SSU student choreographers performed in the Spring Dance showcase from May 2 through 5, in Person Theatre. The performance incorporated color, lighting, and sound to portray storytelling by dancing to modern songs from current artists.
Eileen Phelps, a fourth-year psychology major, shared that as a psychology major, she is interested in how different people interact in the world and used this theme in her choreography. “The message behind my dance is the importance of finding commonalities in our humanity,” Phelps said, “Events that happen in people’s lives can feel very alienating when you’re going through things, but what we often don’t realize is that people in our lives can be going through similar things and that there are ways to talk about it and help each other.”
Ella Jensen, a third-year dance major was inspired by contemporary dance and the influences of jazz choreographer Bob Fosse when making her choreography. She found it easy to blend the two dance styles because they share the same base. “I wanted the audience to feel a little unsettled and a little curious after watching my dance piece,” Jensen said, “I delved into the idea of the invisible audience, which is who we are performing to when nobody’s watching.”
Lilia Griffin, a fourth-year psychology major, wanted her dance to visually represent the feeling of being cared for. “My piece is called ‘Mother’ and was inspired by the maternal aspects of taking care of someone and having a nurturing figure in your life,” Griffin said, “we took inspiration from different maternal figures in our life, as well as Mother Earth, which has grounded us and helped us throughout the performance.” She collaborated with Colin Hathorn from the SSU music department to create a score to bring her vision to life.
Although the inspiration behind Madyline Jaramillo’s dance shifted a few times throughout the process, she pulled from her experiences throughout the past year. The third-year dance and business major said the main theme in her dance comes from unity in shared life experiences. Jaramillo collaborated with the dancers throughout the process, “I think it holds more value to the dancers when their voices are heard and their artistry is visible and coming from themselves rather than only a choreographer.” Jaramillo said.
