Time and time again, people are entranced when they watch dance and find themselves overcome by emotion and strong feelings of empathy. But how is it possible to empathize when no words have been spoken? This is because dance, in itself, is a language.

This is the underlying theme of Moorpark College’s fall dance concert, “Speaking Movement” where 10 pieces were performed incorporating a variety of styles, including modern, pointe, neo-classical ballet, tap, and hip-hop.

Artistic Director Beth Megill explains her vision: I believe movement speaks in ways that words cannot.

“Speaking Movement” covered different aspects of human being, expressing stories relating to dancers that managed to keep the audience engaged. From the narrative of a relationship and its ups-and-downs portrayed in “To My Husband, from your Wife,” to “Awaken” choreographed by Vivian Goldes, the performances reflected those feelings that cannot be expressed with words.

“I thought the performance was absolutely wonderful,” Caroline Crowfoot, 23, said. “I liked the variety of dance styles and the way they were choreographed.”

Throughout the performance, while some dances had a serious theme portraying feelings of love, hate and death, others were fun and cheerful like “Love(H)er Game” a tap dance piece choreographed by Megill. Others without narrative and only expression through the dance, such as “Squint, and Remake the World,” choreographed by Jessica Kondrath, “who had a real eye for design and moving bodies through space” said Megill.

After four days of performances, “Speaking Movement” had its closing night on Sunday, Nov. 24, leaving the audience satisfied with an emotional residue of joy, peace, anger, frustration, and love.