By Brianna Holcomb Columnist
Though the weather was poor Sunday night, students, family and faculty gathered in the Black Box Theater to watch the Student Rep Show. The show is an annual display of work by talented performing arts students, ranging from actors to directors to dancers.
The show opened with a monologue, “Krapp’s Last Tape.” The lead character, Krapp (David Murray), captured the audience’s attention with his labored walk and puzzling disposition. The performance depicted an old man with little time left, reminiscing on his past days as a young man. Murray’s composure was excellent. The scene called for very long intervals of not only silence, but also concentration, which he performed impeccably.
The next section of the show, the MoVoM Dance Concert, continued on with 10 dance performances. The student-choreographed performances included both senior and freshmen choreographers. The dances were well executed and completely captured the attention of the audience.
The dancers did a phenomenal job performing each dance, solos, groups and duets alike. The emotion flowed out of each dancer and every move was on point.
Laura Merkel, a senior, choreographed as well as performed to the song “Some Things Last a Long Time” by Daniel Johnston. Her dance captured the lyrics of the song, evoking a slight moment of sadness within me. Despite the sad feeling the song gave, her dance was beautiful to watch as she moved from one end of the stage to the next.
A cute dance choreographed and performed by senior Caitlin Sheppard and duet partner Ricky Wenthen was impressive and amusing. The set, entitled “Where Did You Go,” also showcased musicians Jenna Tanzola and Laura Walsh. Tanzola and Walsh sang “The Hush,” a folk rock song by Spring Standards. The dance and vocals added a different flare to the show.
The closing act was the twins Johnny and Bill Cohen. The twins’ set, “Introduction” was set to a series of dubstep songs. By the end of their performance the audience sat unflinching for a few moments, mesmerized by what they had just watched. The control they displayed over the movements of their bodies was eye-catching and surreal to watch. They executed each muscle movement to the sound of the electronic music playing behind them, continuously locking and unlocking their bodies and giving off an almost robotic feel.
The whole show consisted of talented and skillful artists who have shown that hard work and dedication can amount to something great.