dance

Taking the dance floorchesis, dancers jump and soarchesis, leaving audiences wanting morechesis. This is “Life in ColOrchesis.”

As spectral notes floated over the audience, a group sitting stage right was focused on the two dancers across from them. The arching back of one dancer was draped over another who pulled both bodies across the stage.

Seyd the King evaluated the three women who were presented to him, before swooping his arm in a grand gesture, fingers pinched to kiss his lips in approval.

At its center, “Pippin” is about a prince recently graduated from university, played by Mark Pierce, CC ’20, experiencing severe existential doubts—a topic almost painfully relatable for Columbia students. However, when asking the Columbia Musical Theatre Society’s cast and production team, the play’s meaning manifests as so much more.

Screaming crows, the personification of death, and ’70s experimental rock music may at first seem like an unconventional combination when juxtaposed with neoclassical ballet. Yet all serve as the foundational backdrop for a new work choreographed by Sarah Marazzi-Sassoon, BC ’22, for the Columbia Ballet Collaborative this semester.

Today, there are over 750 student-athletes that play under the Columbia banner. In four years, every single one of those athletes will have graduated. Teams can win an Ivy League title one season, and then rank last the next. But despite the fleeting nature of college sports, there remains one constant in Columbia Athletics: Roar-ee the Lion.

Each week, close to 1,200 students take dance classes at Barnard. This abounding interest in dance is supported by a vibrant extracurricular performing arts scene, home to dozens of dance groups ranging in style from tap to contemporary to Bhangra. Out of these organizations, three dedicate their efforts to the ballet form.

As the familiar melody of the Super Mario Bros. 2 soundtrack pierced the soundscape, audience members could not help but erupt in infectious laughter. The juxtaposition of ballet and tunes from the popular video game was as pleasantly surprising as it was choreographically well executed.