Student choreographers in the OU School of Dance will present their work in the Young Choreographers’ Showcase running Friday through Sunday.
Boyko Dossev, associate professor at the School of Dance, wrote that the annual showcase is designed to allow upper-level dance students a chance to lead a production and have their choreography seen.
This year’s showcase will highlight 10 student pieces in a variety of styles in collaboration with lighting design students from the Helmerich School of Drama.
Kameron Bryant, a modern dance performance junior, choreographed “Black Bird” with modern dance performance senior Averie Warren. The performance features four songs, including “Blackbird” by Nina Simone, and lighting design by Conner Lin. Bryant said that the piece was inspired by their former high school dance teacher Kristin Reyes.
“The story is more so about remaining confident. It’s really just to highlight Kristin and her influence, …” Bryant said. “We both felt within the message of the piece of having this confidence and having this Black woman figure in our lives that has inspired us. We wanted to also pay tribute to some of the songs that she may also like.”
Bryant said the style of “Black Bird” was inspired by the percussive and lateral dance technique of modern dancer Lester Horton.
The neoclassical ballet piece “Perturbée,” choreographed by ballet performance senior Damerah Coleman with lighting design by Malerie Pollock, will also be presented in the showcase. Coleman said the piece is a showcase of technical skill.
“I just really wanted to have a piece where it takes classical technique and to put it together to make cool patterns and have a dancing piece that’s exciting,” Coleman said.
The piece is set to Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Danse Macabre,” which contains many tempo and dynamic changes that make the piece fun, Coleman said.
“The music is not only constantly changing, and it’s actually interesting, but I tried to have the patterns and the steps (be) exciting as well,” Coleman said.
Last year, Coleman’s Young Choreographers’ Showcase piece “Irrequieta” featured five dancers, whereas “Perturbée” features 13. Coleman said the rehearsal experience has been completely different.
“I didn’t have to think about how to get people on and off stage as much, … but I think when I have basically three times as many people, it really makes the piece look more interesting,” Coleman said.
Coleman said that the showcase has allowed her to grow as a dancer through being a choreographer.
“I really like to be at the front of the room to see the strengths of other people and then the weaknesses that I share with them and see how they can overcome it,” Coleman said.
Performances start at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Elsie C. Brackett Theatre. Tickets are available online starting at $17.
This story was edited by Macey Thaxton and Madisson Cameron. Larkin Bock and Mary Ann Livingood copy edited this story.
