Mia Ciechalski
Life and Arts Editor
Orchesis “Escape Into The Music” show program. Photo by MIA CIECHALSKI | Life & Arts Editor
With it being the end of the semester, it’s time for Orchesis Dance Company’s final showcase of the year.
The dance group’s performance took place in James and Marcia Merrins Dance Theatre during the weekend of April 24-26, with a total of four performances.
The spring showcase was titled “Escape Into The Music,” and you could tell with each piece featured that each dancer was escaping into the music.
As always, many of the pieces in the final performance of the year for this club consist of upbeat and fun numbers while also featuring sentimental final farewells.
The show always starts with the full cast doing their traditional cast piece to help set the mood and to help get the audience hyped up and ready.
Orchesis always tries to do a different song for each showcase for their cast piece, and this year they did “Don’t Stop The Music” by Rihanna.
Every cast piece they perform always encapsulates all the excitement the dancers are feeling right when you see them step on stage.
Another tradition that appears at the beginning of the show is the Orchesis Executive Board piece.
This piece is only performed in the spring showcase as a way for the current E-Board to say goodbye and a thank you to everyone they got to work and interact with.
Throughout this piece, the emotions of current E-Board members were on display.
It was everyone’s last time getting to dance together.
After all of the introduction numbers were performed, it was time for all of the pieces that were submitted and picked to be in the spring showcase.
The first piece the audience got to see was “Falling Up,” choreographed by Ella Leathersich.
This piece showcased that no matter how much passion you have for something, it still isn’t enough to get you ahead; while you see everyone else moving forward, you are falling up.
The audience then watched a fun and sexy number titled “Don’t Hold The Wall,” choreographed by Johnny Kiener and Isabel Pino Luz.
There were multiple solo parts throughout the dance where each dancer got their own personal moment to shine, while also having many integral group moments as well.
They then moved on to a number called “Hayloft,” choreographed by Mia Enders.
This piece was about a heartbroken daughter who gets her revenge.
While watching this piece, you could definitely see some of that story coming out because of all of the dancers’ facial expressions and from some of the intense movement choices.
After taking the audience through an intense storytelling number, they watched a simple and fun number called “Boogie Oogie Oogie,” choreographed by Deanna Jolley.
This dance was about how much joy movement brings, and while getting the chance to watch this, you could tell that the choreographer who created this piece was definitely feeling all the enjoyment from when a person gets the opportunity to dance.
The audience then got to see one of the show’s first sentimental numbers, and it was “My Way,” choreographed by Valentina Duic, Lily Parzymieso and Kenzie Phelps.
This piece was the choreographers’ way of ending a chapter and showing the audience that they did their college experience their way and are happy with how everything turned out.
Afterwards, there was another sentimental number, but this one was a representation of the choreographers’ three years of teaching at McKenna Academy of Dance.
The piece was called “Creating A Path To Their Future,” choreographed by Sydney Hall, Sophia Holmes, Sarah Howard and Julia VanLare.
During the piece, you didn’t just hear only one track of music playing, but voice recordings of all of the choreographers’ students they have taught at McKenna Academy of Dance, thanking all of the choreographers for teaching them.
The last piece to end the first act of the show was “Can You Feel The Light,” choreographed by Aaliyah Freeman.
This was a great choice to end the first act of the show because it had a big cast, multiple different focal points throughout the piece and an upbeat song.
The second act of the show began with a piece that was about growth and how it is a continuous process that can be imperfect, but it is something that helps shape people.
This piece was titled “Just A Little Bit More,” choreographed by Tessa Bonanno.
Afterwards, the audience was then introduced to another upbeat and sultry piece called “Welcome to Burlesque,” choreographed by Bobby Severs.
This was a very dynamic piece that also had a lot of unique solo moments for each dancer, while also having complex choreography throughout the whole piece.
The show then moved on to “Bury A Friend,” choreographed by Kaitlyn Howard.
This piece had many full body movements, which felt as if the dancers were being possessed by some unknown entity at different points of the dance.
The next dance was yet another upbeat piece that featured two very popular Lady Gaga songs called “Lights, Camera, Action!” choreographed by Nichole Iacuzzo.
This dance was a moment for the choreographer to let her full creativity shine through, and throughout certain parts of the dance, the audience did get the chance to see some different material that you don’t normally see.
After getting to see a fun dance to the one and only Lady Gaga, the audience was then shown another farewell and thank you dance.
This piece was called “It’s Over,” choreographed by Jordan Koelemeyer.
After having the audience experience all of the sentimental feelings, the audience then got to see a piece where there was a whole lot of everything happening during the piece “Once Dead, Twice Alive,” choreographed by Maya Simonetti.
There were many silly moments throughout this dance, such as having one of the dancers do the worm across the stage and very expressive faces.
Then the final piece in the spring showcase was “After Hours,” choreographed by Ava Sargente.
This piece had one of the biggest casts and was full of upbeat hip hop.
The choreographer wanted to try having the theme of the dance to feel as if it were taking place in a nightclub where it focuses on the connection between the music and each other.
This was a great dance to have close the show because not only were all the audience members cheering on all the dancers on stage, but the other dancers who were watching from the wings of the stage were also cheering on their fellow dance mates.
Orchesis Dance Company yet again put together and performed another entertaining show for their audience and dancers to enjoy, and to help encase all the excited energy with the end of the academic year approaching very soon.