Honor Dance Society thrills, chills audience with cerebral performance

The honors dance society at Sam Houston State University, Chi Tau Epsilon, held Dances @ 8 on Oct. 24, 2012 in the Performing Arts Center.

Dances @ 8 is produced by the SHSU Honors Dance Society and has been a tradition on campus since 1991.

“Since the faculty does not adjudicate the choreography, Dances @ 8 concerts serve as a more immediate, less formal, outlet for emotional and expressive dancing by the students” Cindy Gratz, Professor of Dance, said. “I am always thrilled by the cutting edge, sometimes hilarious, sometimes provocative and always exciting performances”.

The performance consisted of 10 dances and lasted about 40 minutes. Most of the performances were solo pieces to showcase the choreography of students at Sam Houston. Each dance performance was very unique and followed a demented theme. “A Little Bit of France” and “Not True Love” were two performances of the night that stood out because they did not follow the “possessed” choreography style.

“A Little Bit Of France” was a fun and sassy piece performed on pointe by Emily Butler. Red ballet shoes and a red umbrella paired with the song ‘Pink Panther’ grabbed the attention of the audience.

“It is really hard to look sassy in pointe shoes!” Stacey Monks, Senior at Sam Houston State University, said.

Immediately following the sassy dance performance was “Inside Out” by Jeremiah Jenkins. This piece was very twisted and borderline insane. Audience members were taken into the mind of a schizophrenic with shaky hands and harsh movements.  

Following Jenkins performance was “Lux Aeterna”. This was the first piece of the night that was performed by a group rather than a soloist. Four dancers made up this piece. Two of the dancers represented evil and one dancer represented good. The fourth dancer was fighting to win control over evil and the dance seemed to end with her failing.

Another performance was “Life is Very Slow in Quickly Passing Us By” choreographed and performed by Tawnya Kannarr. This piece seemed to be closely related to the storyline you’ve seen in The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Kannarr twisted and contorted to the beats in the music and had the audience feeling scared for her.

The show ended with “Not True Love” performed by Fade To Black Dance Ensemble. This piece was a combination of step and hip-hop and was a nice way to end the night. This was the second routine of the night that had multiple dancers instead of just a soloist. Each dancer stayed with the tempo of the song and stepped to the beat.

The Dances @ 8 performance had a very dark dancing style and would not be enjoyable for those who expect dance to be emotional and enlightening. We give this performance 2 out of 5 paws.