“An Evening of Music and Dance,” the annual Homecoming performance presented jointly by the music and dance departments, was once again a success this year.

The concert, which took place on Saturday, Sept. 25, in the Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center (PAC), featured the many talents of Mercyhurst students and faculty, as well as local artists.

As always, the homecoming performance also allowed parents and alumni to experience the work that the music and dance departments are doing now and how the current students are growing through the program.

Dance department alumna Amanda Fisher said, “The show was great. It brought back lots of good memories of being part of the department.”

One of the highlights of the evening was the lithesome and energetic choreography for “This Little Light of Mine,” danced by seniors Christine Wilbur and Lindsey Smith of the Liturgical Dance Ensemble.

This debut was particularly exciting as Wilbur and Smith will be traveling to Sydney, Australia, in October where they will present their work at the Project Dance festival.

The Mercyhurst Dancers’ performance of Bruce Marks’s “Fragments” was a memorable piece on the program as well, with beautiful pas de deux work and patterning within the choreography, as well as a mournful, pining quality that stuck with the viewer.

Not to be forgotten either was the great technique and talent exhibited by the Music department faculty members, who opened the show with a rendition of Beethoven’s Piano Trio in C Minor, Opus 1, No. 3.

The music students likewise proved their virtuosity in presentations of operatic singing.

Senior Kathleen Reveille brought out her inner diva in her performance of a piece from “Carmen,” and the duet and trio that followed were beautiful in tone and delivery.

The dance department likewise presented pieces of a virtuoso nature, with freshman Rachel Bauer sparkling in her performance of a variation from “Sylvia” and junior Anna Daught nimbly traversing the stage as the Cupid from “Don Quixote.”

SoMar Dance Works also performed strongly in “Tailspin Tango,” a piece that originally debuted at the Erie Festival of Dance in 2009. The innovative modern dance troupe brought lots of interesting partnering and a good degree of sass to close out the evening.