In "3," Dance Department graduate students Jodi Leigh Allen, Melissa Beck and Darren Dunn explore different aspects in human life with their thesis choreography.

These performances will include a look at a personal life journey, Lee Harvey Oswald"s mother and a landscape of different people.

Jodi Leigh Allen"s work is about "a person trying to have a career and a love interest at the same time." Allen looked at how her own desire for a career in dance moved her away from the people she cared about for this work.

"Inside Life," the name of her work, features six women University dancers as well as Allen. The dancers use both soft and strong movements. The final section is physical, with her dancers dancing on chairs, Allen"s piece attempts to make the viewer wonder how the dancer is able to do what they are doing.

The underground dance community has influenced Allen. While living in New York, she went to raves and observed the dance that was taking place. She uses this experience to help her create movements and dances. The music accompanying "Inside Life" has been arranged and composed by Christopher Peck. The score will offer a pulse similar to that in techno music. "I appreciate the uniqueness of (underground dance). I like new and exciting things, especially things that are hard," Allen said.

Melissa Beck will present two works, one of which examines the life of Lee Harvey Oswald"s mother. "Oswald"s Mother" was inspired by an interview Beck heard on National Public Radio with Oswald"s mother. Beck was fascinated with the situation, in particular the rationalization Marguerite Oswald had to do in order to make it okay for herself and her son. The solo will be performed by Beck to seven minutes of the interview. "Her voice is very musical and I saw the dance," Beck said of her choice to use only Oswald"s voice as music.

In her group piece, Beck used Rodin sculptures. The work is broken into three sections: The beauty of the sculpture"s athletic muscles, riding, and unrequited love. Ballet"s lines and fluidity have heavily influenced Beck"s style she has brought the sensibility of modern and the use of pedestrian into these works.

In " and Other Works Starting with the Letter "D,"" Darren Dunn wanted to create a landscape of different people without a single focal point. He used a novel, a movie, an online site for collage artwork, and a tumbling Coke can as inspiration. Dunn wanted his piece to be based in the human experience. "I like the idea that you can"t see all the shapes at the same time, no matter how fast the eye moves," said Dunn.

Dunn took one psychological landscape and put it onto ten different dancers. He chose the color blue for costuming because of its many different shades that can evoke different reactions. He worked with cellist Katri Ervamaa and Mark Kirschenman to create music for his solo. The collaboration went so well that the musicians were able to mirror what Dunn was saying in his dance.

The concert, a senior thesis project, is the culmination of these choreographers" work at the university. After graduation Allen and Dunn would like to continue their professional dance careers, and Beck would enjoy teaching ballet.