Aaron Raymond / Staff Photographer
Louvre Performance Ensemble, the undergraduate modern dance group, held its spring production in Spurrier dance studio this past weekend. The production, entitled “Reflect,” incorporated spoken word poetry and dance, a combination that was thought-provoking and moving.
The structure of the performance was interesting and well planned. Each set of pieces was preceded by a short dance piece accompanied by a recording of a poem, written by Ruka Murugan and performed by Tom Downey. These poetic interludes were thoughtful and created a much more personal experience for the audience, with themes such as childhood, failure and winter. It gave extra meaning to the dance pieces that followed each interlude, and set the tone for each act.
The dance pieces were fantastic, with ambitious choreography performed by even more ambitious dancers. The first piece, set to the song “Breezeblocks” by Alt-J, started off the night with upbeat and rhythmic choreography that aligned perfectly with the instrumentation and musical events in the song. It was an exciting visual representation of the music, and a standout of the first act. From there, there was a great amount of variety to the pieces. The versatility of the group was showcased as they moved from slower, more introspective movement in the piece “Clean,” to slightly more laid back choreography during “Angel,” which was set to a Willie Nelson song, an unexpected but perfectly executed choice. The first act ended with an electrifying rendition of Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs,” and had each dancer moving in and out of group formations with a fitting Latin tinge to the choreography.
The members of Louvre are truly elite dancers. It was easy to see just how much time the group puts into their training and rehearsing. Each member is both technically and creatively brilliant, which adds to the quality of the group as a whole. I was mesmerized by the leaps and the flips of the individual members, and also by the synchronization and interaction between everyone in the group. Each performance was gripping and extremely impressive, which had much to do with how well the group worked together.
Recognition must also be given to the choreographers, costume and lighting designers of the show. The choreography never ceased to amaze me, and was riveting from start to finish. The costume design was simple and effective, and brought additional color and texture to the pieces. The lighting design was dynamic, and complimented the pieces perfectly. At one point, a small group of dancers were moving around a single spotlight pointed at the middle of the floor from directly above. It was visually striking and added an almost virtual set piece to the dancing.
The program for “Reflect” states that Louvre is “constantly striving to perform innovative work.” They have fully lived up to that statement with their recent performance. By combining poetry and modern dance, Louvre crafted a night of artistic thought that transcended dance, music and poetry. If you didn’t make it to “Reflect,” I highly recommend catching the next event that Louvre puts on.
Polcyn-Evans is a member of
the class of 2017.
