Last week, the Moorpark College dance department presented their annual fall concert, “Speaking Movement,” on Nov. 16-18 on the Performing Arts Center Main Stage.

The production, co-directed by dance faculty Robert Salas and Vivian Goldes, consisted of 11 pieces that integrated a variety of dance styles, including hip-hop, modern, jazz and ballet. The show also highlighted original work created by six student choreographers.

Jasmine Gilmore, a third-year health sciences major at Moorpark College, was the student director of “Speaking Movement.” Gilmore shared her excitement and gratitude for the program as a leader within the department.

“It’s an honor to be a student director for such an inclusive program,” Gilmore said. “They really try to include everybody from every different type of background, whether they danced or they haven’t danced, and really try to help out choreographers do something challenging that they haven’t tried before.”

Gilmore’s choreographed piece for the show, “All Things End” served as a visual contemporary testament to the emotions surrounding college graduation. The dance symbolized Gilmore’s evolution through her educational career, as dancers demonstrated her previous relationships, showed an attempt to hold onto her past and lastly expressed her acceptance for the future after transferring colleges.

“You become so comfortable, and so happy where you are here at Moorpark [College] that it’s hard to move on sometimes,” Gilmore shared. “You have to remember that there’s good things coming and waiting for you, and that you can appreciate the past without trying to stay there forever.”

Throughout the show, members of the dance department periodically took the stage in between pieces to perform an improv theatrical showcase titled “This is not the show.”

Choreographed by dance faculty Beth Megill, the collaborative immersive experiment was composed of 11 dancers who ventured into the crowd and uniquely interacted with attendees, all while bouncing off each other’s performances. A short clip of the piece can be found here.

Later on in the show, co-director Goldes wowed crowds with her abstract choreography in the trio piece, “Same, Different.” The dancers individually conveyed three different life paths and recounted the similar experience of evolving as dancers. The journey of how the trio arrived in the same space is the same, but different.

“It’s also a study on relying or needing each other but also trying to pull away and be independent,” Goldes said.

The dynamic performance was paired with breathtaking lifts and partner work. A variation of mathematical visuals on the stage also captivated the audience, as the display offered joint feelings of confusion from attendees. The trio ended their piece with a variety of screams.

“In my opinion, the jumbled mathematical words spoken in the music represents confusion and frustration on how they should exist with or without each other,” Goldes explained. “The scream at the end is a symbol of release. They were asked to shout out any phrase that came to mind. It might be different every night.”

The closing number for “Speaking Movement” was a striking hip-hop piece titled “QUEENCITY” performed by members of the “Modern Performing Dance Ensemble” class at Moorpark College.

Student choreographer of the piece, Kobe Johnson, created the piece with a blend of high-energy movement, including jazz funk technique, rhythmic groove and sensual enthusiasm. The dance also utilized the stage’s screen to showcase powerful and influential women in history, including Beyoncé, Michelle Yeoh and Serena Williams.

“I wanted to focus on women empowerment, mainly just getting a group of women to find their inner diva, to find their inner queen,” Johnson said. “I wanted to be impactful and powerful, but I also wanted it to be very much engaging with the audience, uplifting and hype.”

Johnson also explained the honor of choreographing a piece for an industry-focused class within the department.

“This class is mainly for dancers who are wanting to expand more outside of Moorpark and tap more into professional work, so it’s been a really fun experience getting to work with everyone,” Johnson said.

Students looking to get involved with the Moorpark College dance program can now enroll for the upcoming spring semester. With over 40 courses to choose from, Gilmore recommends that students consider taking classes with a span of faculty.

“If you’ve never danced before, the program is fantastic, and dance is a really great release to have,” Gilmore said. “You should take one class from each teacher; Vivian [Goldes], Robert [Salas] and Beth [Megill], at least.”

For more information on the Moorpark College dance department, click here.