By Audrey Wade, general assignment reporter

The first ballet performance of the year for Friends University was a wonderful opening to a new season. Performances on Oct. 9-11 kicked off the Fall Ballet.

Strangely for a ballet performance, the dancers were warming up on stage as the crowd filed in. The reason for such a different move became clear as the lights dimmed for the first piece titled “How to Look at Dance.”

“How to Look at Dance,” enlightened all of those who were new to the world of dance. While many of the French terms sounded foreign and pretty, it helped explain different aspects of dance and showed off the athleticism required to do many of the simple looking moves.

Sharon Rogers, Friends ballet instructor, narrated the piece in a very familiar way as the dancers demonstrated common moves and the reasoning behind several of them.

Each move was done with precision that is normally seen in a much quicker motion and not held extended for as long, the dancers paused to allow the lines to sink into the audience’s mind.

The second piece performed was titled “Pieces.” This highlighted four dancers and the movement of music.

“Pieces” showed a motion between the dancers and the music that is not always so clearly seen. Every sweep of the arm, lift of the leg, and spin of the body was a new note within the composition. It was filled with beauty and intrigue amid the playing of the instruments and the twisting of the dancers with no real way to fully describe all of it.

A repeat of last spring’s “Variation of a Theme,” was handled with a similar form of grace as when it was last performed on stage.

The final number, “The Prodigal Son,” showed a new side to Kyle Leapline, senior, who performed as the prodigal son. Something in the piece helped Leapline dance the part with a strong masculinity that is often found missing in male ballet dancers.

He showed off a new theatrical side with his strong movements that helped convey the truth of the story. The story known to many from Sunday school lessons at church was shown in a slightly new light.

The night was overall a beautiful performance and very informative for someone who hasn’t studied dance before. I hope it was just a preview of what is to come from the talented ballerinas of the University.