Cocaine addiction, sorrow and loss, and obsessive-compulsive disorder are all themes that will be presented through compelling, educational choreography at the Dance Program’s annual Fall Dance Concert happening Thursday and Friday from 8–10 p.m.
The fall performance will feature both dance companies here at NC State: the NCSU Dance Company and the Panoramic Dance Project. Newly appointed director Tara Mullins has helped prepare the dance companies for the fall performance, along with additional choreographers.
“It’s great to see the range of talent on this campus,” Mullins said. “We have a lot of invested dancers who probably could’ve gone to dance or arts programs, but chose to come here and major in a non-arts program. I think they’re very talented.”
The NCSU Dance Company has been performing for 31 years and consists solely of modern dance choreography. The newer Panoramic Dance Project does more radical performances, often encompassing spoken word with social justice themes.
“Dance is very educational, as a lot of the work is research-based,” Mullins said. “One of the students did a piece about OCD, and mine is a work that is about the loss of a loved one. So a lot of the work we do is interesting and you can most likely relate to it on some level.”
The Fall Dance Concert will feature nine pieces, three of which are composed by students and one piece by widely recognized choreographer Baba Chuck Davis.
Choreographer Justin Tornow and recurring guest artist Willie Hinton have also prepared a piece for the performance. Mullins’ piece was based on the loss of a loved one due to cancer.
World-renowned choreographer Chuck Davis has prepared a piece on cocaine addiction. Davis has been working with the NC State dance companies for more than two years now. Students Leslie Barber, Jillian Brownell and Brooke Yannayon each researched and choreographed an original work for their performance-based independent studies.
Barber’s piece is about OCD and is a part of her independent study after she began developing the idea in her dance composition class last spring.
“I was scrolling online, and I came across the video for Neil Hilborn’s OCD poem, and I had been connected to it for so long,” Barber said. “I remember the first time I watched it I cried. I decided to look into more research about OCD, and that’s how I picked the idea.”
Barber has been dancing with Panoramic Dance Project since her freshman year, with rehearsals Mondays and Wednesdays from 6–8:30 p.m.
“Panoramic Dance Project is like a family to me,” Barber said. It’s provided me with a safe space these past couple of years. There’s so much going on with school and work but I’ll go into the dance studio and it takes my mind off it for a bit, being with these people who share your passion.”
This family-like atmosphere is recognized by Mullins as well, who commemorates the dancers for working together through good times and bad.
“You can see that on the stage and it’s not superficial, they’re fully invested,” Mullins said. “I think it’s great to see students that are artistically invested but also really care about each other.”
In addition to directing the NC State dance companies to success, Mullins produced “Operation Breadbasket,” a dance inspired by the civil rights movement, and has an extensive background with modern dance, having discovered her passion for the genre in high school.
“They truly love each other, and under the circumstances of the changing social and political climate, they come into the studio and laugh and cry and support each other,” Mullins said.
