WAC Smash!
Freud Playhouse
April 20-21
I never entertained the idea that I could actually dance. I’m the girl sipping her drink in the back of the room, hoping that I will not get drunk enough to make a fool of myself on the dance floor.
That’s why, on Friday night, I sat openmouthed in the second row of the Freud Playhouse, hoping I could learn a thing or two from the 18 student groups who performed in UCLA’s annual WAC Smash!
The performance, repeated on Saturday as well, is designed to illuminate the best of the best of undergraduate world arts and cultures performances.
The show took off with a flamenco number titled “Libertad Unida,” which explored the creation of a community set against the quiet strumming of a live acoustic guitarist. This was, quite surprisingly, followed up with a hip-hop dance featuring music by Outkast and Omarion.
The show continued with a diverse lineup of tap dancing, hula dancing, a student-made video and a dance piece based on a Magritte poem, which included a beautifully choreographed sequence centered on an umbrella.
Finally, everything came to a close with “Beyond the Rubicon,” a tribute to cross-generational bonds between mothers and daughters. The group of female performers danced in front of a backdrop of photographs of their own mothers and grandmothers.
Although each performance contained a theme, there was an emphasis on impermanence ““ of time, of relationships and of social bonds. Yet the performances not only raised these issues, but solved them ““ through community, culture and, on the other side of the spectrum, resistance to conformity.
While each piece brought different positive aspects to the event, there was one piece in particular that translated its message most beautifully and effectively. Desiree Gallardo’s “Mo’opuna,” retold the stories and “perpetuated the legacy” of the dancers’ Polynesian ancestors through a combination of envy-inducing feats of hip-swiveling action, beautiful flowing dresses and a foot-tapping musical backdrop.
And yet, despite the strength of the individual performances, the show’s most exciting element was its cultural and artistic heterogeneity. The two-hour show weaved together Tahitian dance, acoustic guitar, spoken word, hip-hop and many more into an eclectic tapestry of student-produced work.
When the curtain finally fell after a bow from each and every one of the performers, I left the auditorium wanting to see the show again and again ““ and wanting to ask some of the choreographers for step-by-step instructions.