Prime Movers showcase UNCG dance talent

The annual Prime Movers Dance Concert, produced by a student run organization within the Department of Dance, ran from Friday, Jan. 19 to Saturday, Jan. 20 in the UNCG Dance Theatre. Eight graduate and undergraduate students had the opportunity to show their works in a professional theatre setting for a packed house.

The concert opened with a group of four dancers clad in flowy, light-colored skirts and brown shirts. Get Up and Be Starting Again, choreographed by undergraduate Shaina Birkhead, made the dancers appear quite uniform. They flung arms and manipulated each other, seeming to want negative attention from each other.

A collaborative piece performed and choreographed by undergraduate students Kathleen Kerner and T.W. Newkirk, innocent bliss…or lack thereof, was about temptation. Whispered phrases accompanied the duet as they lifted and twisted around each other. Some audience members interpreted them to be portraying Adam and Eve, while others saw young lovers tempted by passion.

Fault Line, created by graduate student Madeleine Reber, was the highlight of the entire concert. Full of angry, fierce gestures, and set to a syncopated pounding musical score, the dancers resembled armies strategizing and exerting power over each other. Dressed in shades of gray and maroon, all 10 dancers were completely committed to their performance, and the choreography was inventive and memorable.

The sixth piece of the evening was ***5'4" and Waiting, by graduate choreographer Sara Ruth Geffert. Seemingly about a relationship gone sour, a central couple emerged as five other dancers floated in and out of their emotional orbit. The women were all dressed in aprons. Was this a sign of female submission? The central couple partnered with ease, the woman appearing to be a rag doll, tossed and put in her place. The work was full of hidden emotion and well developed theme.

Insomnia, choreographed by graduate student Jen Guy played with the concept of sleeplessness. Costumed in pajama-like pants and tops, the 10 dancers at first struggled on the floor, jerking around, trying to find the perfect position to fall asleep. Suddenly, the electronic music pulsed louder, and they were up, frustratingly pacing across the stage, eyes black from fatigue. Occasionally spiced with a moment of exquisite movement, the piece resembled a video game as dancers came in and out of audience focus, trying desperately to relax.

Other student choreographers included graduate students Julia Y. Edwards and Sarah Downs, and undergraduate student Melissa Jackson.

Based on audience reaction to the work, the concert was a success. Each piece had a unique flavor that contributed greatly to the whole of the production. Work created and produced by students should be supported even more than it is already, since dance students are at UNCG to show what they have learned. Congratulations to the Prime Movers organization for providing a venue for students to communicate their art.