Last Thursday and Friday, the N.C . State Dance Program put on its annual Fall Concert, commemorating its 25th anniversary. Current students and alumni collaborated on the concert, bringing their own styles and ideas to the table. 

The student groups that performed included the NCSU Dance Company, the Panoramic Dance Project, the NCSU Dance Program and a modern dance company artistically directed by Program Director Robin Harris.

Alumni Mair Culbreth and Gerren Mobley presented their own projects performed by current students. Culbreth’s Anatomy of an Argument was presented by the NCSU Dance Company, while the Panoramic Dance Project performed excerpts of Mobley’s Testimonial.

The NCSU Dance Company put on a show of dances which included: The Use of Classical and Operant Conditioning in Training Aldabra Tortoises by Kelly Bryant, Pathological Alterations in Food Intake by Jacquelyn Watson, Raising a Well-Respected Canine Citizen by Mary Jackson, How to Make a Tutu by Cassia Lewis, Survival Techniques by Kaitlin Smith, Videofluoroscopic Swallow Study by Megan Imhoff , Spandex Specifications by Monica Matthai and Agee Taylor and Abstract Algebra: Introduction to Groups by Sarah Griner .

Each performance was based on the choreographer’s major and was a way for the program to show off what it provides to students at N.C . State.

The Dance Company also presented Julep by dance program assistant director Autumn Mist Belk. It was based on the Kentucky Derby and drinking mint juleps.

The Dance Program performed work by Ashley Walls, Miranda Cazin , Sarah Griner , and Cassia Lewis. Walls is the first recipient of the N.C . State Creative Artist Award, and she produced two of the dances put on by the Dance Program.

Her As One Should Always was a duet presented by Kelly Bryant, recipient of the 2010-2011 Performing Arts Award, and Hayley Dirscherl . The duet was based around the downward spiral of a relationship.

Walls also had a new project that she presented, Meaning Crunch Me.  She attempted to challenge the current performing conventions with this piece.

Cazin addressed abuse with her piece I am Generations of Sister, Daughter and Mothers, while Griner’s …to remain silent was a duet that featured an interrogation that uncovered information from ways other than speech.

The Dance Program’s last performance was TechnoLOGIC by Cassia Lewis.  It was set to the music of electronic duo Daft Punk and poked fun at our society’s current love of technology.

The Panoramic Dance Project put on an intriguing display of choreographic skill, with the entire performance essentially based on chance.

There were three different parts to their presentation – Union Square, Rivulets, and Psycho Tree Hugger Needs a Nap. The routine for each was based on movements created by the dancers based on locations important to them.

After establishing the movements, they were put together randomly by each dancer rolling a die or picking a playing card. However, this did not make the performance seem sloppy. Instead, this random method provided a chance for the dancers to show off their skill in different situations.

Ashley Sartain , a sophomore in social work, performed as part of the Panoramic Dance Project’s presentation of Rivulets. Sartain has been working with her peers since August on their performance.

“It was not a typical choreography method,” Sartain said of her performance, “and therefore, it was much more difficult to learn.”

She said she thought the Dance Company’s presentation was well done and more enjoyable for the performers because it was “more personal than typical choreography.”

According to the show’s directors, the audience as a whole was very responsive and enjoyed the concert.

Victoria Ohegyi , a sophomore in history and communications attended the concert and found the show to be an interesting one.

“I really enjoyed Julep,” Ohegyi said. “I found it to be the most entertaining and artistically expressive.  I loved the costumes and use of props to convey the spirit of the Kentucky Derby.”