4/30/2014 12:00:00 AM

Zest, vivacity and quick-fire impulses are key elements of the sixteen pieces in this spring’s FreshDance and Dance Ensemble concerts, comprised of choreography from student, faculty and professional dancers from the Philadelphia region. FreshDance’s Vitality will take place on May 21 and 22 at 8:00 pm in the Mandell Theater (33^rd and Chestnut Sts.), and the Dance Ensemble’s Synapse will be performed on May 29, 30, and 31 at 8:00 pm in the Mandell. All tickets are $5 for students, $10 General Admission and can be purchased here.

FreshDance’s student-chosen theme, Vitality, will feature nineteen freshman dancers in five pieces. Two of the dances reprise work choreographed by students Ali Vanyur and Erica Henn, with the three remaining pieces choreographed professionally by faculty members Marcie Mamura, Clyde Evans, the Director of Chosen Dance Company, and by Dance program alum Caroline O’Brien.

In Synapse, a performance featuring 57 student dancers, the Dance Ensemble will present eleven pieces choreographed by eight students and three created by professional dancers, including Professor Olive Prince; the esteemed Director of Group Motion Dance Company Manfred Fischbeck; and Lauren Putty White, Philadanco company member and recipient of the Ellen Forman Memorial Award,  an award given each year by the Philadelphia Foundation to a choreographer to create a new work for the Drexel Dance Ensemble. Putty White’s piece takes a journey through childhood and the stages of growing up. “No matter what generation you fit into as an audience member there's a little something that everyone will be able to relate to,” Putty White says.

Among the eight works in Synapse choreographed by students, Dance sophomore Karly Bais’ piece investigates how our bodies might betray us, and Dance senior Megan Knott’s piece explores the introspective process of mapping out one’s life and the landmarks that are made through motion.

Vitality student choreographer Erica Henn, a senior Dance and Biology major, explains how she applies her scientific training to the creation of artistic movement, and vice versa: “I see dance as an investigation and I go about it scientifically. Conversely, dance has affected my biology training in seeing that there isn’t just one right answer. Many answers can be correct if they make sense,” Henn says.  The second FreshDance student choreographer, senior Entertainment & Arts Management student Allison Vanyur’s piece explores the ways in which we are able to influence the actions of others.