Review | UC Santa Barbara Department of Theater and Dance’s Fall Dance Concert, ‘Within Existence | Existence Within’
Diverse Dance Performance Empowers Audience at Hatlen Theater
Across the seven movement pieces presented within the UCSB Department of Theater and Dance’s fall dance concert, Within Existence | Existence Within, the audience was treated to a patchwork of visual and sonic narratives, tied together by the dance company’s impressive technical skillset and their ability to produce the visceral emotions of empowerment, intensity, and pain throughout their performance at Hatlen Theater.
The concert, directed by UCSB faculty dance choreographer Christina McCarthy, implemented the choreography from five senior dancers in the company, giving students the chance to showcase their unique movement pieces and touch upon a myriad of themes and stylistic choices within each performance. As the concert moved from one piece to the next, each choreographer’s vision came to light, while still managing to speak on the encompassing subject of humanism in modern society.
The concert began with Jaliana Apawan Semien’s piece, “Deadly or Heavenly.” It showcased eight dancers, seven of which appeared to symbolize the seven heavenly virtues or the seven deadly sins, with one dancer separated from the group as if deciding whether to be influenced by them. To complement this distinctive thematic choice, a range of music produced an auditory landscape of birds chirping, brimming with innocence, only to shift into thunderous, intense music, furthering the dichotomy between virtue and sin, deadly or heavenly, and overall creating an immersive experience for the audience.
