The Fall Dance Concert was held in the Black Box Theater thon Oct. 25. It was designed to showcase the efforts of student choreographers and their dancers. These choreographers were given one dance and got to choose their dancers from those who auditioned.

While this concert puts a lot of emphasis on the artistic designs of the choreographers, it also presents a worthwhile opportunity for aspiring dancers. This gives the dancers in the department a rare opportunity to showcase the skills they have learned through the dance department and work with classmates in a professional environment.

The Fall Dance Concert performances each featured music, costumes and lighting, each of which was designed by the student choreographers. The choreographers taught performers their dances and started preparing for the concert as early as August. They customized their dances during dress rehearsals about lighting and design.

The students often used real-life examples and meaning in their dances to give them a poetic edge. For example, a dance choreographed by HPU student Lynn Cole was inspired by Frank Ocean and the idea of fleeting moments in the journey of life. Her movements were inspired by structural objects such as cars. Upon reading the description of the dances, it becomes apparent that the performers are using their soft and hard movements to express complex emotions.

In the program Cole describes her dance in a quote, “For whatever it’s worth, those moments of nothing are everything but.”

Sam Bridge, a sophomore at HPU, made a dance about inequality. She designed it to have each dancer laying their head on another dancer’s lower back, forming an almost caterpillar-like line in which they walk and sway. They then flowed and swirled with hard movements and soft arms swaying above their heads. Throughout the performance, a speech by Maya Angelou played in the background.

Bridge said that the swirling and synchronicity of the dancers were used to display the inequality of society today. “The struggle for equality can be overcome through the power of people coming together and supporting one another for who they are and what they can bring to the table.”

Overall, The dance concert is a great opportunity for HPU students and members of the dance department to display their talent. The concert is a yearly occurrence, but the theatre department is always looking for more talent. Any students interested in participating in the next dance concert or a similar event can find more information at www. highpoint.edu/theatre.