By Barbara K. Laskin

St. Paul, Minn.—The Macalester College Theatre and Dance Department presents “Battles and Bodies,” a Spring Dance Concert composed of original works choreographed by eight students and guest artist/Macalester alumna Mikari Suzuki, in the Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center, Main Stage Theater, 1600 Grand Ave., St. Paul, Minn. Performances are Friday, April 27 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, April 28 at 2 p.m. as well as 7:30 p.m. For ticket information, call 651-696-6359. “Battles and Bodies” features everything from glowing disembodied legs to a twist on the Fates to ordinary hands doing ordinary things. Styles include modern dance, contact improvisation, and appearances from the Irish Dance Club and BODACIOUS hip-hop team. BODACIOUS presents Sanger ≠ You Got the Love, a piece that portrays the contrast one feels when in love; first anger, sadness and struggle, then calmness, control and joy, choreographed by Sabrina Upadhyay ’14, Alexis Ramirez ’12, Lupe Longoria ’14, and featuring dancers Lupe Longoria ’12, Sandhya Rajkumar ’14, Sabrina Upadhyay ’14, Kiah Zellner-Smith ’14, Lillie Jacobson ’12, Alexis Ramirez ’12, Isabella Kulkarni ’13, Gwyneth Bolkmann ’14, Dongjun Kim ’15, Charlotte Groch ’14 and Josephine Ahrens ’14.

Haley Chaffin ’13 presents her first piece in a Macalester Dance Concert, Stalking Fate, about the clash between Fates and Free Will. Alexis Ramirez ’12 offers up Is it supposed to be that way? Exploring dark, light and neutral energies surrounding a specific incident in the past and how outlook on the past always changes with time and new information. My Body – Shot Through With Streams of Song, choreographed by Hilary Schroeder ’12, comes from feminist texts by Hélène Cixious and Luce Irigary, and explores themes of the feminine body/experience, using contact improvisation techniques during live performance. Julia Davidson ’13 and Zoe Michael ’13 present Slack, exploring the dynamics that emerge in a relationship when the notion of “connection” is taken literally. And Elizabeth Boyle ’12 presents Rince Sa Dorchadas (Dancing in the Dark), an Irish dance piece with a twist. Set to In the Dark by Dev and illuminated by a black light, the choreography emphasizes light and dark to juxtapose the rigidity of traditional Irish dance movement with the sensuality of contemporary Top 40 music.

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