Students bared all last Tuesday night in the artistically unique and bold Liquid Latex performance. The show had Levin Ballroom overflowing, and the enormous crowd created a high level of energy before it even began.

Every year, the performance exhibits a series of dance pieces and fashion show-style runways performed by students wearing nothing but liquid latex paint (and thongs). The unique and incomparable nature of liquid latex allows for “designers and painters get to see their artistic vision come to life in a completely new way,” said Emily Beker ’15, assistant coordinator of Liquid Latex, in an email to the Justice.

This year’s show was titled “15 Years of Liquid Latex,” to celebrate Liquid Latex’s 15th anniversary. Although the show had no particular theme, Beker said that the goal was to make everything a little bigger in honor of the anniversary.

Many of the pieces performed captured full film, musical or literary plots in only minutes. The opener, “Legally Latex” designed and choreographed by Joe Babeu ’15, took Elle Woods from her bright pink sorority days to her pink and gray ultimate law school victory. A crowd favorite, “The Last Jedi/Star Wars” designed by Jen Sikov ’15 and choreographed by Brittany Ritell ’15, went from Luke receiving Princess Leia’s message from R2-D2 to the epic light-up light saber battle between Luke and Darth Vader.

“Dark Side of Oz,” designed by Jeremy Perlman ’15 and choreographed by Mikah Atkind ’15, saw Dorothy on her journey through the Land of Oz and adeptly used choreography to show the intensity of Dorothy’s battle against the Wicked Witch of the West (Rachel Hughes ’15.) Lined up across the entire stage with hands linked, the Wicked Witch pulled Dorothy to one side while Glinda the Good Witch, the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man desperately pulled her to the other. The gang eventually defeated the evil witch by throwing paper “water” on her, to which she promptly melted.

In “Alice in Wonderland” designed by Sydney Westervelt ’17 and Samantha Laney ’17 and choreographed by Westervelt, the highlight was a visually stimulating portrayal of Alice’s pivotal moment of traveling through the rabbit hole. The performers achieved the sensation that Alice was falling to another world by pairing flashing lights and dramatic music with the dancers running in a circle around Alice as she stumbled back and forth.

The costumes for all of the characters in these pieces were painted on with refinement and were extremely detailed. The paint highlighted in some cases the crucial aspects of a character’s signature costume, while in others the paint depicted the exact costume. Many times the paint was cleverly used to portray key elements of a scene. In “Cell Block Tango,” designed and choreographed by Nikk Wasserman ’15 all of the dancers had skimpy black outfits painted on the front of their bodies and a black and white grid painted on their backs to give the appearance of jail cell bars when they turned around. In “RUNWAY: Nickelodeon,” designed by Mary Millage ’16 and Ashley Lorinsky ’16 and choreographed by Millage, which brought nostalgia with characters from favorite childhood shows, the model representing CatDog had the cat painted on one side and the dog on the other.

The runway performances gave the audience a chance to appreciate the level of detail and artistry in each costume more closely. Each model had a solo moment to strut down the runway jutting out from the center of the stage. For example, “RUNWAY: Floral Brocade,” choreographed by Julie Joseph ’18 and designed by Nora Anderson ’15, gave time to focus on the intricately ornate floral designs painted on each model. To further highlight the female form, the floral patterns in this piece only sprawled out over very select areas of the body.

The runways also emphasized a key aspect of Liquid Latex, which is the idea of positive body image. Every dancer was cheered for as he or she strutted down the aisle with unique dance moves and poses. It was uplifting to see the audience’s positive reactions to all of the dancers and then to see the dancers gaining even more confidence from the audience’s support. The show had a great ability to create an environment in which the exposed dancers felt not only comfortable but encouraged. Beker said of the support in the show, “Our models leave their experience loving how they feel about themselves and have a greater sense of confidence.” This comfortable vibe was felt especially at the very end of the show when all of the dancers came together to freely dance on stage.

Liquid Latex was not only an amazingly fun and artistically distinctive show but also a reminder of the supportive nature of the Brandeis community.

Editor’s Note: Rachel Hughes ’15 is the editor in chief of the Justice, Jessie Miller ’15 is a deputy editor of the Justice and a coordinator for Liquid Latex and Jeremy Perlman ’15 is a Justice photography staff member.