ARTS

VIBE still packed with energy after all these years

Lauren Viera

What once started as a creative outlet for those genres of dance that went unsupported by the Oberlin Dance Department, VIBE, the all-student jazz and tap group, has now run full-circle, producing its first group of graduates this spring. Now in its fourth season, VIBE has developed from a ten-person support group for free-form popular dance into a full-ensemble production of professionalism. And they still know how to have fun. Do I want you?

This weekend's show functions something like a timeline for VIBE's success, starting off relatively tame with sophomore Ariane Jay's "Untitled," set to the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams," and finishing off with senior Cathy Doggett's emotional solo piece, the only one-performer addition to the program. The opening piece's familiar music set the typical VIBE pulse for the rest of the evening: matching dancers, gracefully contorting their bodies into arcs of strength and energy, all of which takes tremendous talent, while keeping poker faces of positive confidence and modern dance poise that make everything look so easy.

If "Untitled" is the warm up, then junior Kerry Wee's "U" is really where VIBE takes off. Hip hop-oriented around the heavy bass beats of Janet Jackson's "You," Wee's piece was definitely amongst the tightest of the evening as far as group choreographing. Each dancer's body seemed to breath with the beats, and Wee - and, on the occasion, Doggett - was in the center of it all, leading her dancers with focus.

Double-degree junior Arden Kaywin's "The Satin Blues," danced to Ella Fitzgerald's classy "Do I Want You," was up next, changing the pace of Wee's strong, up-beat "U" to a more sultry jazz tone. Each dancer sported shiny satin chemises, of course, and proceed to tease their audience with their womanizing moves, save for the single male of the group, of course.

Though "The Satin Blues" added ritz to VIBE's program, Wee's next piece, "Voices On Rhythm," set the dancers back into their attentive energetic mode once again with this group tap piece. Wee's choreographing in the show stood out as some of the best by far, and the subtle characteristics of "Voices" demonstrate why. Centered around a dance floor cluttered with chairs as obstacles, each dancer works with her seat as both a theatrical prop to sit in and physical support to stand on.

Junior Caitlin Medlock's "To Movement Motion" and "This Piece Is..." both had exceptional runs; the former serving as the evening's best group choreographing. The piece presents so much to look at, and yet remains uncluttered all at once, which must be an extremely difficult feat when choreographing for a dozen dancers. And "This Piece Is..." with its simple, non-accompanied tapping play on rhythm has its cast in a sweat, all smiles, by the time its five minutes are up.

Though the entire company takes part in VIBE's declared "Finale," choreographed by junior Steffany Haaz, the more obvious touching close to the program was Doggett's "Longing," for which the liner notes reveal her deep debt to the dance company for shaping her Oberlin career. This difficult to describe emotion - longing - is portrayed beautifully in Doggett's grace and emotion; first when she sits like a little girl reading her diary and then when she channels her emotion out of her body through the means of dance. One can really get a sense for Doggett's passion for dancing through her solo piece, and it is evident that the company will miss its co-founder's presence in future performances.

Though VIBE may lose some of its original founders come May, Doggett gives her audience the chance to look positively toward a new generation of VIBE dancers. At the start of "Longing," as Doggett is looking over her diary before her musical piece begins, a voice-over warns: "Remind me I'm incomplete without the past." Completing another year of dedicated, talented student dancers, VIBE does just that.

VIBE performs tonight and Saturday, April 25, at 8 p.m. in Wilder Main Space. Tickets are $2.


Photo:
Do I want you?: VIBE dancers work the womanizing for Arden Kaywin's "The Satin Blues," performed to Ella Fitzgerald's sultry singing. VIBE goes up in Wilder Main tonight and Saturday. (photo by Laren Rusin)

 

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Copyright © 1998, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 126, Number 22, April 24, 1998

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