 "Photo: Ellen Meder<br><i>Assistant Mix Editor</i>")
 "Photo: Ellen Meder<br><i>Assitant Mix Editor</i>")
In the midst of the end of semester mayhem, it is nice to witness plain and simple acts of joy. That is exactly what USC Dance intends to deliver this week with the Contemporary Dance Showcase.
Featuring 50 dancers, the 12 pieces in this showcase are all choreographed by USC students and graduates, aside from the first piece on the bill which features guest choreographer Peter Powlus.
Cindy Flach, an adjunct dance faculty member at the university since 1988, is the concert director and has been working with the choreographers for three months to get the extensive list of pieces in top shape.
Before any of the live performances begin, the show opens with an innovative dance video centered on Ultimate Frisbee put together by new professor of dance education Mila Parrish.
The Powlus piece, "Oh Boy," was preformed earlier this semester by USC Dance, and is the epitome of '20s and '30s jazz and swing with one male dancer, Keith Murrins who is back from the American School of Ballet, and a number of female dancers enthusiastically vying for his attention.
The entire show, for which choreographers auditioned their ideas, highlights a cross section of the dance department.
Four of the works are solo pieces that came out of Miriam Barbosa's choreography and improvisation class.
The second piece on the program, "Cohort Conspiracy," choreographed by third-year dance education student Emily Enloe, features only dance education students. The dance is set to the "Mission Impossible" theme song, and the dynamic dancers pour some of their frustrations and a running joke into their work.
"It's kind of the theme of the dance education majors, because it's a new and evolving major and it's been almost impossible," Flach said. "The program is in the works and only a year old."
Katie Hilliger, a fourth-year dance performance student, will be the first to graduate from the program in May. Her tap ensemble piece, "Breakout," ends the show with an energetic display of fancy footwork sweetly paired to upbeat string music.
Adrianne Eby, a second-year undecided student, did an impeccable job with "Cage with Five Bars." Set to Kanye West's "Love Lockdown," the piece features yet another singular male dancer who goes through a series of duets symbolizing how he goes through women. The five other dancers, who all use different styles including salsa, jazz and ballet, take their places on the stage and eventually encircle him in a dramatic and skilled ending.
"Harmonic Motions" is a beautiful, almost dreamy flowing duet between choreographer Lindsey Shatzer, a fourth-year dance performance student, and Bonnie Boiter-Jolley, a third-year dance performance student. They are accompanied by live acoustic guitar played by a friend on stage.
"[The piece is] about the three of them and how their friendship is based on the love of music and dance," Flach said.
Even during rehearsal while panting between sections of the work, the real roots of the friendship between the two dancers are evident in their hushed whispers and giggles.
One of the most unique and exhilarating works is "Afrikan Amalgamation" by USC dance graduate Rikkia Graham. Featuring three wildly talented dancers interacting on stage by a musician from Guinea on the djembe, the West African dance piece is nothing short of captivating. The whirling and windmilling is bafflingly organic and yet controlled, and the dancers are light on their feet and frenzied, yet very grounded.
USC dance graduate Nikki Cobb's cerebral and epic solo is also enchanting.
A couple of the more lyrical pieces come off slightly cheesy in that they occasionally take the lyrics of some of the songs too literally in some overly "self-affirming" pieces.
By curtain call, however, audiences are sure to be impressed with the choreographic ingenuity of the USC Dance Department.
"They're all about something," Flach said. "The dancers came with ideas more than just a piece of music they liked."
The show runs in Drayton Hall today through Friday at 7:30 p.m. with an additional showing at 5 p.m. on Friday. For tickets, call 803-777-5112 or visit the Carolina Coliseum box office.
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