Ella Silva, Arts Editor
Dance took over Beloit this past week, with students, their families, and faculty alike taking time to go watch this year’s Chelonia dance showcase. The show was performed a total of four times, in the evening on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, as well as a Sunday afternoon showing, giving Beloiters lots of opportunities to go and take in the incredible performances of all of the dancers involved in the production.
Chelonia this year was made up of eleven separate performances. Some, like the stunning performances of Adrianna Terrell’25, Emma Logas’25, Kateri Zitzelsberger’25, and Serafina Tassi’25, were solo dances. There were also duo performances, as well as several group numbers. Beloit College dance department professors choreographed a number of the dances, and in many cases, the dancers themselves were either involved in the choreography process or were solely responsible for the choreography that they performed.
Like the variation in choreographers and performance numbers, the themes and performance styles also varied dramatically between performers. This variation allowed for the dancers to each show off their own individual skills, in some cases their skills at multiple different styles of dance, as well as to demonstrate how versatile the dance department is as a whole.
The showcase began with a gorgeous and powerful number with hip-hop influences, and its accompanying incredible lighting design done by Eric Moslow made it a hugely successful start to the showcase, capturing the audience’s attention immediately. From there, each performance proceeded to stun the audience even further.
There were haunting and moving numbers like “Ashes to Ashes” performed by Sarah Newman’27, Julia Newmark’25, Olivia Norquist’25, Ava Parr’25, Shannon Poole’26, Bethany Yu’27, Rose Williamson’27, Shakira Wilson’24, and Zitzelsberger.
Then there were more upbeat hip-hop numbers like “Backup” performed by Cosette Barac’27, Veronica Kaluta, Gabriella Willis, Marta Zholnerchyk’27, Annabelle Sherman, Logas, Newmark, and Terrell.
There were also duo pieces where the dancers were so intertwined that sometimes it was difficult to tell where one ended and the other began, “Riven” performed by Logas and Zitzelsberger being one such dance.
The entire showcase concluded with its brightest number, “Alive!” It was an explosion of color and movement, and the performers, Vivian Kopka’27, Logas, Newmark, Parr, Tassi, and Zizelsberger, brought an awe-inspiring amount of energy and joy to the dance. It was a wonderful conclusion to the showcase, highlighting the joy and freedom of dance, and sending the audience off with something that was genuinely just a lot of fun to watch, and served to remind them what it felt like to be, well, “Alive!”
From haunting to joyful, this year’s Chelonia had something for everyone, and the incredible energy, choreography, lighting, costuming, and of course the dancing, made it a truly amazing and unforgettable experience.
Featured Image Credit: Beloit College
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