NC State’s Panoramic Dance Project presented its annual spring concert in Titmus Theatre this weekend, featuring a variety of diverse dances with seven compositions aiming to illustrate a range of human emotions on stage.
Though the company places an emphasis on modern dance, the panoramic concert also incorporated influences from Bhangra, Capoeira, African, jazz and hip-hop styles of dance and featured choreography from NC State faculty members, guest artists and panoramic students.
“Being that the name of our company, Panoramic, entails a wide view of styles within one dance company, it was awesome to truly be able to depict this in our spring concert, and to show more of how versatile we can be as a group,” said Rebecca Anderson, a senior member of the company studying psychology.
Tara Z. Mullins, Artistic Director of Panoramic Dance Project, encourages her dancers on and off the dance floor. Responsible for bringing the show together and choreographing the modern piece “For a Brief Moment,” Mullins has been described as a teacher and friend to her students.
“Tara Mullins deserves a trophy, medal, plaque and spa day after this season because she handled the many twists and turns of this semester in the company with such grace and poise,” said Matthew Wright, a new member to the company and a freshman studying graphic design. “I admire her so much, and I’m grateful she saw potential in all of us that we didn’t know we had.”
Members said the most difficult component of preparing for the concert was the injury of a senior dancer, Corinne Canavarro, who injured her leg and was originally cast in nearly all of the dances. The dancers committed to extra rehearsal hours to replace Canavarro and had to change the choreographic structure of some of the pieces, according to Mullins.
“She was in every dance but one, so we had to rework all of the pieces in two rehearsals,” said Jenna DelSignore, a dancer and junior studying business administration. “Corinne is an incredibly passionate and inspiring dancer, and we were devastated not to have her on stage with us. It was stressful, but in the end we pulled it off.”
The seven pieces performed utilized props, lighting, technology and costuming such as choreographer Autumn Mist Belk’s “The Nature of Southern Legends,” which featured a screen behind the dancers showing video of beach and water scenery while sounds of waves drifted in and out.
The piece also featured selections from writer and poet Jessica Temple to implement a shift in mood as the videos changed and to acknowledge different memories of growing up in the South. The three dancers, clad in water-themed dresses of blue, green and white, portrayed the rolling and lulling of ocean tides and the repetition of rowing through water.
“The biggest reward for me was not just being able to perform on stage, but being able to show a sense of purpose in every dance, and being able to resonate that to an audience,” said Anderson, who danced in “Southern Legends.”
“Algun Dia,” a duet choreographed by Matthew Horton, featured music from Felipe Pirela and Tom Waits in which the dancers wore plain clothing to place emphasis on their flowing movements. The two dancers moved together as one unit and while dancing separately, moved in a complementary way to engage each other’s negative space.
In a Capoeira dance that included acrobatic elements, the choreography allowed for physically impressive transitions. Acrobatic elements included one dancer wrapping around another before being lifted overhead; it concluded with a more modern ending to the piece where one dancer exited and the other continued dancing in circles with upraised arms alone on stage. The dance highlighted the emotional context of being connected with someone and then losing them, according to DelSignore.
Other pieces featured in the concert were a “Bhangra Mashup,” a fast-paced Bhangra dance; “For a Brief Moment,” emphasizing the different stages of grief; “Brother 4 Brother,” a piece about strength and alliance through competition; “Statement,” choreographed by all the dancers featured music from Diplo, Bruno Mars and Little Mix; and an African style of dance excerpt from part three of Operation Breadbasket called “Celebrate.”
“Being a part of Panoramic is so different and so rewarding,” Wright said. “What I have learned being in the company was often much deeper than just choreography. I learned what it felt like to find family in people who started as strangers with one common interest.”