DanceWorks showcases innovative, interpretive choreography

By Danna Bertel and Brielle Aguayo •

DanceWorks, a fall dance show featuring original choreography by guests and faculty in the Department of Communication, Media and the Arts, was held on Nov. 10 in the Performance Theatre.

The show, which lasted just over an hour, included six dance pieces.

The first piece, “This Bitter Earth” was choreographed by Sandra Christie, a guest choreographer who is the Musical Theatre Dance Instructor at Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach. Performed by five NSU students, the dance showcased the

bitter reality of pain and loss but finding hope in the end.

Madison Cantor, junior dance major, choreographed and performed her own piece that mainly consisted of improvisation, which helped capture the meaning behind her dance piece

“My choreography is actually improvisation and does not have a structure, but there is a structure in terms of where I wanted different energy levels and specific movements to help capture the story of the solo. I chose to improvise because the story of my piece is of a dancer finding her flow while dancing and it naturally takes her to another dimension,” Cantor said

Alonzo Octavias Williams, an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts, choreographed the third piece, “I SEE SCREENS: THE GHOSTLY GRASP OF TECHNOLOGY.” With dancers chanting “Please get off your phone” at the beginning of the performance, the piece highlighted William’s message about the despair brought on by the intrusion of technology into family lives.

“I loved being part of Alonzo’s piece,” said Kyra Triepke, sophomore human nutrition major. “I like it because the message is to not be on your phone all the time, and to get away from technology and I think that’s really important right now because everyone is always on their phone. It just gives a really good message to the crowd,” she said.

Other choreographed pieces by faculty in the Department of Communication Media, and the Arts included “Limit of Time” by Damaris Ferrer, adjunct professor, and Associate Professor and Dance Program Director Elana Lanzci’s “Nexus.”

The final performance, “Stir,” was choreographed by Artist-in-Residence Jennifer Nugent and featured dancers from both NSU and Broward College.

Olivia Knerr, sophomore dance major, said that her favorite part about performing in DanceWorks was getting to work with Nugent.

“Her piece is very creative and there’s always a surprise in the dance when we do it,” Knerr said.

Lanczi, who coordinated the event, also encouraged the audience to consider donating to the Mark Lindsay Duncan Legacy Endowment for the Arts, a fund created to support the arts at NSU.

“We created that fund as a way to help support the arts here and, also, to continue Professor Duncan’s legacy of support for the arts. He was one of our beloved theatre faculty members who passed,” Lanczi said.