Spring Break
Outstanding talent dances through Jorgensen
Dancers' high energy and bright spirits entertain audience and light up stage
Katie Hannafin
Issue date: 4/8/09 Section: Focus
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Some of the money went to benefit "Dancers Responding to AIDS," a fundraising response from the American dance community to help the worldwide health crisis. A raffle also gifted $85 to a lucky winner in the crowd during intermission. Colby Ladd, a 6th-semester accounting major and vice president and co-founder of DanceWorks, has a personal driving force for supporting DRA.
"I've been dancing for 17 years and have been raising money for DRA since I was a little girl, so my heart's in it," Ladd said. "I also knew someone who passed away from AIDS, so [this organization] has always resonated really strongly with me."
The 30 student dancers performed and choreographed the numbers in the show and were joined by a Cappella group A Minor.
Chris Robinson, an 8th-semester human development and family studies major and founder, president and head choreographer of DanceWorks, introduced the group and opened the show. Robinson explained that this is DanceWorks' second year at UConn and expressed how much fun he has had with the group and how proud he is of the progress that has been made.
Audience members were impressed with the performance after learning that they have only been established for two years.
"I'm excited to see so much involvement in an organization that is only in its second year," said Steve Dzikiewicz, a 4th-semester political science and history double major. "It proves that, if you put your heart into something, anything is possible."
Most of the songs used for the performances were very modern, and the array of genres really encapsulated all of the multiple talents of the dancers. Dances ranged from hip-hop and ballet to jazz and tap with a lot of interpretive dance in between.
Despite several technical difficulties and overly long breaks between numbers, the interesting line-up and vibrant colors as well as the dancers' high energy and spirits kept the attention of the audience. The dances were all very fluid for the most part, aside from a couple glitches and some confusing moments. It really didn't matter if any of the dancers blundered, however, because the unpredictable and untypical routines made the wrong steps nearly impossible to detect.
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