On Friday, Nov. 9, The Case Western Reserve University Department of Dance debuted “Mosaics,” a mix of new and old pieces.  The event featured five pieces, including “Mirage,” “Air for the G-String,” “Bamboo Prayer,” “Caffeinated” and “Imagined Odyssey.” “Mirage” is brand new, while CWRU performed “Bamboo Prayer” and “Imagined Odyssey” last year.

Karen Potter, chair of the dance department, considered the production a success.

“I think our fall productions are always very strong,” said Potter. “I feel the same about the production of ‘Mosaics’ due to the dances on the program, the skills of the dancers and the regisseur work by Gary Galbraith, who both choreographed two dances and was the rehearsal director for the remaining three dances.”

The performances featured heavy use of technology to accent the dancers’ motions. “Imagined Odyssey,” an impressive piece by professor Gary Galbraith, incorporates holographic imagery using Microsoft HoloLens, an augmented reality holographic headset.

I went to the performance on Friday and was astonished by the use of HoloLens. The interplay between the dancers, the music and the technology made me feel that I was placed in a imagined magical world.  

Third-year mechanical and aerospace engineering student Eric Zhang felt that “Mosaics” was fun and enjoyable. Zhang said that he had seldom been to dance performances and that “Mosaics” made him want to attend more performances.

“I came to the performance originally because my girlfriend needed to see ‘Mosaics’ for her class, but I ended up really liking it,” said Zhang. “The performance is very decent and technology-involved. I like how they put together the lighting effects, HoloLens, the music and the dancers.”

Potter said that the dance department revisited “Bamboo Prayer” and “Imagined Odyssey,” to give dancers the chance to grow by performing a piece more than once.  She said that if dancers work for professional companies in the future, they will have to repeat a piece of dance for many times.

“Mosaics” will have more performances on Nov. 16 and 17 at 8 p.m. Another biannual production of the dance department, MaDaCol, will start on the last day of November. Students interested can reserve tickets online at the department website. Note that student tickets will not be available for the performance on Nov. 17.