Movements and Mountains

MSJC, May 7-9 2010

MSJC's annual spring dance concert was, as usual, a pleasure to attend. The night consisted of mostly lyrical and modern pieces, with tap and talented belly dance to break up the routine. Though the student-dancers obviously feed off each other and follow the same trends, their pieces, for the most part, still hold one's attention. Also, the concert is helped a lot by the faculty's dances, which are mature and creative.

The four lyrical pieces featured good performers, but each of these dances were either melodramatic or didactic. Themes included domestic violence and troubled or unrequited love. The choreography was very angst-ridden and adolescent, with lots of pushing and pulling, doubling-over, hands to faces, and whipping of the hair. "Untitled" and "The Path We Lay Before Thee" stood out for starring more talented dancers, and debuting a somewhat more original movement vocabulary. "Vice Versa" included a few good holds, but otherwise the men in these lyrical pieces had very little actual dancing to do. The costumes for these dances were also all the same: flow-y, knit tops paired with black spandex shorts. This costuming aims for a casual look crossed with dancing clothes, but because of its ubiquity, it ends up looking unoriginal and dated.

Sue Roginski, who holds an MFA in dance from UCR, presented one of those artistic not-sure-you'll-ever-get-it improv pieces. It featured dancers shape-shifting in lines, building choreography one move at a time, and walking and running while matching their paces to their fellow dancers.

"One More Time" was entertaining and fast-paced, but somewhat inconsistent in its internal logic. Leaders emerged from the group at certain parts of the song, but then they melded back in and nobody else replaced them. Also, there was supposed to be variety in the costumes, but it didn't work. Two outfits were very similar in style, and another one was drastically different (sort of a green bikini with strips hanging off the bottom) -- these choices distracted from the piece.

"Covert Operations," by Julie Freeman, also a graduate of UCR's dance department, was partially performed before at another concert. This vivacious, athletic piece is worth seeing again. "The jacket piece" features a group of women wearing sports jackets and sunglasses, running around the stage, sliding the glasses down their noses to check something out, leaping into a crouch, and stripping off slacks to reveal primary-colored capris! Occasionally, a man on a scooter glides by for laughs.

"Spotlight," the sole tap piece, combined three drastically different songs and styles. The first part featured country tapping to "I Feel Like a Woman." This piece was more low-key than the others, and unfortunately its music was played softer than the other sections; this subtracted from the overall piece. The second was a jungle-y, wild tap-dance to a song from the "TARZAN" soundtrack. The third was section was a pure hip hop solo, in tap shoes, on grating. This wonderful performance stole the piece from the other sections and performers.

"Dinner for Two" was also a different kind of dance; its dancer-choreographers created a piece with a cool, original blend of Latin and modern dance. Besides the great movement vocabulary, this piece also had talented dancing on its side.

Overall, the original moments outweigh the students' cliched choreography. MSJC's dance concert is a great event for people to attend if they are hunting for art in the San Jacinto Valley.