FSU dance students to present MFA concert

Florida State University’s School of Dance will present a captivating dance experience aiming to showcase a collage of choreographers’ perspectives on the “where,” the “who,” the “what” and the “how often.”

Jasmine A. Booker, Ryan P. McMullen and Gianna Mercandetti will stage “…they go back the way they came” in partial fulfillment of the Master of Fine Arts Degree in Dance at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9, and Saturday, Feb. 10, at the Nancy Smith Fichter Dance Theatre in Montgomery Hall, located on FSU’s campus.

The concert will be a three-part dance experience that syncs captivating spaces, remaining treasures and recurring cycles.

“Where is Here?” by Mercandetti is an array of choreographed scenes dissecting the evocative and concrete layers of the spaces that she and her dancers explored during the creation process. The sextet shifts and reframes the theatre space while translating structures and the poeticism of place through their movement.

“belongings” gives Booker, her cast and the audience the chance to unpack assigning value to objects by looking at factors of association, ownership or power — the motivation of “mine.” In questioning attachment and detachment with both significant objects and interpersonal connection, Booker offers choreography that asks when a person builds a relationship with a sentimental and inanimate subject, where did it begin, what is it connected to and what happens next.

“reset_go” explores the uncertainty, length, suspension and liminal moments of how an individual may perceive time. McMullen’s choreography references reoccurring cycles with moments of confrontation, contempt, confinement and exhaustion. The ensemble-driven work pushes the physicality of the body while energetically charging the space.