Thursday, Oct. 30 to Sunday, Nov. 2, the College of William and Mary’s dance department held their Dancevent showcase in the Glenn Close Theatre in Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall.
Dancevent presents a combination of original works created by College dance faculty and students annually. Faculty, guest artists and Orchesis Modern Dance Company members performed in this year’s showcase.
The event included six performances in the style of modern dance that told unique stories, leaving audience members captivated. Each dance lasted approximately 15 minutes and included a wide array of different technical visuals, including fog, flashing lights and video projections.
Professor of dance and department chair of theatre and performance Joan Gavaler choreographed two dances for the event.
Gavaler’s first piece, “Hemispheres,” featured a group of talented dancers and music composed by Casey Lenhart ’22. During the audience question-and-answer section of the show, Gavaler explained that the piece was inspired by Jill Bolte Taylor’s novel “Whole Brain Living.” Taylor suffered from a stroke that caused her to lose functionality in her brain’s left hemisphere and, since then, her work has centered around intimately learning the personalities of her brain’s hemispheres. Her novel explores the four different regions of our brains, which Taylor personifies as four characters, and their various functionalities.
To represent neurological processes in the performance, Gavaler, with the help of assistant teaching professor of theatre Mark Williams, displayed images of neurons and the brain on the screen behind the dancers during “Hemispheres.” The performance also included various voiceovers recorded by the dancers themselves, meant to symbolize the thoughts and characteristics of each distinct brain region.
“The dancers were able to improvise and they did a great job,” Gavaler said. “I built a bunch of images and gave them some movement and then sort of crafted the idea of how these neurons formed and reformed in different parts of the brain.”
Gavaler choreographed and performed her second piece, “Within Time,” as a solo. Gavaler juxtaposed mantras of passing time and nature to create a piece that expressed the demanding aspects of everyday life and the desire to break free from the shackles of commitments and stress.
Gavaler also explained the relationship between the two pieces she choreographed.
“We all seemed to be dealing with themes of an inner energy and the need for calm and peace from a lot of different perspectives,” Gavaler said.
Professor of dance Denise Damon Wade also choreographed two performances for the show: “Not Yet” and “Waves of Warning.”
“Not Yet” took the form of a video, featuring one main character and three dancers. The piece was filmed in Cape Charles inside of a building being renovated. Through the use of a video, Wade sought to show fellow colleagues and students the various ways art can be expressed and portrayed.
The purpose of the piece was to raise awareness of Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and ALS. These pervasive diseases bring constant battles for many, yet a cure has not emerged to prevent their destruction.
Wade’s second piece, “Waves of Warning,” took inspiration from a concert she had seen that dealt with themes of rising sea levels and the iconic Four Horsemen. Wade decided to augment those ideas in a dance featuring post-apocalyptic characteristics.
“We need to pay attention to the environment, to people around us, to those we work with, those we don’t work with, those we live with and those that are different than we are,” Wade said. “Let’s get together and try to make a new world, a better one.”
Wade further described her hopes for the audience’s takeaway from the dance.
“Artists are important in times like these,” Wade said. “Artists talk about social issues. I just want them to look at this and say, look how different they are, but look at what they’re talking about.”
Julianne Abenoja ’26 portrayed the Black Horseman in “Waves of Warning.” She described the strengths of Orchesis as a student group.
“Whatever you want to study in college, what career you want to have, it’s one of the creative outlets that we all share,” Abenoja said. “And so we all have bonded together because of that. It’s really fun to just be able to still be creative while also pursuing other things.”
Professor of dance Leah Glenn choreographed the other two dances featured in the event: “Conversations (Kitchen Table Talk)” and “Felled Tree Ascending.”
“Conversations (Kitchen Table Talk)” was a duet featuring Glenn herself and visiting dancer Shannon Mockli from University of Oregon. Glenn said the piece was inspired by kitchen table conversations that leave egos behind, focus on listening intently and take winning off the table. These conversations are about truly seeing and hearing the other person.
Glenn’s husband crafted the table used in the dance, which featured an intricate design.
“Felled Tree Ascending” was a group number featuring intense, dramatic music composed by Zoë Keating. According to Glenn, the piece represents the idea that trees, portrayed by the dancers, have a bound existence. The trees’ presence is felt, and they eventually realize their own agency and come together as a community.
Audience members said they were captivated by each and every dance, and left with a larger appreciation for the performing arts.
“As I was watching, I was like, this is really interesting,” Avi Dabas ’28 said. “It’s really interpretive, really good storytelling and deep meanings behind it. So, if there was something I would take away, it would just be a new interest in modern dance. I would definitely come back.”
