Dance Company dazzles

The Hubbard Street Dance Company gave a dazzling, performance Wednesday night at the IU Auditorium. They danced their way into audience members' hearts. The program incorporated a diverse use of contemporary dance styles while holding on to modern and classical ballet-based technique. The dancers' energy throughout the program was definitely an attention grabber because their energy level did not falter once.\nEach piece had its own set choreography that really brought to the audience's view the diverse range of dance styles this company possesses. The program opened with "SF/LB," during which there were 15 dancers on the stage all dressed in pinstriped suits. The dancers began the piece with sequenced bouncing movements, incorporating their ability to work in unison with each other and their ability to use different levels of motion. As the piece went on, dance steps became much bigger and quicker using many petite allegro steps. The dancers seemed to release their bodies into the weight of gravity with a feeling of push and pull coming from each dancer. Even though this piece was not the best choice for an opening number, the energy levels that stemmed from all of the dancers really brought to attention their amazing performance levels.\nThe programs next piece "Gimme" was a pas de deux, where there were only a couple on the stage, and together, they truly displayed the theme of the struggle of modern-day relationships between men and women. This piece had a push-and-pull effect in many of the dance movements, and the performances really portrayed the theme well. The audience seemed emotionally connected to this piece.\nThe third piece of the program was "Tabula Rasa," in which the dancing seemed to jump out at you. All the dancers really caught the audience's attention. The beginning was very energetic with a feeling of release and suspension that came from the dancers and the steps. In the second part, steps were more structured and possessed a hypnotic sense with the repeated swaying. They used slow, gentle movements of hands and arms to add a deeply emotional effect. As groups of dancers broke away, each of them used balance and leverage in their movements.\nThe last piece, "Rooster," was a favorite among the audience members and brought delightment and humor to the program. There was definitely appeal to this piece because it used music from the Rolling Stones and a more of jazzy style of dancing.\nThroughout this whole piece there was a real sense of comedic humor that came from the steps and the dancers. In fact, in each different section of the piece, audience members would burst into laughter.\nThis program really touched me because it allowed me to see a different style of dancing with twist to it. The number made a professional dance company live up to its reputation by showing off the performance ability of this company. \nElizabeth Shea, coordinator of Contemporary Dance Program in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, said it was wonderful for the Bloomington community to experience a contemporary dance performance of such high quality.\n"I thought it was an excellent performance. I enjoyed how well balanced the program was and how it showed the versatility of the dancers and the diverse use of different choreographers," Shea said.