The entirety of Authentic: Grooves’ performance, Collections, was a wonderful dance experience that also featured four professional dance companies (Animus Movement, Industrial Dance Alliance, Alpine Artists Collective/Ross Freeman, VisKosity Dance Collective), a pre-professional company (Authentic:Movers), and a youth company (Lakewood Dance Academy Student Ensemble). I was inspired by the diverse contemporary choreography and the variety of connections between the dancers. It was so beautiful how the dancers passed through each other using negative space as a way to explore and try new things in the choreography.

While I enjoyed the whole show, the two pieces that spoke to me the most were Bloodflow and Cynosure. Animus Movement’s Bloodflow, choreographed by Rebecca Allen, Bethany Kellner, and Larah Pamplin, examines the way our blood moves in our bodies. In the same way our blood passes through our veins and arteries, the dancers move through one another. With jumps, going through negative space created by the dancers bodies, and manipulating limbs into new shapes, the dancers found beautiful ways to explore through movement. I could barely tell when the next move was going to come because it happened so smoothly, with the ease that blood travels through our veins. Choreographic ripples and canons passed through the dancers, connecting their movements together. I loved when some of the dancers would stop and use dynamic stillness showing power and strength and letting it be known that they are free. This piece was very inspiring and made me visualize how our blood flows throughout our body and can be expressed through dance.

Another moving piece, Authentic: Grooves’ Cynosure, stood out to me because of the
individual ways the dancers moved. The piece, beautifully choreographed by Jamie Carr in collaboration with the company dancers, started off with every dancer accompanied by a flashlight making them shine. The blue stage lighting as well as the flashlights reminded me of the sky and how pretty it is. I loved the different ways the dancers shared their body weight in partnering, moving their bodies in interesting ways and sometimes moving into stillness. The simplicity of the black costumes and the instrumental music gave it an overall elegant feel.

As a 12-year-old dancer, I was truly inspired by Collections. Each step a dancer took had a lasting effect on me that I loved so much. This was my first time seeing most of these companies and so this was a perfect way to see multiple companies in a single performance. It was so cool to watch all of the different ways the choreographers played with the movement in each piece and I can’t wait to watch a show like this again.

Emma Harding | Jr. Writer

Emma Harding is from Denver, Colorado and is currently a 6th grader at Denver School of the Arts with a focus in Dance. She began dancing at the age of 2 at Miss Rachael’s Dance and is part of their performance company, Catalyst Dance. Emma is training in a variety of dance styles to include ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop and modern. Emma loves to be in the theatre as a performer on the stage and as an audience member. She is excited to also share her love for the arts through writing.