(Angelina Dohre/Staff Photographer)
SHENECA SHARPE
Staff Writer
Who knew that prancing could be so much fun?
The Prancing Devils, a dance group new to campus this year, held its first annual Prance-a-thon on April 7 in the MPR showcasing flips, tricks and sparkly outfits. For the last six months The Prancing Devils put blood, sweat and tears into creating choreography that would wow the crowd, and they definitely did.
“Being that we started in October, we didn’t really have time to plan a whole event by the time Fall semester was over. I had spoken to the e-board about possibly doing a cabaret style show but they insisted in a showcase where we just perform with another group as a feature, and I was on board with the idea,” said Assata Alston, a sophomore business management major and president of The Prancing Devils.
The feature group that was involved was “Blue Ice,” Fredonia’s very own step team. There were multiple performances that spanned across many genres, from high energy to somber and calm. The performances gave good range on The Prancing Devils’ level of skill that they had built up throughout the six months of practice. An interesting element was that some of the performances were choreographed by some of the dancers.
“When we told them they had to choreograph there was some excitement and some … well, a little less excitement. When they learn choreography, they seem to get the job done as long as they can understand the material when presented,” said theatre arts major Justin Ruiz, who serves as the group’s secretary. “In order to overcome the humps, we had to ask if they ever needed any clarification on moves and if they felt comfortable with what they were learning. We also had to do one on ones with the girls if they needed help learning the moves.”
Those bumps in the road were certainly not present in the actual performance. The audience seemed to enjoy themselves and even tried to dance along in their seats. When The Prancing Devils took the stage it seemed that nothing could stand in their way and that their moves were second nature. The audience wanted more performances and even encores for some pieces.
As for next year, they plan to become better and stronger since they’ll have more to time to practice and create new choreography
“For next year we plan to branch out more and let people know that we are here! More charity events and more performances. We want everyone to understand what majorette dance is and how it’s important to us as a group. People can definitely expect another Prance-A-Thon in the spring with all new choreography and much more pieces,” said Alston.
“The Prancers are here and we aren’t going anywhere,” said Ruiz.