BFA Dance Concert Irey Studio Boulder, Colorado-- The University of Colorado’s Department of Theatre and Dance BFA students Kelsey Chilton, Heather Gray, Esmeralda Kundanis-Grow, Hayley Muth, Raquel Ribich, and Katherine Whalen present “Enter: Lucid Dream,” their final showcase that promises to please any audience, with inspiration ranging from Japanese woodblock prints, film noir, and “The Little Prince,” to exploring human emotions and fusing dance forms. Inspired by flamenco, jazz, modern and African movement qualities, Kelsey Chilton’s work explores the softening and hardening of the human heart in the process of returning home within one’s self. This exploration of personal integrity is expressed through visual and audio aesthetics, and through gestural and sweeping movements, a painted canvas of passion and love is created onstage. Heather Gray explores the depths of the human heart through momentum-driven dancing suspended in stillness and meditation. Through an investigation of the dancers’ perceived lifespans, this collage of movement traverses time and space. Inspired by the Japanese art of ukiyo-e and woodblock prints, Heather experiments within the ‘pictures of a floating world’ to portray a woven quilt of captured moments encompassing the human condition. In collaboration with film and audio artists, Esmeralda Kundanis-Grow creates a dream world that moves through abstraction, filling the stage with suspense and mystery. Inspired by the emergence of Art Nouveau and Loie Fuller in 1900 Paris, France as well as 1940s, 1950s Film Noir, Esmeralda delves deep into drama, creating an uncertain future for the characters onstage. Hayley Muth's layered works explore a childish innocence in the face of adult lessons. Inspired by Antoine de Saint-Exupery's "The Little Prince," all are transported to a different time and place, as the dancers travel through what feel like shape-shifting landscapes created on stage. The movement questions and contorts what the dancers know about their bodies and keeps them in a release akin to children. Raquel Ribich’s piece is about exploring the triumphs and tribulations of love. The piece is a journey through moments of desperation and through moments of joy. The human emotions expressed in the dance portray reoccurring themes, and the evolution of relationships. Katherine Whalen offers a warm and inviting duet that lures the audience into a world of music and dance. With an original score by Jesse Manno, sound and movement unite as an energetic and passionate force. Six graduating Bachelor of Fine Arts candidates will choreograph their experiences onto dancing bodies, while letting their movement represent something bigger than their thoughts. A truth about these artists' experiences emerges as the choreographers transpose their thoughts onto the stage. “Enter: Lucid Dream” offers a variety of human musings, unique to the six individuals. Their fantasies and imaginations materialize as each represents her humanity on stage.
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