MAGGIE GILROY
Editor in Chief
Many dancers train for years in order to become masters of their craft. However, Sunday’s Dancing with the Athletes event demonstrated that a dancer can be formed in just a couple of short weeks.
Organized by the Student Dance Organization, the good-natured competition brought student athletes and dancers together to raise money for Moving Miracles. The non-profit organization is owned by Sheila Dolas, who described the organization as a “therapeutic dance program for individuals with developmental disabilities and special needs.”
The competition took place in the Williams Center MPR and was hosted by emcees Mark Diven and Kate Armstrong. Though fresh from their BFA acting recitals the previous day, Diven insisted they were BFA dance majors. This was followed by a comedic improvised dance that demonstrated they that were not, in fact, dancers.
This lighthearted tone shifted to a more serious note when Dolas spoke about the organization and screened a documentary that included testimonies of people who have been impacted by the organization. Dolas also informed the audience that last year’s Dancing with the Athletes raised enough money to provide a full scholarship for a nine-month dance season for one individual.
After Dolas’ presentation, the competition began. Each dancer, paired with an athlete from a sports team on campus, performed for a panel of judges. Judges included President Virginia Horvath, Athletic Director Greg Prechtl and Dolas. Judges were instructed to judge each act based on the categories of appearance, showmanship, precision and overall presentation.
Competitors included Kaitlyn Corssan (softball player) and Chris Victor (dancer) performing contemporary hip hop, Kara Hall (track team member) and Harley Branning (dancer) in lyrical, Izzy Simon and Jaqlyn Colangelo in pantomime, Rob Lysles (basketball player) and Katie Straub (dancer) in ballet, Aldyn Carlson (softball player) and Bianca Dam (dancer) in jazz, Olivia Kurbs (track team member) and Adam Ali (dancer) in salsa, Katie Devine (basketball player) and Breanna Sanford (dancer) in ballet, Rebekah Champlin (track team member) and Alaina Pappas in contemporary jazz and Kaylyn Billups and Jordan Fischer in a Broadway style piece.
After each performance Diven and Armstrong interviewed each athlete, inquiring about their past dance experience and notable parts of each number. While only a couple athletes had prior experience in dance, all athletes put a considerable amount of effort into each performance.
After the final number, audience members were encouraged to vote on their favorite dancer for the “people’s choice” award. As the scores were tallied Envied Xpression, Fredonia’s first Hip Hop group, and jazz a capella group Dynamic Intonation performed for the audience.
Awards were given to the top three performances. Armstrong and Diven announced the three awards: third place given to Lyles and Straub, second to Billups and Fischer and first to Kurbs and Ali. Kurbs and Ali also took home the “people’s choice” award.
When asked how it felt to win the competition in an interview following the competition, Kurb replied “pretty nice.”
“I worked really hard for it and it feels great,” Kurbs said. Kurbs, a junior exercise science and sports management major, also explained that she and Ali only began practicing five days prior to the competition, practicing for two hours each day.
Kurbs is currently on a hip hop team on campus; however she did not have any experience performing salsa. Following the competition, she planned to pursue dance as a hobby.
Student Dance Organization president Noelle Lazor was happy with the turnout.
“Our goal was to raise as much money as possible and our crowd was a lot bigger than we are expecting, which is really exciting,” Lazor, a senior dance major, said.
This year, organizers allowed dancers and athletes to have a dress rehearsal prior to the competition. Lazor and vice president Courtney Stewart, also a senior dance major, explained that the dress rehearsal helped the competition to run much smoother.
“It went by smoothly, to organize it all,” Stewart said, “and it came together even better than expected.”