Tufts' Sarabande Dance Ensemble will be putting on its spring show, "Shake It Out," tonight at 9:00 in Cohen auditorium. For all of the dancers, choreographers and group members involved in the production, tonight marks the culmination of a semester's worth of work. The entire show is student?produced, with all of the planning, choreography and music decisions made by the group's participants.
Though Tufts has a fair number of dance ensembles, Sarabande differentiates itself by being extremely inclusive. Tonight's show features members of numerous dance clubs, including Spirit of Color, the all?female step group Envy, the Indian dance troupe Pulse., Tap Ensemble and Tufts Dance Collective. Such a varied collection of groups has given the show a great range of performances, from subtle solo dances to energetic group acts which fill the stage with performers.
"That's why the Sarabande show is really great - it's one of the most inclusive shows on campus," said sophomore AniLoshkajian, one of Sarabande's producers. "Sarabande has the most outside groups and the most diverse group of dancers. That's what's really special about it."
Putting on such a long show has required a semester's worth of weekly rehearsals from all of the group's dancers, who work even harder in the week leading up to the show.
"Everything comes down to the last week, but that's show business. Sunday night, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, all 6 to midnight," senior Sarabande president Christina Aguirre said.
The musical accompaniment to Sarabande's spring show is just as eclectic as the dances themselves. Spanning a broad range of songs like the XX's understatedly groovy "Crystalised" to heartfelt acoustic ballads like Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros' "Home," the dance show flows smoothly between different genres and moods, all the while providing a platform for the dancers' creativity.
"We try to keep the energy up throughout the whole show," Loshkajian said. "There are some emotional pieces, high?energy pieces, sexy and fun stuff. You can't get bored, because if you don't like one piece, you're bound to like the next one. There's something for everyone."
Sarabande's show is interspersed with solo dances by various seniors in the group, helping to break up the flow of the proceedings and give the audience a brief opportunity to calm down between higher intensity acts. The contrast between these intimate solo performances and the more elaborate, energetic ensemble dances gives the show another subtler dimension.
Sarabande is also unique in the liberties it offers to its dancers, who have a much greater say in the choreography of the routine than dancers in many other dance collectives. Each dancer is given plenty of freedom to experiment, producing a show that goes in directions one might not anticipate. Many of the larger ensemble dances feature intricately choreographed interactions between different groups on stage, producing a performance that is both cohesive and free flowing.
"Each dancer can do what they want. Something Sarabande has been exploring more is the freedom to be creative," Aguirre said. "Some pieces are more conceptual with an idea behind them or a theme or feeling. Dance is just the language of the message. [The working environment] is not like a dance team whatsoever."
The various dances in Sarabande reflect different approaches to choreography, from conceptually themed routines to more abstract dances. Freshman dancer and first?time choreographer Kelsey Howe discussed her experience designing a routine.
"I had such a great time last semester that I'm choreographing for the first time in the show. It was definitely an experiment," Howe said. "Overall, it's fantastic working with these dancers. They pick up choreography really easy. I wouldn't say my theme is necessarily something I want to put into words on the program. There are lots of dances that have an explicit theme, but my dance is just a feel?good dance. I want the audience to feel uplifted and enjoy the movement."
