it should be left to the viewer’s interpretation. Hers was that it celebrates the individuality of each girl. Mine is another commentary on growing up—that it is a communal journey in which we rely on each other’s support.

This review might over-emphasize seriousness in its assessment of this year’s performances. In truth, most of them were fun, not least of all the closing number. “Robotics (1987),” choreographed by Modell and performed by her Advanced Jazz/Modern Dance class, started off with a bang.

The lights went off. Not just the stage lights. All of the lights. The squiggly synths of “Situation” by the British pop group Yaz began to play. The dancers came out onstage dressed all in black, except for their hands and feet, which were outfitted with white gloves. Then—a ray of ultraviolet.

“Wow,” said the boy behind me, “it’s just like Tron.”

The dancers’ bodies were obscured, but under the ultraviolet light, their hands and feet literally glowed.

In addition to its use of visual effects, the piece emphasized its high-tech theme with slick, mechanical movements. To be clear, this was nothing like your annoying friend who tries to impress girls by doing the robot. Picture something a little more like Blade Runner 2: Do Androids Dream of Electric Boogaloo? and you’ll have the right image in mind: very ‘80s, a little bit camp, yet somehow effortlessly cool.

“Robotics (1987)” was not just Modell’s swan song—it was also her starting point, one of the dances she choreographed her first year here, as well as one she reprised many times in the years that followed. The ultraviolet effect was something she added the second time the piece was performed. Like her students, Modell found herself improving the motions and advancing her creativity the longer she worked.

Which brings us back to unity. In the reprisal of “Robotics (1987),” Modell showcased not just the growth of her students’ abilities, but of her own. She closed the loop of her career, and the effect was much like that of closing an electrical loop: a burst of energy and light.

Emma Nash can be contacted at [email protected].