by Jeffrey Stanley

“Skitter. Just skitter. Two or three skitters, then retreat slowly...slowly. Give it a try.”

Marna Herrity, dance teacher and co-chair of the performing arts department, was onstage suggesting some final tweaks to an ensemble of Upper School dancers who will perform one of 19 pieces in the upcoming BFS Middle and Upper School Dance Concert. This particular piece, called Pressures, is a tribute to leaders and participants of the Civil Rights movement. It also is a reconstruction of a dance choreographed by alumnae Araina Jewell (’93), Dayla Watson (’93) and Meredith Cole (’95) for the 1993 dance concert. The dance incorporates rear-projected archival news clips of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, alarming headlines and stark images of protestors confronting police. The dancers’ movements, performed to David Bowie’s Under Pressure, were choreographed to complement specific moments in the footage.

“Are you ready, Jeremy? Okay, let’s go again!” Marna called to guest lighting designer Jeremy Kumin, now in his third year working for the dance concert. “He’s wonderful,” confided Marna later. “In addition to being an awesome designer he’s really sensitive to the student choreographers and patient with our student tech crew.”

BFS technical director Catherine Clark oversees all of the technical elements of the concert, from supervising the student crew to sound editing to hanging lights to costuming. As this tech rehearsal continued, a team of gel changers rushed about the stage preparing for the next dance’s lighting setup. Gel captain Gwen Fyfe, an Upper Schooler who helps oversee the stage crew, has done lots of backstage work for BFS shows and says she enjoys the work. “It’s a lot of fun, I love this. I wouldn’t want to act, it’s just not my thing but it’s really cool to contribute to making it happen.”

Next up to rehearse were eighth graders Axita Vora and Anna Eden, who made waves last year with their tribute to a dance inspired by the hit Bollywood musical Devdas (choreographed by Saroj Khan). Their encore entry in the concert this year is an assemblage of other dance steps inspired by other recent Bollywood films including the musical drama Lajja (choreographed by Ganesh Acharya) as well as plenty of their own original moves.

A variety of dances will be presented, including a traditional African dance with live drumming, a movement interpretation of Langston Hughes’ poem Harlem, and an updated version of Michael Jackson’s Thriller choreographed by Marna’s seventh-eighth grade dance class. Senior Valdine Henrius will present a sextet Caribbean Unity celebrating her dancers’ various Caribbean heritages. Each sixth grade homeroom will present an original dance inspired by a work of visual art.

“This year’s concert is another wonderful display of student creativity and humanity,” said Marna, who has been teaching dance at BFS since 1983. “Live dance generates such energy, immediacy and excitement. It has the power to bring our community together for a few hours in a joyful, positive way.”

The concert premieres on April 27. Tickets are available at the front desk ($5 students/$8 adults) and performance times are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7 pm. An open dress rehearsal, on Wednesday, April 26 at 5 pm., will also be open to an audience. Guests are asked to contribute $2, which will be donated to the charity Dancers Responding to AIDS.