Under director Susan Alexander, the Westmont College dance program has blossomed into an inventive, thoughtful, spirited troupe that works well together in a variety of idioms. Saturday’s fall concert performance featured 11 distinctive pieces set to music ranging from the 17th-century Scottish ballad “Joy to the Person of My Love” to the contemporary pop and hip-hop of Destiny’s Child, Andra Day, and even some 2 Chainz.
Alexander contributed three substantial works, each in a different genre. Her “Party of One,” a solo set on dancer Kyndal Vogt, opened the hour-long concert, and “Slant” — another Alexander composition — gave Martha Bartchy, Claire Masterson, Abigail Pryor, Robyn Takeshita, and Vogt a chance to show what they can do in a more abstract and lyrical vein. The piece “360°” brought back Pryon, Takeshita, and Vogt to the stirring sounds of the USC Drum Corps.
Two sisters contributed a pair of works each. Westmont student Sarah Sutherland set “Rise” on herself and her sister, alum Bethany Sutherland, and it was a highlight of the program. Bethany Sutherland’s “Tribal Instinct,” a hip-hop quintet, took the penultimate spot and provided a lead-in to the finale, “You & Me,” which featured the members of N’STEP, Westmont’s hip-hop dance club.