On the night of the Spring Dance Ensemble performance, the stands steadily filled up right until the moment that the lights went down and the show started.
Christina Aguilera’s “Show Me How You Burlesque” began the show and many other popular songs were featured in the show, with music ranging from show tunes to moving ballads to present-day pop music.
Sarah McCormick, director of the UTM Dance Ensemble, said that this semester, the Ensemble decided to challenge themselves by using more instrumental music and incorporating very different styles of music.
Ashleigh Morrow, a junior Dance Education major, performed a piece called “A Journey of Change” with music being a mixture of StephanMoccio’s “Ow” and Adele’s “Hometown Glory.”
One piece that was a crowd favorite was from the movie “Pitch Perfect.”Choreographer Mackenzie Moore, with the help of other dancers, stuck closely with the original choreography from the movie, as well as adding additional choreography.
One of the pieces that the audience found the most shocking of the night, however, was the dark Disney piece performed right before the intermission.
The dancers entered the stage with low light, and their backs turned to the audience. They were each dressed as one of the Disney princesses. But when they turned around, it became a different story. Each “princess” had gruesome makeup on, and their costumes were tattered.
The audience watched in horror, with several audible gasps, as one by one, the princesses “killed” each other on stage, all the while accompanied by a dark-sounding version of “Wish Upon a Star.”
The show was not all dark. During one of the performances, called “Step Up to Who You Are,” a hip-hop piece performed to the song “Step Up” by Pete Rock, McCormick came out onto the stage to try her hand at hip-hop with her dancers.
The final piece was called “Jazzy Sensibility” with Rihanna’s song “Where Have You Been.” It showcased most of the ensemble all at once, and gave everyone a chance to show their moves.
The Spring Dance Performance allowed many types of dancers to showcase different dances. The Ensemble is a mixture of dance majors, minors and non-majors. Anyone who loves to dance is welcome to try out.
