Although Friday’s performance of the Momentum Dance Showcase was cancelled for bad weather, the Saturday showing drew a crowd of over 200, nearly filling the dance studio in the Varsity Gym.
Showcase coordinator Jordan Davis said the overall goal for the showcase by Momentum, a student dance club, was to have a fun-filled performance.
“We wanted to have a variety of dance styles for the community and audience members to experience in one show,” Davis said. “The Momentum Showcase was a way for the dancers and choreographers’ passion to express the overall art of dance.”
Momentum, Davis said, is a student-based group that is open to any student at Appalachian State University interested in dance.
“I became involved in the Momentum Dance Club my freshman year at App State,” she said. “My fellow dancer friends and I wanted to find more dance opportunities to either perform or choreograph.”
What eventually came down to two hours of performances Saturday began with months of preparation.
“We would meet for 90 minutes twice a week to work on movement and creating my piece ‘Untitled,’” said Kaitlyn Curran, a featured choreographer at the showcase. “I was so lucky to be able to work with five of the most inspiring girls I’ve ever met. Every once in awhile you get a group of dancers that just click and work well together, and this was definitely that group. This process, for me, wasn’t an easy one, and these girls made it one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in the dance department.”
As well as choreographing a piece for the performance, Curran helped plan and organize the showcase.
“I was one of two showcase coordinators and we, along with the help from all the other officers, were in charge of bringing the entire event together,” Curran said. “We had to audition choreographers and dancers, reserve spaces, advertise for the showcase, work with restaurants to receive food donations and [turn] a studio into a performance space.”
The proceeds from the showcase are used to fund master classes that feature guest artists, as well as to support members of the group and students in “expanding their dance experience,” according to theatre.appstate.edu.
“Our goal is to provide a place where anyone, regardless of experience, can come and move,” Curran said. “We really just want to bring everyone who loves dance together.”
The showcase included members of Momentum, the Swing Club, the Hip Hop Club and the Capoeira Club, which teaches Brazilian martial-art style dance.
“As one of the main dance clubs on campus, we wanted to connect with other dance clubs and have them perform with us,” Curran said. “We all have different styles, but we all do it for the same reason: because we love to dance. We were already familiar with Hip Hop Oasis and Swing Club, but we were introduced to Capoeira through our club president, Jillian Robinson. It was very easy to work with these different clubs, and I’m so glad we did.”
Story: R. SCOTT MORRIS, A&E Editor
Photo: BOWEN JONES, Intern Photographer