Students are prepared to dance the night away at the Spring Dance Concert: Kaleidoscopes. Attendees can expect versatile dancing styles — from tap dancing to hip-hop to ballet and Bollywood.
This year, the program will feature “Kaleidoscopes” as its main theme. Even though this optical instrument isn’t specifically being used in the dances, the overall message portrayed is individual parts piecing together to become one whole entertaining showcase.
“If you look in a kaleidoscope, you see all these different colors, and that’s kind of what it is,” choreographer and biological sciences junior Misty Moyle said. “It’s all these different types of dance and genres of dance put together to create this beautiful event.”
The event is about having fun and using the opportunity to dance on stage as a means of artistic expression and a creative outlet, Moyle said.
“The expectation for me is to have fun, for my dancers to have fun, to try something new and to learn,” Moyle said. “As a choreographer and a dancer, this is a great Learn By Doing opportunity. It’s not every day that someone gets to run around directing people and have the experience.”
This experience parallels Cal Poly’s Learn By Doing motto: the entire show is student-run. Rachel Saalsaa, director and social sciences senior, said she believes this is a perfect example of what the university is all about.
“This (dance concert) is exactly it,” Saalsaa said. “The whole show is student-run, especially the choreography. If you want to be a part of the dancing world, you got to start somewhere. It’s because we have shows like these that give people the opportunity to choreograph and start here.”
Some dancers are grateful for the chance to be a part of the concert and are making their premiere at the Spring Dance show.
Prior to the show, dairy science sophomore Rachel Souerbry had never been in a dance show.
“It’s definitely something different for me,” Souerbry said. “It’s really helped me be more confident in myself and help me physically get into shape.”
Souerbry said the audience can expect to see a lot of “sexiness, sass and theatrics” — a mixture of the different types of choreography that students create.
“This show comes together based on who choreographs and what they decide to do,” Saalsaa said. “The ideas and the people change (yearly). This year, we have a lot of really good dancers — the fact that we have point dancing is a big deal.”
Saalsaa, who started dancing at age 5, said this show is a “hodgepodge” of dance styles and likes the idea of having a mixture.
“We try to stress that we have all kinds of different levels, different styles and different choreography,” Saalsaa said. “It’s got lots of high energy dances (such as) hip-hop and classic ballet. We’ve got a good variety of dance styles.”
Various dance styles can be seen through art and design senior Amber Thompson, who choreographed a street tap dance and a “flirty” jazz piece. Being a part of this show has been the most rewarding experience, she said.
“This is my favorite part about Cal Poly: the spring show,” Thompson said. “The opportunity to get together and dance and do what you love most. I feel like most of us don’t have that opportunity. Most of the years, we’re focused on our majors and (schoolwork).”
But being involved in schoolwork hasn’t stopped her from dancing.
“For me, it’s an outlet,” Thompson said. “I’m a very creative person, and I like being able to create something with my own body.”
Tickets for the Spring Dance Concert are $5. The event is assigned seating and scheduled for May 26 and 27 at the Spanos Theatre. The show starts at 8 p.m.
Editor’s note: Check out mustangdaily.net for a video about Kaleidoscopes.