Just dance

It was about four weeks ago that Lydia Siniard, director of the Hinge Dance Company, had an itch. This itch wasn’t one to scratch, but one to have her dance company hold a summer dance show.

She held auditions on June 20, and allowed anyone who was feeling inspired to audition, and on June 27, the cast held their first rehearsal.

Since then group has worked tirelessly, rehearsing for hours every day over the past three weeks to create their latest production, “Bruised.”

“Bruised” is completely run and performed by students and will feature modern dance, ballet, hip hop and some lyrical

dance performances.

“We offer something different with not being a professional dance company,” said Siniard. “We have a variety of talent, but everybody offers a great performance, and I think that’s what sets us apart is that everyone really puts their heart into it when they dance and step on stage.”

Siniard said she believes that the performance offers a public appreciation and awareness for dance, which she feels is sometimes looked over as an art and athletic form.

“It is very athletic, and it is very hard on our body; we use every muscle. It’s not just running— it’s everything combined,” Siniard said. “The public will hopefully have a better awareness of dance in general.”

During previous shows the Hinge Dance Company performed in their dance studio in Turner, bringing in chairs and piling people in to view their shows. But the “Bruised” performances will be in the Meek Auditorium, and is the first time the group has performed on an actual stage.

“This one is real exciting because we’re moving on to bigger and better things, and I think the energy and variety of the show is a lot more intense and very strong that previous shows,” Siniard said.

The name “Bruised,” was decided on after the group had several rehearsals, members of the group and the director looked for themes throughout the choreography.

“A lot of the dance pieces in this performance deal with a lot of heavy emotions and relationships where you are sometimes left bruised or tender or vulnerable,” Siniard said. “We chose ‘Bruised’ as our title because it could mean so many different things, you can bruise your knee, you can bruise a fruit, your heart can be bruised; it just applied to the emotions in most of the dances.”

“Bruised” is the company’s fourth performance as a dance company, and, unlike their previous shows, much of the casts will not be comprised of “regulars” who helped start Hinge.

Hinge isn’t required as a part of a major but instead fueled by the dancers’ love of the art.

“It’s not about a professor telling you what do or when to be somewhere or saying you have to do this because your grade depends on it,” Siniard said. “Everybody that is there is committed because they want to because they are passionate about dance. We’re not about being the best; we’re about having the passion and motivation to move.”

Siniard said she hopes that through “Bruised” the group will continue to grow and offer more people the opportunity to dance.

“I really want to see Hinge stay a strong part on the campus and really grow in the campus so that it’s an outlet for people who love to dance, who used to dance or who never got to dance when they were in high school or having a chance to move and have that opportunity to feel what dance can give and reward the soul and body itself,” Siniard said.

“Bruised” performances will be held Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 2:30 and 8 p.m. Tickets are $7 and available at the Ole Miss Central Ticket Office in the student union or online at olemiss.edu/depts./tickets/.