Halla Emmons & Grace Lukens, Staff Writer & Special to The Denisonian–
A variety of clubs and performers came together Oct. 9 in Thorsen Dance Studio for the Fall Dance Festival.
The performance started with a piece by the Ballet Club, which was a favorite by Josephine Taube, a first year attendee.
“I think it had a lot of variety– different people,” Taube said about the number.
Along with Ballet Club, there were performances by other campus groups, such as Inspire, Diversify, Move (IDM), and cultural groups like Dhadkhan Dance and Afrospice.
Fallon Brackley, a senior Dance Fellow, wanted people to, “see how vast dance can be,” which was achieved by the unique blend of dance styles throughout the night.
Dhadkhan Dance performed a piece consisting of a quartet and used a blend of traditional Indian music and dance moves with modern pop.
“There seems to be a lot of love and support that Denison students bring to the performances at the school,” Taube said about the audience. This support was especially evident during Afrospice’s performance.
Afrospice, an Afro-Latino group, had an upbeat and fun dance that the crowd enjoyed, clapping to the beat of the music and cheering. There was a moment in the dance where the performers incorporated the flags of the different countries of their backgrounds into their moves.
Culture was also shown by individual performers: Ly Nguyen, a senior Dance Fellow, showcased a solo piece grounded in her Vietnamese heritage.
“It brings me so much joy to share my dance with everybody,” Nguyen said about her performance.
Along with cultural dances, there were numerous other styles performed. There were hip hop pieces, such as the piece done by IDM and a solo by Phuc Nguyen. There were also ballet pieces like the trio performed by Emmanuel Rodriguez, Abby Webster, and Maddie Luekbert, along with contemporary, showcased in the solos done by Webster and Brackley.
Gabrielle Hrivnak, a sophomore Dance Fellow and member of Denison Dance Company, helped oversee the production.
“I hope observers realize how much of an opportunity it is,” Hrivnak said about the festival and hoped the audience gained the “beauty of the performance itself.”
The dancers had an obvious love and appreciation for the work they put forth.
“It doesn’t have to be beautiful, but it does have to be you,” is what Brackley hoped the audience saw in the performance.
The Fall Dance Festival left the audience members enlightened. “Community can be found in all different places,” is what Taube took away from the performance.
