All of the dancers were impressive. I hadn't known that most are not PMA majors and some are even PhD students in the sciences! The faculty who have brought out their talents and ideas are truly to be commended. Video projections were amazing and I especially loved the Tong Yang-tze video projection of her calligraphy that was animated. It really could have been a stand alone but the interpretation of the student dancers was truly sublime. Kudos to Jumay Chuh for her work with them. Kudos also to Chris Miller's musicianship that created a meditative yet joyful sound-scape. I must say that the final performance by professional dancer-choreographer, Sharaf DarZaid was as stunning as it was breathtaking with his ability to express grief, rage and astonishment in the most subtle of muscle movements. Who knew that one could be mesmerized by a person basically standing in a semi-crouching position as he beat himself to allow explosions of talc impersonating bombings of emotion and violence?

Erica and Dana gave an information-packed and fascinating look into how Broadway musicals come into being. They really presented an insider’s perspective that you couldn’t get from other sources. They both stayed after the talk to answer questions for almost an hour. I would definitely attend another presentation offered by them.