Cal Poly Orchesis Dance Company is performing their 54th annual concert, titled “Retrograde,” from Jan. 19-20 and 25-27 in Spanos Theater.
“Retrograde,” the overarching theme of this year’s concert, refers to a compositional technique in which movement is viewed in reverse, according to a news release. At the beginning of fall quarter, 33 student dancers were chosen through an audition process to participate in Choreography & Workshop in Dance Concert Preparation (DANC 345), a workshop class in which the selected students created and learned choreography for “Retrograde.”
In addition to two guest choreographers, “Retrograde” presents the work of five student choreographers. Orchesis director and dance professor Diana Stanton said the personalized approach student choreographers take to dance incorporates elements of their academic and personal lives and translate them into movement, according to the news release.
“We’ve had aerospace engineers choreograph the cycle of planets,” Stanton said. “We’ve had others choreograph their biochemistry final about bacteria.”
Emily Olster, a child development junior, takes a more vulnerable approach. She choreographed a contemporary jazz piece titled “Flux,” which is the most personal she’s ever gotten with her choreography.
Olster tore her ACL back in June and had to undergo surgery, which she said felt like set her back in her dancing career.
“[The injury] got me to think about how it feels to lose something that’s really important to you, which for me, was dance,” Olster said. “So, I made a piece about emotional disconnect, loss, and angst.”
Olster chose contemporary jazz as the genre for her piece, which she describes as one of the most “emotionally expressive” forms of dance.
“You can use your breath and use emotion with your face and body to express a story whether or not the audience understands the story or not,” she said.
Another student choreographer and construction management senior, Dana Craighead, used the theme of the show itself and her own personal interest in astrology as the inspiration for her piece “Mercury,” which is the show’s soft, fluid, contemporary opening number.
The name “Mercury” refers to the astrological term mercury retrograde, defined by Craighead as the “idea that Mercury from Earth looks like it’s orbiting backwards even though it’s actually still orbiting forward.”
According to Craighead, many astrologers believe that when Mercury is retrograde, it leads to a breakdown in communication between people and their loved ones that makes many astrology followers fearful.
“Mercury retrograde has this element of confusion and disillusion of retreat,” she said. “I wanted to take these ideas of retreat and disillusion and miscommunication and open up a world in dance that elevated the idea of vulnerability and communication.”
Despite the fact only five of the 33 featured dancers, including Olster and Craighead, choreographed their own pieces for the show, Stanton credits all students with great involvement in the creative process.
“They’re not just being taught movement,” Stanton explained. “They’re helping develop the movement with the choreographers…Everything you see, especially in the finale, is derived from the dancers themselves.”
While all other pieces presented in the concert only feature a group of select dancers, the finale, “Oblivion,” choreographed by guest artist Mike Esperanza in collaboration with the students, incorporates all student performers.
“There’s some really beautiful, captivating visual imagery,” Stanton said. “There’s clear passion and dedication. There’s energy and excitement. There’s tender moments.”
In addition to the chance to observe what Stanton calls beautiful technique and expression on behalf of the dancer, she believes seeing “Retrograde” presents the audience with another opportunity – the opportunity to be moved.
Tickets can be purchased here.