Cal Poly Orchesis Dance Company will present a second weekend of performances for Elevate, from Jan. 23-25 in Spanos Theater. The annual concert first premiered on Jan. 17-18.
The show’s 14 contemporary pieces are choreographed by faculty, student dancers, and two guest choreographers. The show consists of two acts, each act featuring seven pieces.
The show opens with a piece called Lost and Found, choreographed by student dancer Emily Olster.
“I’ve done a few pieces for Orchesis, and I wanted to do something to complete the time cycle,” Olster said. “I had done a piece about the past. I had done a piece about the future, and now this is about the present.”
The choreography for Lost and Found is the third installment of a series about time. Olster’s piece includes two songs— one that is slower and softer, and another that is faster and more intense.
Olster also had dancers contribute identity phrases, a movement or series of movements based on an aspect of the dancer’s identity. This would include a visualization of the dancer’s name or favorite color. However, contributions from the dancers are not unique to Olster’s piece.
Choreographers give dancers a small prompt or song lyrics to draw inspiration from according to Joyce Shen, a student dancer and plant sciences sophomore. “I think in pretty much all the pieces, they have us generate some type of choreography,” she said.
Shen pointed out that she was surprised by how much she had to contribute.
All choreographers wrote statements of intent to describe the vision and inspiration behind their pieces, which are located in the show’s program.
Orchesis director and Cal Poly professor of dance Diana Stanton choreographed “Flight,” a contemporary piece in which dancers lift each other. The physical elevation represents elevating others emotionally, making other people better, and overcoming struggle, according to Stanton.
“Flight” ends Act I, the seventh piece in the show, and the last piece the audience sees before intermission.
Although not all students choreographed pieces, collaboration was essential to the making of Elevate.
“Everybody has a way of working together and watching it build into this cohesive, expressive, unified passion,” Stanton said. “Passionate expression, I think, is unique to this group.”
Attendees can look forward to a second weekend of performances. More information can be found on the PAC SLO website.
“The audience can look forward to the unbridled enthusiasm and passion of the dancers,” Stanton said. “Seeing people that are just fully invested with every cell of their body.”