‘Illusions’ rebounds in the second act

Calm, cool and collected is the best way to describe Illusions, eXpressions’ fall show. It features mostly lyrical pieces, all showcasing the technique and control that the dancers in the company have acquired over their years of dance experience.

The first number, choreographed by Liz Metts ’13 sets the tone for what is to follow. Metts is also an executive editor for copy for The Daily Princetonian. The song, “Lights” by Ellie Goulding, is slow and drags a bit, making it a surprising choice for the opening piece. Despite this, the choreography worked well, especially when the company broke into groups throughout the piece to do more select parts. The slow pace of the first piece carries through the entire first half of the show, including the video fillers. But by the second video filler this feeling goes from interesting and emotional to monotonous, leaving two numbers left before intermission.

Although the pieces were clean and everyone danced in unison, the lack of variety in music choices made the first half feel much longer than it actually was. Thankfully, the initial lag was redeemed by a much more upbeat and enjoyable second half. It begins with “Night Terror,” featuring Alta du Pont ’13 in a white dress while the other dancers wear black. Sarah Rose ’14, the choreographer for this piece, did a great job of creating interesting interplay between du Pont and the other dancers. Each time I thought the dance could potentially be losing my interest, something exciting happened. This piece was perfect to open the second act, as it set a new tone that carried through to the end.

“Let There Be Light,” choreographed by Jessi Somple ’08, offers a break from the first six pieces, being the first that could be considered truly energetic. The dancers looked as if they were having fun throughout the entire piece, even though you can tell that it must have been completely exhausting. The steps are simpler than in the other pieces, and many are repeated multiple times. However, each time the steps appeared, something new and interesting was thrown in. Toward the end, each girl went offstage to pick up a color-changing glow stick. This brought a new dimension to the piece, making it much more memorable.

By far the best piece of the show was “The Pointe of Pursuit,” choreographed by Catherine Hsieh ’12. The only word to describe this piece is beautiful. The piece featured Silvia Lundgren ’15 on pointe, while the other dancers were barefoot. The piece was perfectly together, and each movement was purposeful and graceful. The piece comes full circle, ending up exactly where it began with the dancers doing plies and Lundgren dancing alone. Without question, this is the best piece in the show.

The senior piece, titled “No Regrets?” featured a very strange mix of songs and was choreographed by seven different people. There is a lot going on throughout, and it does not necessarily fit with the rest of the show. The dance shows off the talent of the four seniors in the company, and each dancer gets a solo part throughout the dance. After finding out that the songs chosen were from some of the seniors’ favorite pieces throughout their years in eXpressions, it made sense that Tara Knoll ’12 performed the solo during “Telephone,” a position she held two years ago during a company piece.

Interestingly, the show featured many pieces choreographed by alumni, guest choreographers and even a freshman. Although it was interesting to see so many different styles of choreography, most of the pieces featured similar concepts, such as each dancer getting a solo part, which probably contributed to the monotony of the first half. Overall, the latter part of the show was far and away better than the first. Although the show stuck more to the theme than any other eXpressions show, it was still lacking in cohesiveness. The show’s lack of variety is hard to swallow at times, but as a whole it is enjoyable and easy to watch, especially considering it includes only 10 pieces. I would encourage you to check out the show this weekend — it’s short, fun and certainly worth the $7 ticket.