Student ballet graces the Buskirk-Chumley

The Choreography Project ran at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater Wednesday and Thursday, showcasing some of the talent of the dancers and student choreographers of IU’s Ballet Department. Dances ranged from traditional ballets to more contemporary ones.

“This evening is really about the dance,” said department chair Michael Vernon.
As soon as he was finished speaking, the lights went black.

The opening dance was a slow, mournful country ballad. Three dancers filtered out one by one from the side of the stage and matched the supine vocals.

The stage went black again, and soon the three dancers were replaced with two new ones, who began a parallel dance set to the tune of Frank Sinatra’s “I’ve Got You
under My Skin.”

“It was nice to see ballet set to something other than Tchaikovsky,” said freshman Yaelle Plotkin.

Soon, a furious red backdrop illuminated what looked like an angry god. It was no statue: in reality, three dancers had used each other as support to create the intimidating silhouette. “O Fortuna,” composed by Carl Orff, began to resonate throughout the theater. The dancers started to jerk violently but gracefully as the lights began to flash and change with the music. Finally, after two of the dancers circled, one prostrated himself, becoming an altar. His female companion lay across his knees, and the third dancer appeared suddenly behind them, raising his hand as the stage went black.

“I thought they were all excellent,” Bloomington resident Tony Pizzo said about the ballets.

“It went very well, actually,” Colleen Anthonisen, a sophomore and one of the student choreographers, said. “Everyone did really well for the last show.”

Not every show goes off without a hitch, though.

In the middle of one of the ballets, a dancer fell, her knee dislocated. But the dance continued unabated, and, showing true grit and dedication, she managed to drag herself off the stage while her fellow dancers continued the routine.

“We’ve all been injured,” Vernon said. “It can’t be helped. We do everything we can for the dancers.”

Instead of applause and a curtsy, the show’s end for the dancer was the flashing lights of the marquee and an ambulance.

Despite the misfortune, Vernon considered the show a success.

“The dean said to me that he thinks it gets better every year,” he said.