ARTS & POP CULTURE

TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2022 tuftsdaily.com

Tufts spring dance Concert sends off its seniors with a bang

by Siavash Raissi

Arts Editor

Originally published May 20, 2022.

On April 23 and 24, the Tufts Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies presented this year’s Spring Dance Concert, a performance dedicated to sharing the senior capstone projects of its hard working students. With over 20 student dancers across 10 unique performances, each choreographed by a graduating Tufts senior, this year’s concert provided viewers with a final opportunity to witness an impressive display of the chemistry and relationships developed within the department over the past four years.

These capstone projects, choreographed by seniors themselves with varying influences across a variety of dance, music and narrative genres, represent an artistic climax of their personal experiences and thoughts. Speaking with the Daily, Laporsha Dees, a dance minor from Hartford, Conn., took the time to reflect upon the processes involved in developing her senior capstone project, titled “Fractured Progress.” Discussing the themes behind her work, she stated that her project “has been a culmination of my last four years, and me coming out of it, like a new person.”

For those unfamiliar with the timeline involved in developing a senior capstone project, Dees explained that she, like other seniors, first scheduled a meeting with department advisors the semester prior.

“They were basically saying, ‘You should just come up with an idea,’” Dees said.

Students are then offered the opportunity to pursue one of three types of capstone projects: a performance capstone, a choreographic capstone or a research project. Dees chose a choreographic capstone project, which she claims “turns out to be a bit of a struggle, but I kind of fell in love with it.”

Then, at the start of the semester, students begin to search for their projects’ dancers through auditions as they continue to refine their original ideas. As these dancers practice the project’s choreography throughout the semester, they also have the opportunity to receive academic credit for their time dedicated to the work. Eventually, each senior capstone project evolves over multiple iterations, and the final product of each student’s hard work is displayed at the Spring Dance Concert.

In these personal displays, students are provided with ample creative freedom and encouraged to design their projects to their own liking. When discussing her favorite artistic styles of theater and dance, Dees explained that “my background is hip-hop, Caribbean dance, and contemporary and liturgical dance.” Thus, she claimed that “Fractured Progress” primarily functions as “a modern contemporary piece.” As a result, the final performances represent a student’s preferred mode of expression and are indicative of various stylistic choices that were incorporated into the project.

Reflecting on her time as a dance minor at Tufts, Dees said that she “loved every moment, every class [and] every person in the dance department.”

As she spoke about the department’s consistent support and commitment to its students, she remarked that their work has provided its members with “a healthy environment for dancing, and for people who aren’t used to dancing.”

When asked about potential advice for future students interested in pursuing a dance minor, Dees only had one thing to say: “My advice is to just go for it.”

After years of dancing experience, she enthusiastically promoted the supportive nature of her peers in the department.

“If you feel like you’re not as experienced as everybody else, that’s fine,” Dees said.

COURTESY RENATA CELICHOWSKA Dancers in the 2022 Spring Dance Concert are pictured following their performance on April 23.

see CONCERT, page 13

a nonexhaustive guide to Tufts theater

by Henry Chandonnet

Arts Editor

Originally published April 15, 2022.

Tufts has a vibrant theater community, with many options and on-ramps for prospective members. They range from department-run to student-led and vary in commitment level. This includes all facets of theater engagement, whether it be acting, directing, tech, costume designing or anything in between. For incoming students, the most important note is just how open and accepting the theater community is. However involved you want to be, in whatever form you would like, you’re welcomed. So, here’s an incomplete list of all the theater opportunities at Tufts. This list will surely miss a few, mostly because the theater opportunities here at Tufts are constantly changing and growing. Still, it’s helpful to have an idea of what the broader theater community looks like. So here it is: a nonexhaustive guide to Tufts theater.

To start, there are the classic department-run shows. These are the closest to “professional” and thus may expect higher commitment levels. The Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies at Tufts will generally put on two mainstage shows a year, though it may support other productions on an ad hoc basis. The TDPS department put on two shows this year: “Almanac” (2021) in the fall, a student-written musical based in the past and present history of Black art, and the new-age hit “Spring Awakening” (2006) in the spring. Anyone can take part in these shows, either by auditioning to act or by contacting the production team for more behindthe-scenes roles. The TDPS department is also supporting one student-led production this semester, with four seniors directing and acting in their own production of “Macbeth” (1606) for their capstone. In addition to these shows, there is, of course, a myriad of classes students may take within the department, each having performance and technical opportunities. Overall, the TDPS department provides bountiful theater opportunities that are both professional and accessible.

In terms of student-run theater, the organizations are divided between musicals and dramas. Tufts’ musical theater student organization is called Torn Ticket II and will generally put on three or four shows a year. In the fall, Torn Ticket II produced “Mamma Mia!” (1999), and the spring brings both “Chicago” (1975) and “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical” (2014) to the stage. These productions are entirely student-run, with the whole production team made up of students. In

see THEATER, page 13

Seniors showcase capstone and research projects in Spring Dance Concert

CONCERT

continued from page 12

With a variety of students in the department, ranging in character and technical ability, Dees claimed that students considering the minor will have the important chance to “see dance from a different perspective.”

In addition to its final send-off for seniors, the concert also featured dances choreographed in the Tufts course titled Afro-Haitian Dance: From Roots to Stage, organized by Jenny Oliver. “Tout Nasyon,” the course’s performance, began with an engaging dialogue between its 11 student dancers as they reflected on their cultural origins and differences and how these elements have consequently influenced their identity. Then, once “Tout Nasyon” by RAM played on stage, the performers’ began to move in sync with the song’s upbeat rhythm. As they danced in unison, their captivating movements immersed audience members within an impressively choreographed performance with deep cultural roots and boundaries.

Overall, this year’s Spring Dance Concert represented a final culmination of years’ worth of emotions, challenges, accomplishments and growth among its student performers and faculty. The variety of performances across multiple styles and genres demonstrate the creativity of the department and its members’ ability to collaborate. In a year filled with hardships from the COVID19 pandemic, the Spring Dance Concert brought Dees’ own words to life, reminding the Tufts community that “dancing is surviving.”

THEATER

continued from page 12 fact, the shows are proposed and voted on in Torn Ticket II student meetings. This means that if there’s a musical you’ve always wanted to put on, Torn Ticket II might be your chance to do it here. Torn Ticket II also puts on its biannual “Over The Rainbow” cabaret, which is also open to all for submissions. Torn Ticket II allows students to produce and perform in a number of different shows each year, giving them freedom that they may not have had in their high school programs.

Pen, Paint, and Pretzels — known as 3Ps — is a student-run drama program that puts on traditional shows and original student works every year. In the fall semester, 3Ps put on “Dry Land” (2014) by Ruby Rae Spiegel and “Trainwreck” (2021), written by student Tatyana Emery. The spring brought “The Impromptu at Versailles” (1682) by Molière and “Opus 1” (2022) by student Ryan Pratt. This means that whether you want to act in, direct or even write a play for 3Ps, you can do it. These shows also have many students in technical roles helping behind the scenes, bringing another opportunity for students interested in theater tech.

Finally, there are also two audition-based children’s theater groups on campus. Trunk! puts on shows for schools in the area, performing silly skits and scenes for younger children. The group also occasionally performs shows on campus, still bringing that fun children’s theater air. Local Bard’s Players, which is housed under 3Ps, is the other children’s theater group on campus, specifically adapting Shakespeare’s plays for young school audiences. These productions are often silly and goofy but make Shakespeare’s complex language more digestible for a younger audience. Local Bard’s Players also does occasional on-campus shows and this school year, the group is putting on the parody show “A Very Hamlet Musical.”

Surely this list is missing a couple of shows, as there’s simply too much theater to list. This also ignores the countless a cappella groups, comedy and improv troupes and even a mime performance group. If this list tells you anything, it’s that arts and creativity at Tufts is expansive and liberating. You can do whatever you’d like with whatever involvement you want. Theater can be your main thing, or it could be a twoto-three week stint. In sum, if there’s anything Tufts theater has, it’s nearly everything.

Tate McRae brings her North american Tour 2022 to Boston’s Royale

MIRIAM VODOSEK / THE TUFTS DAILY

Tate McRae is pictured performing at The Royale on Apr. 1.

by Miriam Vodosek

Contributing Writer

Originally published April 7, 2022.

Eighteen-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter and dancer Tate McRae brought her 2022 North American Tour to Boston’s beautiful Royale nightclub on Friday. The night was filled with high energy and girl power, and it featured an all-female lineup.

Waiting in anticipation for McRae to perform, the audience kindly welcomed TikTok-famous singer GAYLE, who performed four of her songs. The crowd’s energy picked up when she sang her final song “abcdefu” (2021), and the audience chanted along to the popular song that has been trending on TikTok. Mimi Webb followed as the second opener. The English singer sang her hit songs including “Dumb Love” (2021), “Good Without” (2021), her newest single “House on Fire” (2022) and a beautiful cover of Adele’s “Someone Like You” (2011), which the crowd sang back loudly. Both GAYLE and Webb watched McRae’s set from the balcony of the Royale and waved down to fans cheering for them.

Anticipation grew further as handlers prepared the stage for McRae to start her set. The crowd screamed when a large ‘T’ and ‘8’ were revealed behind the stage, and the adrenaline in the Royale spiked. The crowd cheered loudly as the music and lights started, and McRae and her two backup dancers appeared, starting the show with her song “stupid” (2020).

From the first moment, McRae spread her high energy by waving and smiling at fans in the audience and going up to the edge of the stage to be closer to them. She even took a fan’s phone and filmed herself from the stage. This first song set the mood for the rest of the lively concert.

Throughout the concert, McRae showcased her musical range. McRae delivered a variety of songs from slow ballads that highlighted her stunning voice to upbeat dance pop songs that allowed her to show off her talent as a dancer.

She performed songs off of her 2021 EP “Too Young to Be Sad” including “bad ones,” “rubberband,” “r u ok” and “wish i loved you in the 90s.” McRae also sang some of her early releases including “One Day” (2017), which went viral that same year after she posted a video of herself singing it on YouTube. She also performed her newer songs “feel like shit” (2021) and “she’s all i wanna be” (2022). McRae mentioned that she had announced her debut album earlier in the day on social media. She told the audience the debut album titled “I Used to Think I Could Fly” will be coming out May 27. She had a big smile on her face as the audience cheered and celebrated the announcement with her for a moment.

McRae also performed the popular song “You” (2021), an upbeat collaboration with Regard and Troye Sivan, as well as a cover of the song “Breakeven” (2008) by The Script. She told the audience that the song by The Script has always been very special to her and that she has always resonated with it.

Attendees impressively belted the singer’s lyrics at the top of their lungs and danced along throughout McRae’s entire set.

After a flawless performance of McRae’s most popular songs, fans were eager to hear more. Fans chanted for her to return to the stage for an encore. Shortly, the stage lights started to flicker and the music began again. McRae returned to the stage for one final song and ended her concert with “you broke me first” (2020).

Her impressive vocals and dancing pushed her stage presence over the edge. It was nearly impossible to look away. The concert was over quickly, and McRae’s fans noticed her appear on the balcony of the Royale directly after finishing her set. Fans cheered as she waved down. The concertgoers left the venue with smiles on their faces,humming the melodies to McRae’s songs.