'Images' dance through their heads

By Kathleen Grohman

As the curtain goes up, senior Darla DeCair is lying on the ground in front of a green background, but once the music starts, she is an animal ready to defend her tribe. Choreographed by DeCair, this piece is just one of the great moments of "Images."

"Images," which opens tonight in Mayer Theatre, features nine independent dances choreographed by students and faculty. Some of the student dances made their debut at the Choreographer's Gallery in the fall quarter, but some are brand new. Approximately 30 student dancers are in the show.

"This is the dance program at its best because this is the one performance of the year that everyone is looking forward to," said sophomore Ashton Zylstra, the stage manager for the show.

This year, Santa Clara welcomes guest choreographer Joe Goode from San Francisco-based Joe Goode Performance Group. His dance-theater piece incorporates dancing, speaking, acting, singing and video projection.

Faculty choreographer David Popalisky said Goode's piece sets this year's show apart from previous years.

"This is the first year we have had a significant, nationally known professional choreographer," he said.

Popalisky's piece is called "Seven Stories in Search of a Question," a title he said came to him before he thought about the stories. He said the dancers are asking, "What is this forward motion of life that I am riding?"

"Seven Stories in Search of a Question" features six movements with repeating motifs. One song is repeated three times, the first time with the full cast, then two-thirds of the cast and finally half of the cast.

Popalisky said that in each dance, the individual emerges, searching.

"They step out of the dance and have a moment of awareness of being involved in something that is big and vast and seemingly unstoppable," he said.

DeCair's piece is a modern jazz dance called "Territorial Disturbance" and features two tribes that come into conflict with each other. Zylstra is looking forward to this dance.

"It's something that I haven't seen before. I've heard it described as 'fierce,' " she said.

The piece, full of animalistic movement, is set to tense music. DeCair said that it was originally an American Indian-based piece, but it turned into a story of territorial crossing. The dancers make good use of lateral stage space, and the red stage light helps to create tension as the leaders of the two tribes fight.

Student choreographer Allie Rubin's piece is set to fast-paced string music and features barefoot dancers with black pants and blue tops. It includes a well-performed puppet sequence, in which some dancers act as the puppeteer guiding other dancers' movements across the stage.

Student choreographer Maxine Evangelista's piece begins with the dancers stomping their feet and clapping until the fun, uplifting music kicks in about 30 seconds after the dance starts.

"Maxine's is really festive and happy," Zylstra said.

The "Images" performance has been a proud tradition at Santa Clara since the 1970s.

"Each year the quality and breadth of subject has continued to grow," Popalisky said.

DeCair, who was also a dancer in the show last year, said, "It's a way to look at art in a whole new sense. Coming (to the show) opens your mind."

Popalisky wants students to know that the show offers a variety of different dances, so there is something for everyone.

"It's a hot, hot show. The dancing is excellent. It's vast. It's brilliant. The dancers are gorgeous in their skill and their performance presence," he said.

Contact Kathleen Grohman at(408) 551-1918 or kgrohman@scu.edu.