By Aicha Bangoura

Students at the University of Maryland took part in a performance of their original dance pieces at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center’s Choreography Studio on Thursday night.  

The show, free and open to the public, was presented by the UMD School of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies.  It consisted of eight performances, several of which featured dance companies from UMD, such as Tianyi Dance Team, Ballet Company M and Terrapin Tap Troupe. Students performed choreography that was either fully done or still in production.

Sierra Marsch, a sophomore psychology and marketing major, is part of the guest experience team and explained that the best part of it is seeing all the students working so hard to reach their goals.

“It’s really fulfilling to see how happy they are once they accomplish something,” Marsch said.    

One of the performances, entitled “Magdalene,” included a large screen onstage showing  a bathroom with water running in the tub and inside lay a person with their head facing down. A few seconds later, the lights turned on and Victoria Uleck, a sophomore dance and environmental science major,  ran across the stage.

Uleck said the piece was about yearning to feel wanted. She created and starred in the video used on screen, and worked on the piece inspired by Girlpool’s “Before the World Was Big” in her choreography class.

“I was just in the shower one day and I was like, I don’t know, it’s like the feeling of the hot water hitting your head.…how do you try to capture that?” Uleck said. 

While the body of Uleck’s piece was lively, the performance’s ending was quite melancholy, as she lay on the ground somberly. 

“I really like the song as it connects to childhood and nostalgia and like growing up,” Uleck said. 

Addressing what she wants people to take away from the piece, Uleck’s message to the public is to come out and support art. 

“Get a little weirder,” Uleck said. 

Aiden Gibney, a freshman computer engineering major, attended the show in support of Uleck. Gibney explained that while Uleck’s choice of song was unique, it was interesting to see how much variety of movement you could get from such a song. 

“The visual elements were really cool, she edited all herself,” Gibney said. 

Gibney is not involved in the dance programs, but he’s attended some of the performances, and appreciates that the pieces are student-choreographed.

 “It’s really cool to see actual students making art and presenting that,” he said.

Alyssa Koeiman, a sophomore dance major, was the final performer in the show. Her piece was inspired by artist Teyana Taylor’s song, “Bare Wit Me.” Koeiman knew the song prior, but heard the song last November when walking across Mckeldin Mall. 

“I just had to stop and just dance, and from then I was like, ‘Okay, I think I want to choreograph something to this,’” Koeiman said.

Koeiman said that improvisation helped her to choreograph the piece.

 “I started off just dancing to the music, recording myself, figuring out what pieces I like, seeing how I could change them,” Koeiman said. 

With this being Koeimans’ first solo performance in front of a formal audience, she said it was nerve wracking.

 “I was actually not the proudest of myself,” Koeiman said. “I’m a perfectionist.” 

 Koeiman wants her piece to speak to the importance of being real.

“I was very inspired by the music itself and I think that the lyrics are very vulnerable honestly–so be vulnerable,” Koeiman said.  

People can best support the dance community on campus by supporting the Student Dance Association as they post content on  their social media about UMDances, according to Koeiman.

Featured image: The Tianyi Dance Company onstage at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center on Thursday, April 10. Photo by Aicha Bangoura