The Etownian >> Campus Life
‘Dance your story’: Emotion to showcase this weekend
Thursday May 06 2010
As one of the biggest clubs on campus, Emotion has created a fun and stress-relieving activity for many students. As the spring showcase approaches, dress rehearsals and final run-throughs are piling up on the dancers in addition to looming finals. The spring show will be held Friday, May 7, and Saturday, May 8 at 8 p.m. in Leffler Chapel. With such a short amount of time before the curtain rises, all of the dancers are feeling the pressure. However, with this comes excitement to showcase all the hard work they have put forth.
The theme for the show this year is “Dance Your Story.” For senior choreographers Megan and Kat Momenzadeh, this is the perfect way to express their years here at Elizabethtown College.
“I’m excited for this show because the dances have turned out wonderfully, and the dancers have all worked really hard, but at the same time, there is still so much I want to do. I just need to be able to stay and choreograph and do nothing else,” Megan Momenzadeh said.
Before the choreographers are able to perform their routines on stage, they must first audition their dances to the Emotion board. At the beginning of each semester, choreographers prepare 30 seconds of a dance that they would like to perform in the show.
“I love that Emotion gives students the opportunity to choreograph and learn all the work and creativity that goes into a three-or four-minute dance, and [then] get to do it with such talented and hard-working dancers,” Kat Momenzadeh said.
The board then chooses which dances they prefer. After a dance has been chosen, students may audition for dances and practice all semester. At the mid-semester showing, each dance is performed. The board then decides the order of dances for the show and cuts dances that are not up to par.
Once dancers are chosen for a particular routine, they attend hour-and-a-half-long practices once a week, totaling more than 25 hours per semester. Although the practice time adds up, junior and vice president of Emotion Cristen Minori “loves learning the dances and being with my friends at practices. It’s also great exercise.”
For choreographers, such as the Momenzadehs, the time spent in the dance studio accumulates quickly. “We put a lot of time behind each dance. This semester we probably spent three or more hours each week choreographing outside of our designated studio time,” Megan Momenzadeh said. “Since we were both student teaching, those three hours were all we had to quickly choreograph everything we needed for that week’s classes.”
“That doesn’t include the time teaching it, and then having additional time to practice different lifts and tricks that we want to learn,” Kat Momenzadeh added.
Even though it is a large time commitment for the dancers, board members and choreographers, it’s worth it.
“I think it’s a great way to get involved, meet people, and do something you love,” first-year Emalee Hartman said.
For Megan Momenzadeh, each semester is a new chance to shine. “I love being able to choreograph different dances and challenge myself to always do a step above the last piece,” she said.
Kat Momenzadeh agrees with her sister and thinks Emotion has prepared her for a future in dance.
“It’s great to be able to see how much we’ve grown as dancers and choreographers over the last four years through Emotion,” she said.“I feel like we know enough at this point to be able to move on and choreograph for other studios.”
The dancers’ commitment is key when it comes to show week. “Show week is crazy,” Minori said. “We spend many nights in Leffler Chapel doing lighting, tech and dress rehearsal, and the actual show.”
For the president of Emotion, junior Kortni Smith, show week is the most exciting part of the process.
“This is when everything really comes together and everyone starts to get anxious four our show,” she said. “We get to run through everything completely with lighting and costumes for the first time.”
In addition to rehearsals, the Emotion board must also ensure that everyone has costumes and pays their dues for the year. The board also advertises the show and sells tickets both in advance and at the door.
Not only does the board take care of the nuts and bolts, but they must also put the finishing touches on their routines.
“We have to arrive early on show week to Leffler along with continuing to have dance rehearsals until Wednesday night of show week,” Minori said.
All the time and effort is sure to pay off. One of the Momenzadehs’ two dances, “Shoots and Ladders” by Korn, is certain to get a reaction. It’s “sort of a creepy circus dance to nursery rhymes,” Kat said.
The opening dance,“Glee,” was choreographed by juniors Lauren Ott and Nathan Shughart.
“It’s great to have choreographed the opening number. We were both so excited when we heard ‘Glee’ is going to open the first act,” Ott said. “It’s always so much fun to get the audience excited for the rest of the show.”
After all the time and effort Shughart and Ott put into the show, the best part was “watching it come together piece by piece and knowing all the time we put into it was worth it,” Ott said. “It’s very rewarding. Plus, the guys in the dance were always so funny and kept our rehearsals entertaining!”
Like the Momenzadehs, Ott and Shughart spent much of their time in the studio.
“I choreographed two dances this semester, so I felt like I was always either in the studio or wherever else we could find space to choreograph,” Ott said. “It usually takes about an hour to come up with 30 seconds of solid choreography, and even then we usually end up changing it.”
Even though one would think that all the time Emotion requires would strain the dancers, for Ott, it’s the opposite.
“The thing that’s so great about dancing is that it really relieves my stress from school,” she said. “When I have a lot of schoolwork to get done and I feel overwhelmed, I can always just go dance for half an hour, and I feel so much better.”
After all the time, sweat and practice the dancers have put in, this year’s spring show is sure to be a good one. “It’s all worth it in the end because we put on great shows every semester that people enjoy,” Minori said.
For another perspective, see “Emotion” on page 12 of the opinion section.
The Etownian >> Campus Life