The seniors involved in the Theater and Dance department are not leaving campus without one last “hurrah” of artistic ingenuity.

Last weekend the University Theater was home to senior projects, where California State University, East Bay students directed, acted, choreographed, and danced in front of an audience of fellow students, family, and department patrons.

Friday night at 8 p.m. the theater filled, the lights dimmed, and Directing Supervisor Marc Jacobs introduced Program “A” of the Performance Fusion.

The night included three dance routines, and two plays with one 15-minute intermission. While directing and choreography was done by graduating seniors, acting and dancing was extended to any student interested in being a part of a piece, with many students featuring in more than one piece.

The showcase was dominated by the emotional dance performances “desiderare,” “the light that sparks memory…,” and “Self Discovering” choreographed by Estrella Ramirez, Caitlyn Greene, and Yumi Nomura respectively. The dances tackled subject matter such as the conflicts between need and desire, the loss of loved ones, and self-empowerment in the face of adversity.

“I love seeing all the [dance] sequences… the messages they were conveying were really hitting home,” said freshman Harmony Martinez who said she formerly danced in high school. “My favorite was ‘Self Discovering’ at the end… but it is hard to choose a favorite.”

Nomura’s “Self Discovering” was described as being one of the more powerful performances, due largely in part to the stylistically diverse scoring, and slight use of spoken word. The piece featured songs by modern artists Ellie Goulding, and Flight Facilities, along with the ballet classic, “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite.

The dance depicted women’s struggle against the often degrading male power that was manifested by junior Charles Williams, who also featured in Ramirez’s “desiderare.”

Dance routines often involved very personal matters, which was most apparent in Greene’s “the light that sparks memory…,” tackling the feelings and memories of losing a loved one.

Each performer individually displayed catharsis by relating their personal experiences involving the subject matter.

“It started with my solo, how I personally dealt with [the loss],” said Greene about how her routine was developed. “The duet was kind of my memories about myself and the person, and finally the group piece was a celebration and afterlife.”

Along with the dance routines, Sean Hobbs and Rhiannon V. Williams directed two short plays, “Missing Maria” and “Angels Over Miami.” John Patrick Shanley wrote Hobbs’ adaptation of “Missing Maria,” a one-act piece about sexual hunger and frustration, in 1996, while Williams both wrote and directed “Angels Over Miami,” that dealt with an emerging religion created by homeless youths in Miami.

“Angels Over Miami” had a heavy tone and featured a slew of actors that had very little verbal interaction among one another that was in stark contrast with the dark humor dialogue of “Missing Maria.”

“The minimal interaction between characters was new to me, I speak mostly to [characters not present on stage,] Kev or the Blue Lady,” said freshman Blake Weaver who made his debut at CSUEB last Friday.

This weekend Program “B” will take place in the Studio Theater behind the main theater. Performances will include: absurdist comedy “The Waiting Room,“ bildungsroman dance routine “Chasing Love,” an exploration of man’s relationship with God “What was Holiest,” and the final scene of Henrik Ibsen’s feminist classic “A Doll’s House,” all choreographed and directed by Theater and Dance seniors.

Shows will start at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with a matinee at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $15 for General Admission or $5 with a CSUEB ID.