Seniors showcase original choreography Sunday

On Sunday, the senior class of the IU Department of Theatre, Drama and Contemporary Dance showed off their Senior Choreography Showcase, “Spectrum.”

There were two performances — one at 2 p.m. and one at 6 p.m. — at the Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center in downtown Bloomington.

Both were filled with parents, friends and significant others who came to see what the senior class has been working on since early October.

The seniors decided everything, from music to movements. For senior Shannon Kazan, deciding what to include in her piece, “Solitary Disarray,” was based on mixing her personality with the dancers’ abilities.

“I picked a song that was dubstep violin to give it a classic sound with a beat,” Kazan said, referring to “Crystalize” by Lindsey Stirling. “I wanted to showcase my personality and theirs to showcase their talents, and I think it turned out really great.”

One of Kazan’s fellow seniors, Samia Mooney, choreographed the dance “In This Time.”

She said she picked a particularly small cast with just three freshman and a junior, which made rehearsing a little easier.

“I organized the process logically to include three duets, which means less to clean and less rehearsal time all together, but it means more individual responsibility,” Mooney said.

“In This Time” was set to the song “Meditation (In Memory of John Legend)” by the Emberli Ensemble, with edits by Jon Vanderkolff, and the small cast included a member Mooney considers special.

“I picked one dancer, Liz (Elizabeth Burr), because she is my ‘little sister’ in the program, and as a freshman, I really wanted to give her an opportunity to dance,” Mooney said.

Mooney said the seniors have been busy because they have been working on this performance and simultaneously preparing for their winter performance in January.

Nevertheless, Mooney said they were prepared for the show.

“We love having an audience,” Mooney said. “That’s why we do it — because we love performing for people.”

Follow reporter Janica Kaneshiro on Twitter @janicakaneshiro.