Twisted tales come to life

Ty Davidson

“Art in Motion: Twisted Tales” brings the viewers into some of our favorite fairy tales, with a twist.

This performance is being put together by the four students of The Dance Professional course (DAN-2289), alongside the instructor Adrienne Hicks, a lecturer of dance for the department.

“Normally this class has more than four people in it, but this year it has four, so it has been challenging because there’s normally more people on a production team,” Hicks said. “Everyone has been wearing many hats.

“I am the mentor, so I oversee the project, but really they’re doing it all themselves.”

Students for the course take both a role in directing and dancing; while one may be creating the elegant movements of one piece, they are tap-dancing in another.

Student co-director Jasmine Aranda, a junior dance major from North Little Rock, Arkansas is one of many wearing multiple hats throughout the production.

“As a choreographer, I’m going through the story lines and seeing if our twists will complement it,” Aranda said. “As a director, I’m sitting in for almost every rehearsal, and just seeing how the audience reacts to these pieces and how [the performers] can immerse them in the fairy tale world.”

Another student co-director and junior dance major from Tifton, Georgia, Libby Wiley, said the idea of Twisted Tales came from an assignment for a different class that her and some of the other production team members were taking.

“We just really all love fairy tales, but what if we did fairy tales with a twist,” Wiley said.

With “Art in Motion: Twisted Tales” taking time and effort both from the dancers and the small production team, it is a performance that they have become proud of, one they encourage as many students as possible to see.

The students involved are extremely passionate about this project and are both hoping for a large turnout for all of the performances of the show.

“I really want students to see the show to see how much work we do at the dance department,” Wiley said. “ I hope that the performance will inspire them to explore both a love of fairy tales and a love of dance.”

“The show is such a beautiful thing to be a part of, not just production-wise, but as an audience member,” Aranda said. “I hope that the students will be able to take a break and dive into this world that has been so carefully crafted by all of the professors, production members, and dancers who have put their heart into the show.”

“Art in Motion: Twisted Tales” will be in the Trojan Center Theater from October 11 to October 13.