Written by DCist contributor Meghan Welsh

Though professional dancers train for years to achieve perfect technique, there is one rule that trumps everything else when it comes to performing: make it look effortless. CityDance Ensemble’s performance of “Eclipse” on Sunday evening at the Music Center at Strathmore more than accomplished this feat.

The concert was part of the D.C.-based contemporary repertory dance company’s “In the Studio” concert series, which transforms a dance studio into a tiny theater complete with risers, wings and lighting. Seating capacity is limited to 150 seats at each performance. The beauty of this is that the audience can see absolutely everything, up close and personal. During a break between pieces as dancers were preparing for their next number, Artistic Director Paul Gordon Emerson joked to the front row, “You’re closer to the dancers than most people are when they sit in the same car.”

Despite the perks of the intimate venue, a luxury for most art forms, this closeness can sometimes be a recipe for disaster when it comes to dance. In such a small setting, there is no room for error, fatigue, or lack of a connection between the dancers, as every flaw is magnified for the audience. The dancers of CityDance never had this problem — their performance was intimate yet removed enough to keep the illusion of effortlessness alive. The spell was never broken.