Deep in December displays emotions of holiday season

As the first significant snowfall of the winter season decorated the ground, Saturday evening’s performance of the 2008 fall dance show found itself Deep in December in more ways than one.

The show, which was slightly delayed by the weather, featured pieces choreographed by students and faculty that represented the wide variety of feelings experienced during the holiday season through diverse dance styles and songs.

“The holiday season isn’t aways joyful for everyone,” Dr. Karen Clemente said. “The pieces explore the full extent of those emotions.”

Pieces ranged from praising God and celebrating the wonders and intricacies of molecules, to honoring soldiers who have fought and are fighting in the war in Iraq.

Junior Jenna Eugenides choreographed her piece “In Loving Memory” for her friend Elizabeth McGowan, who passed away this summer.

Working on the dance, which featured movements typical of and inspired by her friend – including the pink dresses and hairstyles – was hard for Eugenides at times, but she said it turned out perfectly.

“I had a good group of girls who were there for me,” Eugenides said. “I don’t think I could have asked for anything better. It was for Liz, but it was also for me.”

Adjunct professor Steven Welsh’s piece, “Under a Microscope” featured several impressive stunts and lifts, adding to its abstract feel, while Dr. Clemente’s reinvented “Full Woman” incorporated dancers’ personal stories into the movements.

The most rousing dance of the night was senior Evelyn McGee’s light-hearted, hip-hop piece, “Let Go! Chilax!,” which featured break dancing by first-year Brandon Munson.

The entire show stepped away from typical dance numbers, using unique effects and lighting, such as video footage in junior Sarah Umbenhauer’s “Still Learning” and junior Chelsea Simon’s “Bridge Company Bravo,” to emphasize the deeper emotions of the pieces.

“I’m very pleased with the girls,” Dr. Joselli Deans of the dance department said. “They are doing a great job as performers and as students.”