Members of the local community who attended an event at the Amarillo College Concert Hall Theater Sept. 14 were treated to more than just music.
The performance, “Fantasies & Illusions,” incorporated music, dance, photography and video. It was a free event open to the public.
Dr. Steven Weber, music department chairman, was responsible for the overall organization of the event.
“They do different kinds of music and dance along with video production at the same time, and it’s really a cool idea,” Weber said before the event. “I’m super excited.”
Eugenio Zapata and Yelena Konetchy were the performers.
The AC show was one stop on a year-long tour that includes several colleges and universities.
Besides being the pianist, Zapata is the director and choreographer, while Konetchy performs various dance styles throughout the show.
Other departments also assisted with the event. Victoria Taylor-Gore, visual arts department chairwoman, and art instructor Pete Gonzalez helped by designing the poster that hung throughout the city to publicize the event.
Kristin Edford of the humanities department, who organizes the annual Creative Minds events, helped with the free reception at the end of the show where light refreshments, cookies and candy were offered.
AC students as well as community members attended the event and overall, gave positive feedback.
“I used to be a ballet dancer, so it brought back a lot of memories,” said Shayda Zoobin, a music major.
Miguel Escobar, also a music major, said it was his first time watching a show like this one.
“It was a really unique performance,” he said. “I have never seen something like that.”
He said his favorite part was when Zapata was playing piano by himself and a video about African children was shown. He said it made him sympathize because it shows how blessed people are in the United States.
“I loved his performance on the piano; it was amazing,” Zoobin said.
Students also said they enjoyed the mix of artistic talents.
“I thought it was interesting – different art forms combined,” said music major Mark Soto.
Although it was new to some attendees, it’s not something new in the art world.
Zapata pointed out that the idea of integrating music with dance and other forms of art has started to develop more in the past 15 to 20 years.
“The idea of making a multimedia event is to see how dance and images can fit together,” Zapata said.
“I feel like music doesn’t say it all, so the images and the movement help me say better what the music doesn’t.”
Konetchy said she has been dancing since she was 10, when her dad put her in dance classes and she fell in love with it.
Since then she has participated in many dance shows, including musicals, ballets, festivals, jazz dances and music videos.
Konetchy said one of the major events she has participated in is Big Ranch Dance Festival, one of the largest dance festivals in Austin, where she stayed two years. She also has choreographed for artists such as Austin Shakespeare.
“Living is Austin, known as the live music capital of the world, you get involved with a lot with other artists,” Konetchy said.
Zapata said he has been a pianist for more than 30 years.
Besides this year-long tour, Zapata also gives piano lessons and teaches dance classes at Orpheus Academy of Music in Austin, where he lives as well.
When performing a show, he said, he hopes the audience is touched in some way. The music is the most important, he said.
“I think no one can live without it,” Zapata said.
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