Vivid hues of blues, yellows, and purples produced an intimate atmosphere as dancers sashayed, tip-toed, and pliéd across the dance floor at SBCC Dance Company’s “Collective Collaborative 2023” production on Nov. 3. The performance was beautifully choreographed and showcased the dancers’ abilities so brilliantly that it was hard to look away, although some of the production aspects fell short.

The event was dedicated to the late Benny Schurmer, who died on Sept 5, 2023. The performance consisted of 11 individual numbers featuring multiple different dance groups local to Santa Barbara including the City College and UCSB dance companies.

The night began with a group piece titled “Chronophobia” in which the dancers hypnotically swayed to the rhythm in unison, at times holding strong eye contact with the crowd creating an uncomfortable, yet “can’t look away” aura within the intimate theater. As the lights transitioned from fluorescent whites to vibrant blues, the music picked up–as did the speed at which the dancers leaped to the music, satisfyingly mirroring one another.

The second piece titled, “‘Samba Pa Ti’ pt 2 ‘Santana Suite’” was a solo performed by Janell Burgess and was one of the only numbers in which a prop was used. Burgess’ hair whirled around the stage with a contagious smile plastered across her face, prompting a slight giggle from the audience. Her bouncy blonde curls assisted her graceful pirouettes as they effortlessly bopped to her every step. 

The contrast between these two first pieces was quite drastic, but I found that further into the night the more and more similar the choreography and dances seemed to be.

The third dance was titled “Slip” was a group piece, and “…and still, we must…” was a hypnotic solo that was so wildly creative I’ve never seen anything like it. The soloist, Rebecca Lee, danced robotically, assisted by her brightly colored tunic paired with a beaming yellow spotlight that followed her every move on stage. Lee’s eye contact with the audience made it hard to look away from the somewhat disturbing yet beautiful performance in which she twisted her body in ways that prompted quiet gasps from the audience.

The show then took a turn for the worse. Although the following dance numbers were beautiful and the dancers angelically presented their talents onstage, I found some of the underlying themes to be communicated in a cliché and predictable manner.

“We’re not in Kansas Anymore” was performed by four women assisted by background dialogue of multiple women talking about women’s empowerment in slam poetry style. I found that the dialogue-heavy background noise took away from the dancing itself and it would have been better assisted by a little dialogue paired with more actual music. Throughout the performance, the four dancers’ smiles began to grow as they pranced in matching red rompers, picking up their pace as the background dialogue picked up speed. The dance simulated the trials and tribulations of being a woman, which I found to be repetitive rather than empowering. 

The following dances all blended together, either using heavy dialogue to assist the dancing or just piano music. Nonetheless, the dancers were beautiful. I just found the themes repetitive from piece to piece. Out of all the dances past intermission, my personal favorite was the singular ballet piece, titled, “Feux Follets” which was beyond satisfying to watch as pointe shoes squeaked softly across the stage.

As an entire collection, the pieces were beautifully performed by each dancer; the parts I felt fell short were in the audio pairings to the dancer’s talents to communicate an overall message. Where it lacked in production, the dancing made up for it; It was a visually stunning experience that bestowed the unadulterated passion and artistry these performers have.