Smashdance

Eighty WAC undergrads convey medley of themes while showcasing talents

Siddarth Puri
Published: Sunday, April 6, 2003

War has always had a huge impact on the arts community, influencing productions from “Hair” during the Vietnam era to current endeavors such as the “Lysistrata Project,” which was performed all over the world in a plea for peace. But even a UCLA production like “WAC SMASH!” feels the repercussions of a society in upheaval. Though it isn’t a direct response to the war, it has changed certain performances in acknowledgement of the situation abroad.

“WAC SMASH!,” showing in Freud Playhouse April 11 and 12, will feature over 80 world arts and cultures undergraduates in 19 dance performances. Organized by the World Arts and Cultures Undergraduate Society, the dance production was designed as a way for undergraduate WAC students to gain valuable performance experience while also giving them a chance to learn a group of stylistically different pieces.

“With our dances, (we) not only wanted to exhibit our talented dancers, but also wanted to convey certain themes about art and life,” said Emily Smyth Vartanian, a fourth-year WAC dance student and co-producer of the event. “The situation in Iraq has altered some of our pieces because we realize that art can make important statements about current events and how people are reacting to them.”

In Angela Drown’s piece “Miss America,” she satirizes the Miss America Pageant, raising questions about society, current events and the “American ideal.” After the war on Iraq, Drown began to conceptualize how to use her clothing (specifically her undergarments) to question American ideals further, which comes out in her performance.

“While our pieces don’t want to influence an audience member’s view on the situation, they do want to give them a chance to see things from a different perspective and a chance to be able to recognize that they can voice their opinions,” said Vartanian.

Though some of the performers have altered their pieces in response to the war, the performances remain widely diverse, ranging in genre from Latin modern dance to swing to ballet, each with a distinct theme.

“Each piece has its own way of expressing its theme,” Santiago said. “There’s no linear progression or common thread running through each piece because we want this performance to be a place where artists don’t have to conform but rather can create a piece that specifically tells what they want to say.”

The pieces, dealing with topics from women’s issues and sexuality to religion and tradition, aim to show audience members a variety of performances as well as make them think differently about the role art plays in our world.

One of the most popular pieces, which has been performed every year, is the body-music piece where performers use their body to make music as well as vocalize throughout a piece. Another popular piece is the spoken word with text-based movement piece, where a performer says a line and then follows it up by acting it out. In addition to distinct and more modern styles of art, more classical styles such as a point-balled piece and a tap piece are also included.

“In one piece (Santiago) is in, she has to balance a candle on my head, and then her next piece involves singing a Turkish song about religion,” said Vartanian. “These performances showcase the diversity of our dancers and the challenges each one has to go through.”

With performances responding to war, Turkish religious melodies, Pilipino dance and ’50s swing dancing, “WAC SMASH!” is looking to keep audience members on their toes, grab their attention and keep them thinking.

“We want our audience to think about the various individual statements and themes represented throughout the performance,” said Santiago. “We not only hope that everyone will connect with some piece but will walk out realizing the power of art and expression.”

“WAC SMASH!” will be performed April 11 and 12 at the Freud Playhouse, Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. The performance is free; seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, please go to http://www.bol.ucla.edu/~wacus.