The Skidmore College Dance Department's annual Senior Coda showcase premieres on Saturday, March 30, and Saturday, April 6. The Senior Coda is a course available to all performance- and choreography-track and research-track majors, offered annually by the department. The class and participation in the showcase are prerequisites to earn honors. The class is taught by Jason Ohlberg, Associate Chair of the Dance Department, but the semester is primarily student-led. Professor Ohlberg’s teaching philosophy is giving the class independence and autonomy in the process of producing their first concert.
These two unique shows display each students’ craft and leadership and are guided by the inspirations and styles of the performing artists. Thirteen senior dance majors have divided their coda performances into two shows. The performances will take place at the dance theater (near the Williamson sports center) at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm each night.
The performance on March 30 will include seven coda pieces, each created with different aspirations that connect directly to the graduating artists. The show will open with Annika Cuff Bergofin’s restaging of the Pas de Trois from Swan Lake, in which she will dance alongside two fantastic dancers. Maddie Conroy’s group piece mend_muse_mitigate.mov, showcases Conroy's choreographic talents and builds a dark, psychological world on stage.
Mike Dickey’s Just a Kid from Harlem is dedicated to his love for dance and the people who have helped him get there along the way, such as his mother and solo choreographer Hettie Barnhill. Additional solo work you will find in the first weekend is Ashley Lupien’s Found My Rhythm. Lupien’s piece is as entertaining for the audience as it is challenging for the dancer, as she throws herself into back handsprings and split leaps through a combination of styles in acrobatics, jazz, and modern.
A handful of artists from this year’s graduating class sought out professional dancers working outside of Skidmore to choreograph a piece for them. Talia Shoshani’s solo The Underbelly & Blade is a special full-circle moment for her as Ho-Shia Aaron Thao, the choreographer and artist, is someone she’s known for eight years. Talia says that the piece is “an exploration of villainized, misunderstood characters through embodiment and an effort to respect the complexity of humans.” Annabelle Aber traveled to Los Angeles to meet choreographer Natalie Allen and rehearse with her over winter break. The piece root | unfurl showcases Aber's movement style, including flower petals as props. Anna Stribrny is a dancer who is interested in “uncovering the beauty in the ugly.” She worked with choreographer Madison Hicks to create the piece Glorified and cannot wait to share her hard work with an in-person audience.
The April 6th performance showcases six artists who are diverse in their backgrounds and intentions on stage. Seline Kozlu draws from her background in Turkish culture in a solo created by choreographer Sevin Ceviker, born in İstanbul, Turkey. The piece Cihan displays Seline's textured movement style framed by a costume of a large skirt and shawl. Kayleigh Duggan has combined their passion for dance, writing, and costume design in a group piece about their journey in higher education. The dancers will move to a spoken word recorded by Kayleigh and culminate in a vulnerable and dynamic exhibition in the piece Extinguished Stars Still Give Light. Solo work presented and choreographed by Elizabeth Frischling will showcase the new work, Chaotic Indulgence. Elizabeth says in a description of her piece, “Dance gives me an outlet to find peace, control, and acceptance in the darkest of times.” Eliza Barba-Wheelock choreographed a group piece on five dancers titled, She Echoes in Silence. Eliza says that her piece is “about being a listener but having something to say. I want this piece to represent the inner dialogue that tells me to advocate for myself when all I want to do is listen.”
The show will end with soloists Olivia Swink and Ava D’Eon. Olivia sought out choreographer Francesca Dominguez in NYC where the piece Ficus Carica emerged based on an excerpt from the novel, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.
Ava’s solo, Girl Radio, choreographed by Mikey Morado, involves Ava clothed in a pink bodysuit that covers her body as well as her face. With limited visibility, Ava dances around the stage through glitches and ominous movement with music featuring Lady Gaga, Whitney Housten, Ariana Grande, Britney Spears, and more — it is not a piece to miss.
Beyond the individuals performing on the stage, countless crew and lighting designers have worked to make this show happen. Talia Shoshani, Elizabeth Frischling, Nayah Reagens, Maddie Connal, and Cassidy Tryon are some of the lighting designers for this show. Not to mention, the dancers in the group pieces, costume designers and constructors, advisors, and mentors along the way have all aided in this process. This show could not be possible without a village, and I encourage you to come to this free show and celebrate the hard work so many people have put into the cultivation of the senior's four years at Skidmore College.
You can find tickets here: https://www.ticketsource.us/skidmore-college-department-of-dance
If you can not attend but would like to watch the live stream, below are the links:
https://vimeo.com/event/4186062/6464ec0c66 - March 30 - Matinee
https://vimeo.com/event/4186071/3ca401b883 - March 30 - Evening
https://vimeo.com/event/4186075/664721b347 - April 6 - Matinee
https://vimeo.com/event/4186077/7a99633ec5 - April 6 - Evening