On Friday, December 6, and Saturday, December 7, the Contemporary Dance Ensemble (CDE) at Plymouth State College put on their annual Winter Fantasia. Joan Wiegers was the artistic director for the event, with choreographer Carole Ann Morrison, the director of B.P. Studios and guest choreographer Priscilla Wagner coming together for the event. Joan Wiegers choreographed the modern dance pieces, Carole Ann Morrison choreographed the B.P. Studios dancers’ dances as well as the Flurries dance, and Priscilla Wagner choreographed the Sun and Stars piece. The show led the audience through one day, focusing on the weather elements and how they react with one another. It continued straight through, suggesting a constant movement from one weather element to the next, as the actual weather patterns in nature do. Winter Fantasia opened with a scene danced by guest dancers from B.P. Studios. The dance was four girls at a sleepover, and portrayed the fun they were having together. The girls were young, so the dance was not very long, but they danced with great enthusiasm and were confident in their steps. At the end of the first dance, the girls froze in the center of the stage as night fell. The dance began again with one dancer from PSC coming on stage, doing a small solo, and then leaving with the result being one of the little girls falling to sleep. This was repeated two more times until all the girls were asleep and night had truly come. This second dance, performed by PSC students, was a ballet piece done en pointe. After the Night dance, the wind came. Wind was a modern piece performed by PSC dancers. It was very much like watching leaves blowing in the wind. Dancers wore flowing white costumes that moved as they ran, making their actions seem like wind. Dancers were constantly coming on and off the stage, and although the dance looked chaotic at first, as it continued a definite pattern, shape, and organization became very obvious. After the Wind came the Snow Flurries. The PSC dancers wore white costumes and danced in formations that resembled the pattern and intricateness of a snowflake’s design. It was a ballet piece and approached with a similar pattern to Wind, with dancers coming on and off the stage with different movements. This suggested the falling of a different snowflake every time a new formation came onto the stage. The storm followed the gentle falling of the snowflakes. Storm was an intense modern dance piece with two different groups of PSC students dancing in it. The first group presented the beginning of the storm, just as it was starting. Suddenly, the music changed and the second group came onstage, suggesting that the storm had changed and was now more intense and stronger. At the end of the dance, the storm reached its climax, with a dramatic lift high into the air, and then slowly began to stop as the dancer was lowered to the ground and the remaining dancers left the stage. After the storm, the snow lay on the ground and everything was still. Then entered the children in Snow Angels, dancers from B.P. Studios. The dancers did the ballet piece in flat ballet shoes, although one dancer was in pointe shoes and had several small solos throughout the dance. After the children and the snow angels came the Sun and Stars. The jazz piece depicted the sun and stars, their relationship to each other, and how they can act together or in opposition of each other. The suns and the stars danced together at several points in the dance, suggesting that even though the sun is out the stars are still in the sky. However, some movements suggested the opposition and differences between the sun and stars as well. At the end of the dance, for example, the sun and the stars did the same movement, but in opposition of each other, suggesting that while they can exist together, they are two separate entities. Lastly, after the sun came out and melted the snow, it got cold again and froze into icicles. Ice was a modern dance piece danced by PSC students. The dance told how water could exist as individual droplets (the individual dancers) and then came together and freeze into a shape. It can then break apart and reform into another shape. The dance consisted entirely of this breaking apart and reforming of new shapes. Overall, the show was a success. It took the audience through a day according to the weather, and the idea behind the show was portrayed. The lighting crew did a wonderful job, especially during the Sun and Stars dance. When the suns were on stage, orange lights were used, and when the stars were dancing, blue lights were used to further emphasize the differences between the two. There was a backdrop of computer generated images by Matt Kizer that helped to portray the dances as they were going on, and were very effective in adding that little something to the dances. Upcoming dance events are the PSC Dance Premiere on Saturday, February 9, 2003, and the New England Regional College Dance Festival, which will be held March 13, 14 and 15, 2003.
Plymouth State University
Thursday, June 26, 2025