A new lecture series was given by Dr. Martie Fellom and sociology professor Rebecca Hensley with the purpose of delivering a message in a new medium to students. The lecture series “The Last Dance” was the first of a series with the goal of calling attention to dance as an art form of social, political and global commentary. The event took place on Monday, April 18, in the Student Union Theater.

Hensley introduced Fellom and gave a small opening speech to set the somber mood of the subject of death.

“Despite the fact that death frightens us to consider, we do consider it. And that is why we are here,” said Hensley.

Fellom then took the stage and gave examples and descriptions of several different dances that share the common motive and theme of death in the choreography. Each piece she discussed touched on the concept of death, whether it was through the death of the subject of the dance, or through the pain and anguish related to death.

The list of pieces she discussed included “Lamentation; A Portrait of a Grieving Woman” choreographed by Martha Graham, “Strange Fruit” by Pearl Primus, “Mourner’s Bench” by Talley Beatty and “Still Here” by Bill T. Jones. Fellom gave a brief biography of each choreographer and a detailed description of the meanings behind each dance, followed by a video of each dance.

The messages within each dance were clear and Fellom had several motives for why she chose to give this lecture and why she chose the pieces she did. One of the purposes was for the audience to be able to view dance as more than just a type of entertainment.

“I wanted to share with the audience some messages about people’s pain,” said Fellom. “I wanted to open a door to people to be able to experience dance in a different way.”

Though the lecture did not have a large attendance, the power of the message was still felt and appreciated by the crowd. Destiney Johnson, a freshman nursing major, was certainly impacted by the lecture and the dances that were shown.

“I thought it was awesome. I never saw dance in this form,” said Johnson. “You can interpret death in so many forms, like poetry, but I’ve never thought of it in dance. It made me see dance in an entirely different light.”