Photo Caption: The innovative outdoor dance performance, showcasing the work of students and faculty, marks one of the first live dance performances in over a year at Muhlenberg.College.

Muhlenberg College dancers shared their creativity through movement, as the Muhlenberg Dance Program and the Muhlenberg Dance Association collaborated to present "Ephemerality: Dances In Time," a showcase for dance works created by student and faculty choreographers April 16-18. Many students, including Emily Leandro, joined together to make this event possible.

The concert marks a return to the stage for most Muhlenberg dancers; it follows last month's Senior Dance Showcase as just the second live dance performance at Muhlenberg since February 2020 - and the first to feature all four class years.

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"This concert is truly living up to its name on so many levels," says Randall Anthony Smith, the concert's artistic director and faculty advisor. "The dance works hold an energy specific to the choreographers and how they connect to the construct of time - but the pieces also extend outward into the psychic spaces of the performers, as they unravel the fabric of time from their own perspective and identity."

Smith is working alongside two student artistic directors, Amber Dietrich '21 and Arianna Tilley '22, who will both also be performing and choreographing in this concert.

"The show is a testament to the way that creativity has been fueled under the difficult and unimagined circumstances of the past year," Dietrich says. "But it also provides a sense of comfort by offering a space for our community to come back together to make and share such powerful art."

Tilley has been studying remotely from her hometown this semester. She's holding rehearsals for her piece entirely online.

"It's been a blessing because I can get the dancers out into the world and dance in spaces that evoke memories for them," Tilley says. "It has been both touching and uplifting to watch the entire dance community come together to create something new and beautiful."

"Ephemerality: Dances In Time" will showcase the work of 12 student and three faculty choreographers, and will feature more than 60 dancers from the department's dance program, among the most highly regarded programs of its kind.

The 15 original dances feature styles inspired by contemporary modern, various jazz idioms, ballroom fusion, and contemporary ballet, and will include two pieces performed virtually.

Faculty choreographer Meredith Stapleton '13 derives influence for her piece from the many pandemic-related artistic shifts that she has undergone over the past year. Rather than simply sharing movement, she says, this piece documents self, time and growth.

"I spent a lot more time alone, dancing alone, and thinking about performance without much of an audience," Stapleton says. "Then I got pregnant, and realized I was no longer alone. This has brought up a sea of curious, rather existential questions, which I will be happy to explore for the rest of my life. For this project, I was inspired to explore these inquiries within a group piece for solo artists."

Choreographer Kate McCowan '22 created a piece that explores various sensations of time that she has felt throughout the past year, which she identifies as "urgency, expansiveness, and suspension" of time.

"Because we've been virtual since last spring, many of the dancers are working together for the first time, and it's been so exciting to see their vibrancy as a group," she says. "I hope that this piece will highlight their individuality as they develop physicalizations of these three distinct sensations within time."

Choreographer Sarah O'Sullivan '22 explores the escapism she finds as she becomes engrossed in her favorite book or film realm, which she hopes will share joy among the dancers and the audience members.

"I was inspired by the experience of using media and books as a way to travel to different worlds during a time when physical travel was not possible," O'Sullivan says. "Becoming a part of these romanticized, idealized, escapist worlds often creates a sense of delight and solace. I wanted to create a jazz-ballet infused piece of work which reflects these feelings."

"Ephemerality: Dances In Time" ran April 16-18 outdoors on Muhlenberg's campus, 2400 Chew St., Allentown.