Sitting in the cushy, Grainger-esque seats of the Margaret H’Doubler Theater in Lathrop Hall, watching the UW Dance Program work its collective magic, it suddenly becomes abundantly clear: This is way more than a dance recital.

Alison Rootberg, a junior dance and interarts and technology major, described this weekend’s concert, entitled “Framework,” in a similar way.

“I think what’s really special about this specific concert is that there’s live sound, live video, live text and a [structured] improv before the show even starts,” Rootberg said.

This improvisation was structured by Emily Plotkin is performed by members of the UW Dance Program in regular clothes. They act and react to the movements of patrons in and out of Lathrop’s doors and around the lobby.

Marlene Skog, the concert’s faculty coordinator, characterized a structured improv as an “improv with an outline.” The dancers are given movement phrases to work with but depending on the movements and choices of other dancers, the piece changes each time it is performed.

The more structured pieces are performed in the theater. Skog reminded the dancers of the integral role the performance space plays in their dancing.

“This is your stage. You own it. The audience [members] are guests at your stage,” Skog said.

Senior Karen Heusinger’s piece is first in the concert lineup. Also a structured improvisation, her piece resembles the piece staged in the lobby. Dancers play-off one another’s movement ideas. Much of the dance is created on-the-spot, but there is never even a moment’s pause between movement. Heusinger characterized her dance as somewhat of a concept piece.

“There’s two layers to it, in one I’m just a little kid playing … and the other I’m manipulating the dancers, so they have to react to what I do, because it is a structured improv.”

The rest of the pieces are more concrete works of art, although they are equally as exciting.

Juniors Rootberg and Brittany Gacek present solos in the concert.

Gacek’s solo is a non-traditional tango with the space. She has incorporated the spoken word into her piece and it serves a nice distinction from the other pieces. The intensity of her eyes reaches the back row of the theater, bringing in every single member of the audience.

“It started as one piece, and sort of evolved into what it has become today. The movement changed a lot for the concert,” Gacek said.

Rootberg’s solo has the same intensity. It showcases not only her dance ability, but also her Interarts and Technology background. The piece features a sound track recorded by Rootberg on a walk from her apartment into campus. The sounds are mixed to form a sort of symphony of the street that accompanies her modern-style movement beautifully. Also accompanying her movement is a slow panning zoom of a black-and-white, non-descript face projected on the backdrop.

“For my solo I created the video (of the face) and I did the sound … I also made the costume. It’s see-thru to emphasize the theme of the piece,” Rootberg said.

Her piece was created in a compostion class in which the assignment was for each dancer to create a piece that described them.

The concert also features a video project that Rootberg created for a video class. The use of video allows her to use an altered point of view, which allows for manipulation of the meaning of the dance. It focuses on light and dark, with shadows of dancers, back-lit by natural light from nearby windows. The piece seems to be as much about the static light and the green trees outside the window as the dancers moving.

Bethany Alwa also features a solo set to a live cello. She showcases the athleticism of modern dance beautifully in her piece. Her audible breathing through out the piece causes the audience to want to exhale along with her. She chose to use atypical cello music to accompany her piece, which complemented her segmented and staccato movements perfectly.

A duet staged by Emily Plotkin and Caitlin Yasin is also very strong. The piece is set to music by Radiohead, which sets this piece apart from the rest. It uses cold blue lighting and unison and independent movements that come together at key points in the piece. The girls had been talking about creating the piece for a long time.

“We started talking about it a long time ago, but we didn’t start the actual piece until about two weeks ago,” Plotkin said. “We tried to start with an idea, but I think it’s better to just plunge forth and get movement down and then the music changes 50 times and the movement changes 50 times and your mood changes — a lot.”

Last but not least, the concert showcases a piece created by Amylee Ward. A group piece, it sets itself apart from the other pieces because of its more structured movment. The music and costume choices Ward made nicely accent the dancer’s floor patterns and the overall theme of the piece.

It’s hard not to have anything but awe and respect for the members and faculty of the UW Dance Program. This weekend’s concert, Framework, opened yesterday and will be

presented at 8 p.m. tonight and Saturday, with a reception following Saturday’s show.

Skog feels that this concert stands out from the other concerts the dance program has put on recently.

“The concert is just beautiful,” she said. “The communication is genuine and there’s honesty behind it. When the dancers feel comfortable, it’s easier for them to communicate with dance.”