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Dance Students Improvise Performance on Campus (with VIDEO)

Olivia DrakeMay 4, 20116min
Students enrolled in DANC 354: “Improvisational Forms” performed May 2 at various sites on campus.


Below is a video featuring the improv dancers:

[quicktime width=”640″ height=”496″]https://newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu/files/2011/05/improvdance-fs.mp4[/quicktime]
Bulaong Ramiz ’11 and James Gardella ’12 perform near Olin Library. This class is designed to explore various approaches to dance improvisation.
Christian Morehouse ’11 spins Bulaong Ramiz on Usdan University Center’s Huss Courtyard. The majority of the enrolled students are junior and seniors dance majors.
The dancers travel through Pi Cafe in Exley Science Center.
Maia Weiss ’11 poses near the Public Affairs Center. By improvising, students expand their movement vocabulary, increase compositional awareness, develop their creative thinking and observational skills, and sharpen their performance presence.
Nina Simone Moore '11 suspends her body over a step railing in Huss Courtyard.
Sophie Sotsky ’11 piggybacks on Devon Hopkins ’11 during the performance. The multi-space dance lasted more than an hour.
The students perform on Olin Library's front steps.
The improv performance concluded on College Row. The class is taught by Susan Lourie, adjunct professor of dance, pictured in the center. "Improvising can be a real challenge. People don't expect you to be there. You get into their space. People honk or can get annoyed and you work around them. It's all part of an environmental performance," Lourie says. (Photos by Olivia Drake)

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