The Stockton Delta Dance Company’s “Limitless Dance Concert” took place from Nov. 15 and 16 at the Tillie Lewis Theater. Professor of Dance Production at Delta, Philip Agyapong, acted as the artistic director of the show. The concert featured students from classes Modern Dance, Afro-Caribbean Dance and Hip-Hop Dance.
“Honestly, I’m really a hip-hop dancer. I’m more so step, majorette, things of that sort. So when it came down to, like, doing contemporary dance … I was just like ‘you know, let’s just dance’ and that’s how it came together,” said Tasha Henderson, SDDC vice-club president and Inter-Club Council president.
Performers danced to music played on the speakers while lights lit up the stage in solid colors. Performances included solo dances, group dances of two to four or larger class dances; 12 pieces were outlined for the concert in total.
Class dances included “Kpanlogo,” a dance piece choreographed by Delta dance instructor Nicole Manker and performed by the Afro-Caribbean Dance class. The students clapped and twirled along to Tyla’s “Water.”
The Hip-Hop Dance class performed two pieces from the show’s lineup, both being choreographed by dance instructor Patricia Carter. The piece “What What Mmmmhmm?” was set to a medley of GloRilla and Sexyy Red’s “WHATCHU KNO ABOUT ME,” BigXthaPlug’s “Mmhmm (Remix)” featuring Finesse2tymes and Missy Elliot’s “WTF” featuring Pharrell. The performance included a group of 14 Hip-Hop Dance students; the piece was structured like a dance battle where performers split themselves into groups that shuffled, popped and locked in sequence.
The other Hip-Hop class dance was “Rockstar,” performed by a group of six. Carter’s choreography had students shake to Lisa’s “Rockstar,” and included dance moves originally featured in the “Rockstar” music video.
Other dances throughout the show were choreographed by students themselves, and even performed solo. Pieces in this category include: Henderson’s “Speechless,” a contemporary dance that pirouetted to Billie Eilish’s “when the party’s over;” SDDC president Angela Santana’s “The Raven,” a modern dance performance that bowed and crawled to Sam Tinnesz’s “Far From Home (The Raven)” and Delta student Uriah Blunt’s “We Could,” a hip-hop dance that grinded on the floor as well as a chair prop to Chris Brown’s “Under The Influence.”
“The second part on the floor, a lady named Nicole Kirkland … it really blew up and she’s known for that part so I got that second part from her. But the first part was probably just inspired by being more bold and being more out there because I usually don’t do things like this,” said Blunt.
Two performances in the concert were set to no music. “The Lighter,” choreographed and performed by Allan Fortuna, had Fortuna silently point a wand representing a “magic lighter” across the stage before lowering his head in his hands.
Agyapong also hosted a game with the audience to give time for the dancers to change outfits, where he instructed the audience to move to eight-count warm-ups involving hand movements and body rolls.
At the end of the concert, Agyapong brought all the dance groups out on stage for one last performance. The chair of the Delta Dance Department, Valerie Gnassounou, was also called onto the stage and given congratulations by Agyapong. For Nov. 15, Carter came out to the stage and received shout-outs from Agyapong as well, but did not for the following night of the concert.
“I do think with the theme of ‘Limitless,’ there was a lot of choreography that showed a lot of struggle and a lot of trying to push your limits. Someone being someone who is a dance major, I kind of related to the struggle of like, proving my worth as a dance major … I liked how they were just trying to prove that they are there,” said Kayla Bornea, spectator and previous Spring 2024 SDDC club president.
To close the concert, Agyapong also recommended the audience to register for dance classes at Delta next semester. Classes offered for the Spring 2025 semester will include Dance Production, Ballet, Modern Dance, Jazz Dance, Dance Appreciation, Dance Cultures, Social Dance and Hip-Hop Dance.
“If you feel uncomfortable doing it, you should probably do it ‘cause it will put growth in you,” said Blunt.
