Varsity Gym room 208, normally used as two studio spaces, transformed into a relaxed concert space for Momentum Dance Club’s seventh annual showcase Jan. 25 and 26. The dividing wall was lifted and rugs, cushions, stools, chairs and high chairs were arranged to create leveled seating for the audience.

The showcase featured eight original works choreographed and performed by students, which they have rehearsed since October. Momentum is inclusive to all majors and minors, dance styles and techniques, but the showcase pieces are typically variations of contemporary and modern.

Freshman special education major Brianna Richardson joined Momentum because she wanted to keep dancing in college.

“I knew that I wanted to take dance classes while I was up here since I’ve been dancing for 16 years, but I wanted to be able to perform as well because technique just isn’t enough for me,” Richardson said.

Although Momentum focuses on the showcase, the officers organize social events like lock-ins, dance parties and open classes.

“We have lock-ins, which are just big sleepovers in Varsity Gym. We lock all the doors, and we can go hang out in the upstairs track area and in the gym area,” junior business management and dance studies major Amber Worley said. “There’s actually a basement and we call it the dungeon. We play hide and seek, and eat a bunch of food.”

Worley said the officers organize get-togethers each month. They go to performances at the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts together or watch the sunrise on the Blue Ridge Parkway. At the end of the spring semester, Momentum celebrates the year with a banquet and a dance party at Varsity Gym.

“I know lots of (dance) people because I’m taking dance classes, but if you’re not in that realm, you don’t really know (dance) people, so it’s really nice that they try to get everyone together,” Richardson said.

This is Worley’s second year as a concert coordinator. She wants to pursue arts management and eventually open her own dance studio.

“Momentum is my little baby,” Worley said fondly. “Managing the showcase and running the show is what I want to do as a career, and so having this now is like a mini-version of that.”

Momentum sells merchandise — stickers, t-shirts and sweatshirts — and members pay $5 in dues, which covers their entire time at App State. Most of the funds for Momentum come from ticket sales at their showcase. Worley said the funds pay for costumes for the next showcase and renews Momentum’s “lease” so it can remain a campus organization.

Worley said several people in Momentum are nursing or chemistry majors who don’t have the availability to take dance classes during the day.

“Being in Momentum is a nice way to break out and still have dance without having to commit to something like a class or a mainstage,” Worley said.