So, unless you’re a dance enthusiast, regular theater show attendee or enthralled with the arts — you probably have not attended a show that remotely parallels the Tabula Rasa Dance Concert presented by the Orchesis Dance Company at Cal Poly. Luckily for you, we’ve written a recap of the show that encompasses its entirety.
Featuring 29 men and women from all majors at Cal Poly, the dance show was a modern take on original dance compositions of ballet, tap, jazz and hip hop. If you’d expect a normal dance recital with girls in ballerina costumes, perfectly pointed toes and a mix of sweetly daint musical compositions you’d be surprised. The Orchestris Dance Show broke all barriers for classical dance. Taking contemporary to the stage, the dancers had an edge that ignited the auditorium with a buzzing excitement.
From the moment the overhead lights dimmed, the introduction of fire, air, earth, and water through a video presentation gradually places an ease over the dark room. In doing so, the company laid the foundation for “Tabula Rasa,” which translates to blank slate. The dances were electric. Straightlaced, donning all black with straightforward facial expressions, each dancer exploded to the beats of a contemporary artistic form. The contrast of our expectations versus the reality took us by surprise. The stage moved with an elegance that characterizes dance, but lit up with reinvented, modernized choreography. It kept us on our toes!
The Orchesis Dance Company puts on a revolutionized dance show — not an ordinary ballet concert. The “Tabula Rasa” theme of the performance was embodied throughout the whole thing. The concert was a blank slate, painted outside of the lines by the moves of the talented dancers.