This Friday and Saturday, Dec. 9 and 10, Emotion will be hosting this semester’s final showcase of dances at 8 p.m. in Leffler Chapel. The theme of the Fall 2011 Emotion Dance Showcase is “Soleful Celebration,” an ode to the “passion and soul displayed throughout all numbers,” and the essence of dance as shown through the movement of the soles of dancers’ feet. This final showcase is also a tribute to Arianna Krayo, an Elizabethtown student and Emotion dancer who recently passed away.
Emotion puts on small shows throughout the semester for compilation performances with other groups, open houses and other events, but the final showcase is their biggest performance of the semester. This show consists of 23 student-choreographed dances that range from jazz and tango to hip-hop and cheerleading. The show is expected to be upbeat, exciting and a good time for both the audience and the dancers. There are 176 dancers performing this semester with each person dancing in one to three different dances.
To remember Krayo, the dance she was slated to be in, “Waka Waka,” is being performed in her honor. Krayo just began dancing with Emotion this semester, and her passion and energy have been deeply missed. In her memory, Emotion is donating proceeds from the show to Child Evangelism Fellowship of Adams County, a Christian Bible ministry that hosts Good News clubs after school for elementary and intermediate schools. This organization, a completely donation-funded volunteer group, works with 14 elementary and intermediate schools, hosting weekly Bible study sessions. The organization also holds soccer camps and assists local churches in their service to the community.
Emotion dances are entirely student-choreographed, and the Emotion cabinet was impressed by all of the dances at a preview show.
“We were happily surprised about the high caliber of the dances,” said senior Ashley Huttenstine, who is the current president of Emotion. There are weekly practices that last an hour and a half for all dances. For students doing two or three dances, that means they have four and a half hours of practice in addition to their personal practicing each week. Each of the 23 dances in the showcase have between six and forty people on stage at any time.
Some of the dancers in the show have been dancing since they were young, while others just picked up dancing as recently as this semester. It is amazing to see how so many unique people with different experience levels can work together to produce stunning dance numbers in unison with each other. For previous shows, some dances may not have been quite smooth enough or choreographed perfectly, and they ended up getting cut from the program. This semester, however, every dance that was submitted for the final showcase will be appearing on stage during the performance.
“We’re all really proud and excited to show off our work,” Huttenstine said, as she congratulated all the Emotion dancers for the great show they have created. Students are encouraged to come show their support and see the results of all the dancers’ hard work.
Performances for the Fall 2011 Emotion Dance Showcase include (in order): “Footloose”, “Cosmic Love”, “Like A Prayer”, “You Could Be Happy”, “Rollin In the Deep”, “Some Kind of Wonderful”, “Assassin’s Tango”, “Put Your Hands On Me”, “Edge of Glory”, “Tore My Heart”, “Give Me Everything”, and “Waka Waka”, in the first act. The lineup for the second act is “Run Freedom Run”, “Twenty Years”, “Ain’t No Other Man”, “Grenade, Mama,” “Jock Jams”, “Skeleton Key”, “Feeling Good”, “O’Nui”, “Party Rock Anthem” and “I’ve Had the Time of My Life.”
Student choreographers include: junior Jenell Abram, junior Shannon Bailey, senior Chelsea Benson, senior Suki Brown, senior Alison Cochran, senior Katie Evans, sophomore Kristen Faulkner, sophomore Caitlin Gardiner, sophomore Robert Graham, junior Liz Van Gulick, senior Dan Hart, sophomore Kylie Hecker, junior Lauren Hoffman, sophomore Owen Howson, senior Ashley Huttenstine, junior Julie Kelly, sophomore Jessie Krueger, sophomore Jenna Latham, junior Chelsea Lorenz, junior Lauren Moritz, graduate student Lauren Ott, sophomore Lauren Peck, senior Karen Perko, junior Laura Price, first-year Natalie Rangel, senior Nikki Rush, senior Danielle Schultze, junior Keelyann Sheeley, senior Stephanie Smith, junior Becky Stoczko, junior Eric Storey, junior Kate Stull, senior Amanda Tyson, junior Janis Umberger and junior Kim Welker.
Come out to see your friends and classmates dancing in the Fall 2011 Emotion Dance Showcase. This Friday and Saturday night in Leffler Chapel. Doors open at 7:15 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets will be sold at the door: $3 for students and $4 for all non-students.
