UCSB Dance Company Presents ‘Convergence: into the center’

The UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) Dance Company presented Convergence: into the center March 11-13 at Hatlen Theater, premiering their new contemporary dance program before setting off to an exciting tour in Europe in more than five countries. Under the artistic direction of Delila Moseley, the 14-member ensemble offered an evening that blended technical precision, experimental staging, and powerful storytelling. It was wonderfully cohesive yet very varied, where every movement delivered a sense of purpose and meaning.

The evening began with “Aura,” choreographed by Monique Meunier, where it started with all the attention on one dancer whose elegant extensions were beautifully intentional. Additional dancers entered as a futuristic score progressed, showcasing how tentative individuality transforms into strength in numbers before returning again to empowering individual expression. The controlled pacing and skillful unison quickly highlighted the program’s spotlight on community, shared rhythm, and support.

The momentum shifted with the pieces, “The Rate at Which I Am,” followed by “Focus,” both choreographed by Joshua Manculich. In the former piece, with shifting lighting spotlighting one or more of the six dancers on stage at a time, a focus on human connection was clear. “Focus” slowed the energy with two dancers on stage wearing white satin dresses, where one dancer watched almost with the audience as the other danced deliberately with gravity-defying bends and stretches accompanied by a crescendo of strings.

Dancer in this ensemble and choreographer Sophie Berls’s “CALL FOR:/call 4” piece introduced an immersive, almost theatrical experience. Four dancers began intertwined and connected through touch, then grew separate before reconnecting again. A particularly evocative moment has two of the dancers coming to the very edge of the stage, lying down and hanging off, presenting a sense of great immersion with the audience that mirrors Berls’s intention of “exploring the self across multiple geographies,” according to the show’s program.

In a conversation with Berls after the show, they expressed that the piece emerged from a collaborative and improvisational process. “I had surgery around the same time [as initially choreographing the piece in last spring’s Kinetic Lab,]” they shared, “so I was pretty much immobile for the whole time that we were making it … [There was] a lot of me talking at them and them interpreting it in their own special ways, which I think lended itself to the strong characterization between the four dancers.”

“Sonance,” choreographed by Seda Aybay, presented the entire ensemble of 14 dancers. Wearing gray, the group stood towards the back of the stage, not facing the audience, as one dancer broke away from them, becoming the catalyst in a chain reaction of individual realizations “regarding today’s unsettling climate,” as written in the program. Stagings with smoke accompanied by a soundscape incorporating a Malcolm X speech (most notably with the words, “Who taught you to hate yourself… Who taught you to hate your own kind”) underlined the political urgency of the piece. The transformation from unison movements to reciprocal expression evoked a sense of collective humanity.

In “Shedding,” choreographed by Ashley Lindsey in collaboration with the UCSB Dance Company members, all 14 members of the dance company were on stage wearing white with accompanying dramatic, low rumbling music. With interconnected touch, the piece embodied holding on, releasing, and transforming. The smoke-filled atmosphere alongside the collective movements crafted a sense of vulnerability that mirrors the exploration of letting go.

Shifting gears, in “We Were Light,” choreographed by Annalise Evans, were seven performers in flowy skirts danced with golden lighting, eliciting feelings of childhood playfulness. The initially gentle music and lighting transitioned to adulthood with bright reds and hot pinks before again returning to the soft warm lighting and flowy, free-spirited movements.

Evans explained that a lot of the piece was “influenced by stories that [she and the dancers] shared during the rehearsal process.” She went on to add, “The idea of sharing stories and reflecting on memories were the concepts I was trying to emulate throughout the dance.” In regard to the transformative nature of the dancers in this piece, Evans said, “The beginning of the piece to me feels like childlike playfulness and innocence, and then it transitions to a more adult version of trying to find that same feeling of joy and free-spiritedness through a more mature lens of understanding more about the world.”

Finally, “Cadavre Exquis,” choreographed by Meredith Ventura, the entire company dancing to songs by Édith Piaf. They moved through complex unison moments alongside “layered ensemble work” and “intimate duets.” This work captured the “tension between vulnerability and resilience,” bringing the show to a powerful close.

With just 14 dancers, the ensemble’s close dynamic was present throughout the evening, especially in pieces that involved trust, touch, and unison. Berls explained, “[The program’s] strength is in its size. The smallness of it — it’s very intimate. We get to know each other very well, and I feel like these relationships are so important in figuring out how to work together as a group.”

Moseley described the production’s goal as blending “different voices from different choreographers [and] different styles” into a cohesive unit. She also described its intention as “layers and shifting viewpoints that connect from piece to piece … Deepening inside, [it] makes you think, makes you feel, resonate over the days, and makes you have a different view.”

The next step for the UCSB Dance Company involves the opportunity to perform internationally. This has not been the first time Moseley has taken the company on tour. “We’ve been to many different countries, and every country is different,” she said. “They have different backgrounds and cultures. They view it differently according to their experience and their culture. They’re very interested in contemporary dance.”

Above all, the dancers have the prospect of travelling “as a working professional, not as a tourist — even though they do touristy things,” according to Moseley. “We’re going to universities where they teach contemporary dance but it’s not the same as here. They get a chance to interact with the students … They interact with the teachers, the directors, [and] the crew backstage. They get the chance to just be a working professional, which has been my goal the whole time.”