Students choreograph Moving Perspectives on River Campus

Featuring original works by SEMO students, Moving Perspectives was showcased at the Rust Flexible Theatre on River Campus.

With two shows starting on Friday, April 19, 2024, student choreographers and dancers performed in a 200-seat black box theater.

With minor help from faculty there was one dance instructor to oversee this production.

Faculty coordinator Lily Blouin was there to help students with the final design. She explained how the atmosphere of performing in Rust Theatre is different than other productions.

“The biggest difference right now is that the rust is in the thrust configurations. So, we have three audiences, so it feels a lot more intimate and like you’re immersed in the dance.” Blouin said.

Senior dance major Hayleigh Kemnic was one of the 10 choreographers in Moving Perspectives. She created a dance called “Empty Bottles” with the music “Orange Juice” by Noah Kahn.

Starting in February, it takes about six weeks of practice to be performance-ready. As a choreographer a lot of time and emotions go into productions like this. Kemnic describes what it is like to see the final piece on performance day.

“Obviously we’ve seen the movement for so long, but now we have the lights and costumes and then having the audience vibe like the atmosphere just gets better,” Kemnic said.

With the unique lighting design and dances, audience members felt immersed in this experience. Emotion from the dancers was easily seen from the boxed stage.

Transfer student, design, and technology major Daniel Hicks was one of the many members of the audience for Moving Perspectives on Friday night. He explains the viewpoint of being in the audience during this performance.

“Super interesting having a different angle and sitting on the side as opposed to something from the front. I think it added an extra layer to it that I don’t think I would have gotten having not sat on the side,” Hicks said.

The next River Campus production is Dvorak’s “From the New World,” played by the Southeast Symphony Orchestra on April 23 at 7:30 p.m. in Bedell Performance Hall.