The Momentum Dance Club is giving students from all dancing backgrounds the chance to perform in their upcoming showcase on Jan. 30 at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. in the Varsity Gym 208.
The Momentum Showcase will have over 50 dancers ranging from freshmen to seniors performing, according to the secretary of Momentum Dance, Sarah Patrick. Patrick said that these dancers come from a wide variety of majors and experience with dance.
The showcase will present a variety of different styles of dancing, such as contemporary, ballet, modern, jazz and precision dancing. The show will be completely student choreographed.
Momentum Dance Club has also invited other student-run groups and organizations to join forces with the ASU dance community and perform, including Entropy Dance Crew, ASU Elite Dance Team and NouN Improv Troupe.
“We have students performing in the show who have danced their whole lives as well as students who have just started dancing in college,” Patrick said. “It’s a fun way to bring all the dancers together.”
Student choreographers for the 2016 Momentum Dance Showcase are Roberto Bell, Alison Bird, Juliet Irving, Phillip McRorie, Sarah Patrick, Sarah Quinn, Anne-Catherine Rossi, Brenda Semerenko and Makeyleigh Smith, according to the press release by ASU News.
“There is no theme to the showcase,” Patrick said. “We want our student choreographers to have as much creative license as possible to produce whatever piece they have envisioned in their mind, so each piece stands on its own.”
Phillip McRorie, one of the showcase coordinators, said this is the club’s biggest event.
“The main goal of the showcase is to show students that love dance that there are still opportunities for them even if they aren’t majors or minors,” McRorie said.
Emily Daughtridge, associate professor of dance studies and faculty advisor for the club, said, “The Momentum Dance Club provides students with a wonderful opportunity to explore creative expression through the choreographic process and to gain valuable experience as choreographers and as members of a production team.”
Kevin Warner, chair and associate professor of the department of theatre and dance said, “The theatre and dance department faculty is consistently proud of the leadership and initiative demonstrated by the officers and members of Momentum, a student-led organization, and look forward to celebrating their work in the Varsity Gym studios each year.”
Warner describes the showcase as an “invaluable forum for curating, producing, choreographing and performing their own work from across a wide range of dance genres.”
The Momentum Dance Club meets the first Monday of every month at alternating locations: the Varsity Gym and Chapel Wilson. In addition to their meetings and this showcase, the club hosts dance classes and socials throughout the semester.
Tickets are $5 for students and $7 for adults and can be purchased at the door 30 minutes prior to each performance.
By: Molly Flinchum, A&E Reporter