Uncucumbered surprised its audience with spontaneous movements and instantaneous connections between the performers. The performance featured Instructor of Dance Margaret Paek, along with her longtime friends and dance partners from New York, Bradley Teal Ellis, Melissa Guerrero, Elise Knudson and Paul Singh performing all together for the first time. A completely improvised piece, Uncucumbered transported the audience into the “utopian world of dance,” as Paek put it, where movements and non-verbal understanding is the only form of communication. The dancers drew inspiration on the spot from the audience and their surroundings, being physically in the Esch-Hurvis Studio with the scenic view of the river. As a recent addition to the faculty here at Lawrence, Paek hopes to bring dance, especially improvisation, closer to students through more classes and performances like Uncucumbered.
