Bring an open mind and head over to the Black Box Theatre on Saturday and Sunday for this year’s Fall Dance Concert. The shows start at 6 and

8 p.m. on Saturday and at 2 and 4 p.m. on Sunday.

The last dance event was held in Dance Studio A, but this year the dance concert is in the Black Box for the first time.

“It’s a more intimate setting and less crowded,” said Linda Sabo, associate professor of performing arts. “People can sit in chairs instead of on the floor.”

The concert will include six pieces choreographed by faculty members, including Sabo, Lauren Kearns, associate professor of performing arts, Cherie Bower, assistant professor of dance, and Safford Berry, Jr., adjunct assistant professor of dance. Berry is also part of the Chuck Davis Dance Troupe, one of the nation’s premier Afro-American dance companies.

The performance will also showcase students’ choreography pieces from this semester’s choreography class. In the last dance performance, students presented their unfinished pieces. Four of the student pieces were selected from that group and now those students have the chance to show their finished work. Those students include junior Amber Smith, sophomores Michelle Micca and Rachel Perlman, and senior Kristen Owens.

This year’s fall dance concert has artistic works addressing different themes in different genres of dance that include ballet, modern and jazz.

The show opens with a piece by Kearns called “Evening Shade.” She describes her work as one about a woman’s journey from despair and isolation to hope and community. It’s emotionally intense, haunting and beautiful.

Her next piece, “Swinging on a Bench” is athletic, fluid and about seeing, meeting and connecting. It’s an entertaining duet that’s both sensual and flirtatious.

Sabo declined to give some insight into her piece “An Enemy Within.” She wants the audience to take their own meaning, connection and response from the piece. For her, keeping an open mind while watching a dance piece is the most important part of connecting with the dance on stage.

“Don’t always assign a literal meaning to each movement,” Sabo said. “You can connect on a subconscious level. It might just give you a feeling.”

Sabo would like the audience to open up, relax and enjoy the concert. Look at dance like a painting. Enjoy it for its aesthetic beauty and walk away with a personal connection instead of an academic one.

“Modern dance is more profound,” Sabo said. “Because dance has the ability to move, you can connect with the person on stage in a more visceral way. You have the ability to move and feel and remember.”

Editor in Chief: Brittany Smith - 11/14/07