Candice WojnarowskiMore than 60 people gathered in the Pem Dance Studio at Bryn Mawr College on Friday, Feb. 6 to watch performances given by members of the Bryn Mawr faculty.
The evening consisted of five pieces which ranged from traditional to new age modern rhythm. The performers themselves fell between the ages of 10 and 40, each showing great poise and devotion as their bodies moved with the music.
The first piece was very high-energy, consisting of six girls.
“This dance is usually used as a finale, but tonight we will set a joyous tone, and the show shall commence with lots of movement,” Ramaa Ramesh, a renowned Bharatanatyam dancer and instructor, said.
“It was beautiful; it is such a bright, beautiful culture. Their movements were mesmerizing,” Nicole Consaga, who attended the concert with a friend living on campus, said.
Following Ramesh were two similar pieces by Michelle Stortz and Leah Stein. Stortz performed a very modern dance that combined improvisation with set choreography, while Stein led a group of four dancers in structured improvisation.
“Tonight’s dance was going to be a duet until my partner sprained her ankle last week. So, now it’s a solo.” If the pressure of changing her routine at the last minute affected Naomi Pressman, she didn’t let on while performing her version of set and reset.
The show ended with Banson’s piece “Into the Storm.” The three performers, Julia Danks, Allyssa Frieze and Kelly Smith have all studied dance at Cabrini.
“The show was interesting; the variety I didn’t think would work as well as it did. To move from an ancient dance to a new-aged robot noise improv piece is quite a drastic jump. But surprisingly I liked it,” Bridget Atkinson, an aspiring dance teacher, said.
