Chelonia 2026 was a time of perseverance and community for the dancers. They danced beautifully, working through sickness, missing dancers, and music glitches. Despite all this, the show was still a captivating display of art. All eight dances held the audience’s attention throughout the performances.
The first piece, “What’s Going Institution,” was choreographed by Adanya Gilmore’21 and performed by Shannon Poole’26, Vivian Kopka’27, and Marta Zholnerchyk’27. The piece had very captivating movements and included a spoken-word aspect, performed by Zholnerchyk. The dance ended with a wonderful solo done by Kopka. The mashup of Ahnika Franklin and Ahmad Garib’s song, and Whats up? by 4 Non Blondes, was an exquisite back-track to this art piece.
“Inner Fight” was choreographed by Poole and had performed by Poole, Lauren Prada’28, and Selin Tufte’28. The dance was choreographed beautifully, passing as a fight with some movements. The story was very clearly visible throughout the piece, and the three dancers helped to immerse the audience into the narrative. The song, “Past Life” by Ariana Grande, furthered the storytelling.
“Growth in Grief” was choreographed by Kierra Rayne Hoover’27 and Ray Pagliarini’28. Both Hoover and Pagliarini danced in this piece, along with Prada, Zholnerchyk, Charlotte Bosacker-Kass’28, and Lillyanna Schendel. This group dance was a wonderful story, with the dancers singing parts of the backing song, “A Lot More Free” by Max McNown. If you went, I bet you couldn’t tell that Zholnerchyk learned her part in just a week. “She’s our saviour,” Bosacker-Kass commented.
“Found Movement” was a projected screendance created by Bethany Yu’27 in collaboration with Hoover, Kopka, Pagliarini, Rachel Webber, and Kateri Zitzelsberger’26. The video cut together movement found in everyday life, as well as choreography in numerous locations. The editing and final product were stunningly cinematic. The song choice of “Ce matin-là” by Air made the piece all the more dreamlike and immersive.
“Not Alone” was choreographed and danced by Bosacker-Kass. The other four dancers were Zholnerchyk, Hoover, Pagliarini, and Prada. The dance told a story of the importance of community while experiencing hardships. The song “Change Your Mind” by Alex Warren emphasized the desire for togetherness that the dance highlights.
Poole took to the stage in a self-choreographed piece entitled “Who am I to Complain?,” pulling a line from her song choice, “No Complaints” by Noah Kahn. The solo was a beautiful story of carrying on despite feeling like you can’t. Poole gave her gorgeous goodbye to the Beloit College dance scene, holding everyone’s gaze as she shone on stage.
“Plodding” was a pointe dance choreographed by Zizelsberger and danced by Prada, Bosacker-Kass, and Lucy Herrod’29. Zizelsberger also created the song “Plodding” for this piece as well. Prada had a few featured parts in this dance where she showcased her jaw-dropping talents on pointe. During the Friday night performance, the music cut out close to the end of the number. Despite this, the dancers continued spectacularly without the music.
The final dance was called “Post-Internet-Dance-Theater-Production-Performance.” It was choreographed by the Ferrall Artist-in-Residence, Gabriel Bruno Eng Gonzalez. Lily Nieson’28, Lane Wilson’27, and Eve Barolsky were the three performers in this piece. Kopka was in charge of the computer and television. You may be asking, why is there a computer and a television in a dance performance? Well, that’s because the dancers were dancing with green screens! It was an incredibly abstract performance that took live recordings and cast them onto a green screen numerous times. Words can’t quite capture the essence of this piece.
Chelonia 2026 was a success despite the challenges the dancers had to face and overcome. I hear our dancers are on the mend and all of them are almost back to one hundred percent! If these words aren’t quite satisfying your performing arts itch, check out the photo collage in our Feature section to see snapshots of the dances.
Image credit: Ivy Salmi-Perry’28
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