ALEXIS FORES
Special to The Leader
“And first place goes to … Abby Sullivan and Marcus Moles for their jazz routine!” said Jordan Louis Fischer, host.
Ballet, salsa and twerking took the center stage as students gathered in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Williams Center on Sunday, Nov. 17 to watch the Student Dance Organization present the “Dancing with the Athletes” competition.
The competition was modeled after the television competition, “Dancing with the Stars.” It consisted of pairing 12 SUNY Fredonia student athletes with 12 Fredonia student dance majors in which they performed various styles of dance. The proceeds from ticket sales went to Moving Miracles, a non-profit organization that provides dance programs for individuals with special needs.
Dancers were critiqued by three judges from various backgrounds: Fredonia dance professor Angelika Summerton, Fredonia Director of Athletics Greg Prechtl and Fredonia BFA dance alumnus Joe Corallo.Although the event was mainly a competition, the judges did not want to focus on critiquing technique but more of various other elements such has having fun, eye contact and engagement with the audience.
“For a competition like this, we can’t really judge based off of technique but more if you’re having fun,” said Dancing with the Athletes judge Geoff Braun.
The styles of dance that were performed during the event included salsa, ballet, jazz, hip-hop, tap, vogue and Bollywood. It was also noted that each dance was choreographed/created by the 12 competition dancers.
After all of the 12 performances were finished, each audience member was given a slip of paper to vote for their favorite pair for the “People’s Choice” award. The award, which was given after the announcement of the top three winners, was awarded to dancer Katie Straub and hockey player Tyler Matecki for their ballet routine.
“It must have been the tights,” said Fischer to the crowd.
As the crowd awaited the judges’ decision to pick the top three winners, Fredonia a cappella group Premium Blend performed various hits from the artists Maroon 5 and B.O.B. Following their performance, Fredonia hip-hop dance group Envied Xpression danced around the entire stage to songs from artists such as Rihanna and Ciara.
Once the performances were finished, Fischer and McCasland announced the top three places. Third place went to a swing dance routine performed by dancer Steve Russell and track athlete Alissa Conti; second place for the Bollywood dance routine performed by dancer Hope Feldman and hockey player Chad Bennett; and first place went to jazz dance routine performed by dancer Abby Sullivan and hockey player Marcus Moles.
The event opened up with the two hosts of the show, Fischer and Ana McCasland, who shared some opening jokes.
“We weren’t given much funny material, so you just have to deal with what we have,” said Fischer to the crowd.
“Let’s just point out the people who refuse to donate to charity and watching from the windows,” said McCasland pointedly, busting the people from behind the William Center glass — who didn’t pay for tickets.
The student-run group had even made signs to put on every window surrounding the Multi-Purpose Room for people who did not purchase a ticket for the event, in which the host pointed out to the audience.
As the crowd awaited the performances from the dancers, they were given a brief presentation about Moving Miracles, which was then followed by a short clip about the organization.
Although the event was a competition, the true winner was the amount of money raised for Moving Miracles which received almost $500.