Senior Dance Shows Highlight Non-Traditional Performances Kate Fishman, Managing Editor April 26, 2019
Students Take the Stage for Another Student Dance Showcase Kate Fishman, Managing Editor April 19, 2019
![Dance, physical theater, and circus arts all come together in College fourth-year and Dance major Georgie Johnson’s senior show “Liminal Spaces: A Pedestrian’s Guide” this Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. in Warner Main Space.
Johnson has a unique background in circus arts, as she attended a circus school growing up.
“My base has always been circus, even as I moved through the dance world,” Johnson said. “I have taken a lot of different classes and been influenced by different areas of dance [as well as] circus arts, which made me want to combine the two in a way that was specific to me.”
Part of the reason why Johnson chose Oberlin was because of its inclusion of aerial silks through the Oberlin College Aerialists, a student organization affiliated with OCircus. Aerial silks is a circus art in which a person performs acrobatics, including climbing, while hanging from one or two pieces of fabric attached to the ceiling.
Johnson chose to combine circus arts and dance in her show because of the overlap she believes exists between the two disciplines.
“In my experience there [has] actually been a lot of crossover between the Dance department shows and the aerialists clubs specifically,” Johnson said. “Usually there’s at least one aerialist’s piece in every Dance department semester show. I really appreciate the overlap that is created at Oberlin.”
It’s not just the performance Johnson hopes will resonate with students, but the title too.
“Some of the concepts that I took going into the process [were] these concepts of liminality and being in limbo between two places, which I think is especially close to us as college students,” she said.](https://oberlinreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/SeniorPiece_SophiePayne_WEB-900x607.jpg)
![One of the most respected Balinese performing companies, Çudamani, came to Oberlin to perform in Finney Chapel last Tuesday. The 18-member company is internationally recognized, and their Oberlin performance was part of their world tour. The group name Çudamani means “to do something with your whole heart without expecting something in return,” according to the group’s website. Watching their performance, it’s easy to see this goal come to life through their passion.
The performance integrated costumes, dancing, vocal performances, and Gamelan, which is music played using traditional Indonesian instruments. Each of their performances had a specific theme. “Teruna Gandrung” showcases a tradition of challenging gender norms, featuring women in energetic, fearless, and powerful roles. Another piece called “Ramayana Wayang Wong” featured two people dressed in red and yellow, wearing masks. The story followed twin brothers who jumped into a pool of water while fighting over a chalice. After they fell into the water, they turned into monkeys.
There were also sections in which dancers improvised their movements and signaled to the percussionists to change the tempo and melody. In order to communicate while on stage, performers made eye contact with each other and smiled.
“We are told to put ourselves into the story but not just technical movements, so we don’t practice with mirrors, because my teacher said that it is better to feel your partner than watch them in the mirror,” said Dewa Ayu Eka Putri, one of the dancers and the group’s secretary.
In addition to performing, Çudamani holds workshops wherever they tour including at Oberlin this past week.
“Çudamani told not only traditional dramas but also shared stories about their community and philosophy of collective care,” College fourth-year Kara Nepomuceno, a Dance major studying Southeast Asian dance, wrote in an email to the Review. “In [the] workshop held on Wednesday morning, Associate Director Emiko Saraswati Susilo described how the group collectively owns the instruments at their home base of Banjar Pengosekan.”
The group also has permanent summer programs in Bali that teach people about their dances and instruments in order to preserve their traditions and spread knowledge of their culture.](https://oberlinreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/GamelanDance_OfficeofComms_WEB-900x577.jpg)
![Dancers rehearsed for Louise Wurzelbacher’s senior dance installation in Warner Main yesterday. For some innovative dance work this weekend, look no further than Wurzelbacher’s dual senior show with fellow College senior Celia Morris. The titles of the pieces alone provoke intrigue: Wurzelbacher’s Symbiotic Tendrils: An Organismal Installation is the first piece in the line-up, followed by Morris’ Post-Script: A Site-Specific Performance. The actual performances live up to their creative names. In Wurzelbacher’s piece, dancers will perform in Warner Main Space, but without traditional concert dance set-up and with large pieces of fabric adorning the space. She was only able to put up the installation less than a week ago. “I had to try to imagine how everything would change with the installation and try to communicate my vision with my team,” Wurzelbacher wrote in an email to the Review. “So this consisted of drawings of the space, and getting familiar with my color scheme and the materiality of the cheesecloth as a prop or, more precisely, the tissue of the organism.” After Wurzelbacher’s show, audience members will be walked to the fourth floor of Mudd Center where Morris’ show will take place. The site-specific piece, which will feature dancers outside in the glass rooftop courtyard, will present a unique opportunity for watching dance. “Celia and I decided to have our shows together because we have worked closely together for our entire time at Oberlin, have [complementary] aesthetics and concepts for the way we want audience[s] to interact with our work, and did not want the logistical pressure of an entire night for each of us,” Wurzelbacher wrote.The show will take place tonight and tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are currently sold out, but will be available at the door.](https://oberlinreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/LouiseDance_MegParker_WEB-900x600.jpg)
