Written by: Carli Molinelli

The University of Akron Dance Company (UADC) entertained and mesmerized audiences at E.J. Thomas Hall Saturday during the 2012 Spring Concert. Loud cheers, claps, standing ovations and confused faces in response to the bizarre story lines of the dances were given throughout
the night.

The dancers of UADC performed a total of four different and unique dances at the 2012 Spring Concert. The performances ranged from ballet, modern, tribal-inspired and even a comedy was mixed into a performance. The UADC 2012 Spring Concert was interesting, to say the least.

The night kicked off with a performance titled “Insectus Metamorphosis,” choreographed by Tom Smith featuring five different types of bugs on stage at various times.

The dance was a mix of modern and modern jazz styles. The use of arms and legs was emphasized and the space was utilized well. Each different bug group danced alone and at the end all the bugs came together to “metamorphose” into a giant bug distraction. Each bug group was clumped together and danced all at once, seemingly unorganized and poorly executed.

The best part about this performance was the costumes. The colors stood out and kept the
audience entertained.

“‘Insectus Metamorphosis’ was strange and extremely hard to follow what exactly was going on because of how everything happened at once,” freshman Danielle Lawery said. “There did not seem to be organization.”

The concert continued on and seemed to lower the audience’s expectations of the night with the next performance titled “Untitled (the gift).” This dance was contemporary ballet-based and it left the audience questioning what just happened.

At first, the opening portion began with five dancers on one stage with the dancers’ backs to the audience. A high point and low point of the dance occurred every second.

In dance, there are “high points,” or moments of climax where there is a lot of intensity. There can also be “low points” in a piece, where the movement and action is slower.

The pas de duex (duets during the climax of the performance) performed appeared to be the only moment in this dance the audience was dazzled by. Both the men and women dancers displayed high levels of technique with elevated jumps, stretched leaps and precise leg extensions.

There appeared to be a story to accompany along with the dance, but it was incredibly hard to decipher what choreographer Steven McMahon wanted to tell the audience with this performance.

The third number, “all and All,” is where the UADC outshined all. Tribal music blasted from speakers as the all-girl number shimmied, shaked and gyrated across the stage.

The dance was formed to resemble how Native Americans told stories using circles. The group formed a circle around the center person, who began to tell the story. The dancers utilized big arms and legs to reenact primitive movements as close as they could.

“The third performance was my favorite,” freshman Morgan Ward said. “I enjoyed it because it was tribal themed, which is something I do not get to see every day. It was also more of a sexy performance than
the other ones.”

“all in All” was easy to follow, and the choreography done by Tom S. Evert was beautifully simple. A canon style of dance was used on stage quite a bit during this performance.

“‘all in All’ was by far the most popular piece of the night because the dancing appeared to be more fun in this number than the others,” freshman Devon Kahl said. “The costumes were also very pretty; they all looked the same but actually weren’t.”

“Cracks” was the final number to take the stage. It was the longest choreographed number and was the only one to incorporate comedy sketches and dialogue into the performance.

While this performance attempted to think outside the box in regards to the comedy and dialogue, it turned out to be choppy transitioning and just baffling to watch. A good portion of the dialogue did not make sense. Two dancers were discussing putting their dog to sleep because it was sick. The dialogue simply fell flat.

The audience responded well to the dancer portraying a news anchor. She hammed it up on stage and made the entire audience burst out in laughter when
she walked on.

Overall, UADC put on a good show for the audience. When asked if they would return again next year, multiple audience members said yes, they would return.