Emotions, relationships, pushing past spatial limits, AI, social media and technology — all topics to be “unboxed” in Elon University’s fall dance concert.
Elon’s fall dance concert, “UnBoxed,” will feature pieces from professors, student choreographers and guests, all sharing their perspectives on the theme of unboxing something and thinking outside the box.
The artistic director of the show, dance professor Renay Aumiller, said the concept behind the title came out of both the black box style of Roberts Studio Theatre and the idea of feeling boxed in and breaking out.
“One of the big questions that I'm posing — that I posed a year ago when I created that theme, but also throughout this process — is what makes you feel boxed in, and how many different ways and in what kind of ways does that show up for the different choreographers?” Aumiller said.
Aumiller’s approach to this concept is to explore how social media influences perception by having her work be viewed through audiences' phones. One dance in the concert, entitled “Pixel Perfect,” was made possible by the work of Evan Carr ’24 who created an app that audiences will use to interact with the work.
“It's kind of an experiment about the phone usage, the digital renderings and the app, and just how we can bring this technology into a theater, into a live performance in a way that is engaging and interactive and also safe and conveys a message,” Aumiller said.
Aumiller’s choreography is not the only piece focused on technology. Student choreographer and senior Pheriby Bryan said she saw the concept of “unboxed” as the idea of advancement. This idea plays into her work focusing on the challenges of AI, which is entitled “Silicon,” referring to Silicon Valley.
“The idea of breaking out of something ties into the structure of my choreography,” Bryan said. “At the beginning, the first song of the choreography, it's very slow, and you have this very almost robotic choreography that's everyone is in unison for the most of it, and then at the end, you break out of that and you have a stronger, more powerful piece of movement for the second song.”
Some choreographers choose to focus more on the human side of the idea of unboxing, including dance professor Jiwon Ha. Ha said her work “17:1” was meant to highlight how different people can feel emotions in different ways through the 17 members of the cast.
“That's basically our story of all different emotions, unboxed emotions, working together and developed to make it as a whole,” Ha said. “So it's all 17 different sadness, but actually, it's one emotion.”
Junior Brooke Goldstein’s work “NY ILY” — which stands for New York, I love you — incorporates her sociology double major by focusing on unboxing relationships and social interactions. The piece takes inspiration from her life growing up and interactions from around the city.
“It's an unboxing of experiences that could take place in any city, but it's my experience with New York,” Goldstein said. “I find it super vulnerable, even though there are so many people around, so many stories are so clear in the cityscape.”
One student choreographer took the concept of unboxed more literally, focusing on the idea of breaking out of the confines of a black box stage, such as Roberts Studio Theatre. Senior Hannah Harris’s piece is titled “Where does the light go?” The choreography is mostly performed in the dark and involves the dancers holding lanterns to create a more visual experience for audiences.
“I really wanted to play within the thrust of how you can break that fourth wall for an audience, so it's not a 2D or 3D, it can be a 4D experience,” Harris said.
Outside of her work, Harris said she thinks the concept is great for pushing the choreographers and performers outside the box.
“Sometimes I think as dancers and choreographers, we feel conformed to a certain thing or to a certain idea,” Harris said. “The fact that the show is literally about being unboxed, doing almost anything you would like was perfect for me.”
Shows will run at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15 and 16, and matinee performances will be held at 2 p.m. Nov. 16 and 17 in Roberts Studio Theatre in Scott Studios. Tickets are free with an Elon ID or $15. They are on sale on the Elon Performing Arts website and by calling the box office at 336-278-5650.