The weather is warmer and the birds are singing; the season of Tufts dance has arrived. Spirit of Color will hold its spring 2008 show, titled "Unleashed," this week in Cohen Auditorium.
Junior and director Stephanie Dres explained that the title of the show derives from the idea that the dancers use dance as "the medium to unleash their creativity." While Spirit of Color is a predominantly hip-hop dance group, there are many quirks and surprises added to "Unleashed" to make the performance unique.
The audition process began when choreographers held open auditions for their dances. Students were welcome to try out for the dance (or dances) of their choosing, but the choreographers had the last say as to who was picked for each dance.
There is also one "open dance" every year, which invites anyone who wants to be a part of Spirit of Color to participate. Spirit of Color boasts an average number of 65 dancers, creating sufficient variety so that the audience doesn't see the same dancers over and over.
The show consists of mostly hip-hop dances, but this year there are some jazz and modern pieces mixed in. The overall theme remains steadily hip-hop and R&B throughout, except for a few '80s interventions such as "Jungle Love," which resembles an animalistic, goofy, hip-hop combination.
The good thing about the music in "Unleashed" is that some dances use three or four songs to create remixes or juxtapositions. The costumes range from plain black tops with black tights to '80s headbands and leg warmers and from classic cobalt blue tunics to wild animal prints.
The show opens on an interesting note with a hip-hop dance-off between a red team and a blue team. From then on, the dances weave in and out through original modern and jazz pieces, but they always return to hip-hop. But this year, there is also a little ballroom and break dancing mixed in to keep the audience on its toes. Most of the dances are fast-paced, but there are also slow ones that are romantic instead of the sexy, blurring moves usually associated with hip-hop dancing. One dance to take note of is a strange, zombie-like dance that uses intense isolations to add to the creepy, inhuman vibe of the piece.
Senior Kat Maus called "Unleashed" the "culmination of four years of work."
She was sentimental, as this will be her last year dancing with the group.
"Trying not to get myself to think that this is the last one was incredibly difficult," Maus said. To end her Spirit of Color dance career with a bang, Maus decided to choreograph three of the show's total 19 dances.
On the flip side, freshman Lorien Whitehead had a lot to say about her experiences with Spirit of Color. She said she was nervous about trying out for dances.
"I didn't know the dance scene, but SoC exceeded my expectations," Whitehead said.
Though a freshman, Whitehead has also been affected by the end-of-the-year sentimentality for the departing seniors.
"It's really weird to think about seniors I've met, knowing they will soon leave and go into the real world," she said.
"Unleashed" runs for about two hours. It opens tonight at 9 p.m. and is also scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday.