Dance
Dancers, choreographers and designers drew inspiration for the Winter Dance Concert from the Lamont Gallery’s “Strange Kin” exhibition, where real and model insects offered an unexpected lens on the world. On stage, fireflies, moths, spiders and other small creatures were transformed into vibrant storytellers. The show’s production featured original music by Instructor Eric Schultz as well as ambient recordings of spring peepers, the flutters of butterfly wings and distant calls of evening geese. Co-directors Amberlee Darling and Allison Sarage invited audiences to consider, “What might we learn about the human experience by taking a closer look at the world of an insect?”
Music
For February’s winter Jazz Concert, Music Department Chair Marcus Rabb brought together a lively mix of ensembles — the PEA Band, the PEA Jazz Ensemble and the Global Rhythm Ensemble — filling the Bowld with an easy, infectious energy.
Theater
Written by Lloyd Suh and directed by Theater and Dance Department Chair David Rhee, The Far Country followed individuals who flee poverty in China during the early 1900s in search of hope and sanctuary in America. “During our first read-through,” Rhee wrote in the playbill, “students spoke about the importance and timeliness of the play. One cast member shared that his great-grandfather came through Angel Island and that he could picture him saying the very words his character speaks in the play. That profound statement, and others like it, seeped into our collective consciousness and deepened our understanding of the play’s significance. … In my twenty years in the profession, I have never witnessed the level of enthusiasm and care with which a cast approached a production. I am immensely proud of this production and of this cast, who gave their hearts to such an important story.”
