The Sweet Briar College Fall Dance Concert program will swirl through an eclectic mix of styles, from Afro-Brazilian drumbeats to Irish dancing to classic swing tunes. The concert, which is free and open to the public, will be performed at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4 and Saturday, Nov. 5 in the Babcock Center’s Murchison Lane Auditorium.

Senior dance major Sara Coffey will perform at Sweet Briar College’s Fall Dance Concert on Nov. 4 and 5 in Murchison Lane Auditorium. Photo by Andrew Wilds.Presented by the College dance department, the show takes in a wide spectrum of moods in pieces choreographed largely by students. Two spotlighted pieces add a Celtic feel with Irish and Scottish dance performances.

An Irish dance duet by Maureen McGuire ’06 and Doreen McVeigh ’09 evokes the pleasant sensation of water over rocks through the exceptional percussion of their wooden-soled dance shoes. The dancers will wear embroidered “traditional, but contemporary Irish dance costumes,” McGuire said. “The designs are influenced by old Celtic designs like those found in the Book of Kells.”

Irish dancing is an ancient style, made popular again by the recent success of Riverdance and the Lord of the Dance tours. Complimenting the form by contrast, first-year student Mary Susan Sinclair-Kuenning will solo in a Scottish dance of her own choreography. For three consecutive years Kuenning has been National Scottish Dance Champion and ranked second in the world. She brings 14 years of experience to her dance, which features fast fiddle and even faster feet.

Two additional solos are on the program. One is a visually intriguing piece by senior dance major Tacy Bolton, who deals with cancer and loss in “Thread of Life.” Her prop is a stage-wide piece of violet cloth representing the struggle with cancer. The flexibility and translucency of the cloth seem to sometimes keep her trapped inside a bubble while she moves with it.

Fellow dance major Sara Coffey ’06 performs to a Piazzolla tango while she whirls over the stage partnered by a footstool — both drawn to and resisting her prop, just as she would a human partner. This vibrant piece, as well as Bolton’s “Thread of Life” solo, will be showcased at the American College Dance Festival in January 2006.

Coffey and Bolton also choreograph ensemble performances. The dancers include Amherst County native Sarah Leazer ’09, along with Emily Brown ’09, Heather Coley ’08, Laura Cromwell ’09, Mary Dance ’08, Sarah Hall ’09, Brooke Helburn ’06, Isobel Moody ’06, Margaret Nicholson ’09, Jana Pfoutz ’09, Nicole Pham ’09, Danielle Pretti ’09, Shanna Ryan ’08, Amanda Strickland ’09 and Celeste Wackenhut ’08.

In her large ensemble piece, Coffey adds steamy motion to the well-known jazz-singer classic, “Summertime.” The dance’s swirling colors and moves capture the heat of the Southern summer.

Bolton opens her group’s number with spotlights and funky music to create a feeling she describes as “very Vogue,” and moves into an amusing segment that contrasts the lives of “traditional” versus “free-spirited” women.

Sweet Briar dance professors Mark and Ella Magruder also choreograph two large ensembles that examine society. Mark Magruder’s “Harried Song of the Nightingale” explores conformity versus freedom.

“The dance is built around moving quickly,” Magruder said. “It’s a non-stop state of motion that never gets too comfortable.” Using centrifugal energy, the athletic dance flows to Chinese pipa music with a heavy drum beat. This piece will also be performed at the American College Dance Festival in 2006.

Ella Magruder’s choreography visualizes the connections women make in groups. Her dancers maintain almost constant physical contact as they flow between and around one another. The harmonious gestures throughout this dance show an appreciation and understanding of the female body and psyche.

For more information, please contact Mark Magruder, SBC dance program director, at (434) 381-6150 or magruder@sbc.edu.

By Angelica Guarino ’06