diSiac showcases diverse talents in new show

The lights in the theatre dimmed to black as a loud, drumming chant erupted from behind the main curtain: "APHRO ... DISIAC! APHRO ... DISIAC!"

The dance concert that ensued more than lived up to the company's suggestive chant. Rather than limiting itself to one particular style, the company made a point of including as many dance forms as it could in the two-hour timeframe.

One of the short "fillers" interspersed between the main pieces expressed just that. A voiceover chanted the four elements — earth, wind, fire and water — as four individually lit dancers — a rhythm tap dancer, a ballerina en pointe, a hip-hop dancer and a modern dancer — embodied each. The piece culminated in all four dancing simultaneously, while each retained his individual style.

No two dances in the whole concert felt the same. It was a grand variety of style, pace, music, visual effects and mood. A sexy lyrical piece is countered by a hip-hop dance to loud rap music, which is again countered by a humorous piece more relaxed in style and difficulty. The audience is kept on their toes, and is always stimulated by the next dance.

One piece really surpassed all the rest, however. "Kiza," choreographed by Kelly Sortino, is narrative in style, depicting the journey of a woman who seems to have been impregnated by some spiritual force. Amy Bregar '06 is the principal dancer. The modern dance is heavily influenced by traditional African dancing, and its composition is visually stunning: at one point, Bregar dances center stage while a line of dancers lies at the lip of the stage, clawing frantically at the air and mouthing the cries of the vocalists in the music.

The lighting design of the dance concert, created by Scott Grzenczyk '06 and Jeff Hill '07, was superb. In many pieces, the potential for creative collaboration between the choreographers and the lighting designers was fully realized. In "Kiza," for example, there is a sudden blackout in the song when the music abruptly ends. When the lights come up and the music restarts, Bregar stands facing the audience with her hands over her eyes, so that the audience, who had also only seen darkness, feels as though they are experiencing her story.

The lighting of the show stands out as a real contributor to the show's overall success. The intricacy of every piece, and the subtle responsiveness to the singularities of each song, greatly enhance the tone and significance of each dance. A great example of this is "Entropy," in which the alternating use of striated lights, red hues and varying spotlights creates an intensely powerful and dramatic mood.

In "Tidal," a rectangular box of light shines down on a vertical line of dancers. At another point in the piece, the dancers are in three horizontal lines, and only the line farthest from the audience is lit, directing our attention to a place that might otherwise have been overlooked.

From her dramatic performance in "Kiza" to her quirky dancing in "Beach Blanket Bingo Bash," Bregar, diSiac's president, truly shines. Her technique, her physical and facial expressions and her clear passion for dance capture the audience's attention whenever she is on stage.

"In Her Eyes," choreographed by Laura Fitzpatrick '08, also stood out as particularly well-conceived and executed. The female dancers, costumed in beautiful red dresses, unhappily inspect themselves in imaginary mirrors, unaware of one another, then gradually grow to physically depend more and more on the other dancers as the vocalists sing, "there were no mirrors in Nana's house."

It is clear, though, that despite their talents, the diSiac dancers do not take themselves too seriously. "U-Call," for example, provides some wonderful comic relief. The dancers, clad as students, make fun of the boyfriend-girlfriend relationships that are perpetuated through the universal cell phone obsession. The dancers come to life during this piece, and their expressiveness, coupled with the excellent hip-hop choreography by Alexis Tucker '08 and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins '06, make this piece a guaranteed hit.

If you want to laugh, if you want to experience drama, if you want to feel as if you're falling in love, or if you simply want an aphrodiSiac, come see diSiac's dance concert. You'll leave wanting more.