A far cry from your little sister’s ballet recital, and even previous years’ concerts, this year’s Emerging Choreographers’ Series (ECS) has produced what junior Marlena Zahm describes as a display of “angst, rage-filled women.” What inspired this new direction? Simple, this year the ECS committee decided to unify the concert under one, all encompassing theme, the concept of response. However, after stirring controversy and negative reactions from choreographers who feared losing their creative freedom, the committee found incorporating a theme to be anything but simple.

Traditionally a showcase for undergraduate dance majors to explore the world of choreography in a professional concert setting, ECS concerts in the past threw together a wide variety of works without a common thread. Early on, ECS committee members Linalynn Natter and Marlena Zahm knew they needed to make a change and drive some energy into the concert. Inspired by the Chemical Brothers’ song Music Response, Zahm and Natter told the choreographers they could create anything that served as a response to a broad range of stimuli including society, relationships, and personal feelings. Zahm says, “By forcing them to make decisions about their choreography, we forced them to have an opinion, making the pieces much stronger.”

Although initially scared to deal with a limiting factor, the choreographers eventually warmed to the idea. “It’s such an open topic, dancing is always a response to something, so basically any piece would fit,” describes sophomore choreographer and dance major Nicole Dagesse. Dagesse’s work Out of the Box investigates both literal and figurative boxes, “particularly the box we are forced into by our culture.” By combining primal movement with sharp, robotic gestures, Dagesse contrasts our natural urges and roots with current societal expectations. “It’s not just a response to society, it goes further to examine how I view our culture’s influence on me and more importantly, how I hope to affect change.”

Junior dance major Julie Weismantel took the response theme and literally, flowed with it. Her piece connects the idea of an identity that is fluid and ever-changing to the qualities of water. “We’re like water, our identity is never identical from one moment to the next,” she explains. Since it is mostly based on elaborate improvisational structures, Weismantel’s work will never be performed, or even rehearsed exactly the same. Inspired by excerpts from some of her favorite books, including The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, she based her choreographic phrasing on words like crash, sink, and recede.

Even though most of the choreographers feel the “response” theme served as more of a loose guideline than the driving force behind their work, Zahm is satisfied with the results it produced. Also the lighting designer for the concert, she feels the dance majors this year are far more prepared to discuss and explain their work than in the past. If anything, ECS exists to give young choreographers crucial experience and Zahm hopes that this year’s theme taught them to navigate the fine balance necessary to create limitless art based on restrictions.

Residential Arts presents the Emerging Choreographer’s Series Thursday April 29th through Friday May 1st at 8pm at the Main Dance Studio at Hampshire College. Tickets are $8 for general admission and $5 for students.