“Groundswell,” the last dance concert of the spring 2007 season, showcased the choreography of five Cal State Long Beach faculty members and one guest artist. The concert was a two-hour performance that was presented from May 2 to May 6 in the Martha B. Knoebel Theater on campus.
“Groundswell” featured six dance premieres that were performed by undergraduate and graduate dance majors. The presentation was a combination of lyrical and emotional dances that Lorin Johnson, concert director for “Groundswell,” described as “human-centric and emotionally compelling.”
Keith Johnson, an associate dance professor at CSULB, choreographed the first premiere. “Dance For Annie Lynch (Girl Falling Towards the Sky)” began with a duet of Johnson and another dancer, and set the poetic, serene atmosphere for the rest of the concert.
Two more premieres were included in the first half of “Groundswell.” “I-Solations,” choreographed by Dorcas Roman, vibrant displayed a fusion of ballet and jazz dance techniques that portrayed a woman’s confrontation with personal demands, while Sophie Monat’s “Entre Nous” was a showcase of ballet and female dancers en pointe.
Roman teaches dance classes at CSULB in addition to being the artistic director of Dorcas Roman Dancetheatre in Los Angeles and serving as the resident choreographer for the M.Y.E. Theatre Company. Monat has been a part of the CSULB dance department faculty for more than ten years and also guest-teaches a wide range of classical and contemporary ballets all over the United States.
After a brief intermission, “Groundswell” resumed with Cyrus Parker-Jeannette’s “Wrung.” Jeanette is the chairwoman for the CSULB dance department, and as a dance historian she is particularly focused on 20th century American dance. Her premiere featured nine dancers in an intriguing display of concert modern dance.
The fifth premiere was choreographed by the guest artist for the faculty concert, Jodie Gates, a former international principal dancer and experienced choreographer for many ballet companies, such as Washington Ballet and Complexions Contemporary Ballet in New York. Director Johnson described Gates’ “Playful Display” as “an intimate contemporary piece” that “showcases qualities of each individual dancer with sweeping movement and gestures.”
The concert finished with assistant professor Andrew Vaca’s “Celebration” premiere, a mixture of jazz and modern dance techniques. Vaca choreographed and performed in this piece that was in honor of his parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. The premiere included a lot of couple and pair dances with touching, humorous scenes that Johnson said “explored human companionship.”
“Groundswell” was a combination of lyrical ballet, modern and jazz dance techniques that showcased the choreography of CSULB professors as well as undergraduate and graduate dance majors. The concert finished out “A Season of Premieres,” the CSULB spring 2007 dance season, which also included the Contemporary Dance Concert in February and the M.F.A. Dance Concert in March.
