From March 22 – 24 Geneseo dancers took the stage for this semester’s Orchesis Spring Showcase, presenting a solid variety in the dance groups including some who definitely brought the “wow” factor. Considering anyone can join Orchesis regardless of previous dance experience, it’s no surprise over 200 students have joined in to create one of the largest student-run organizations on campus.
Junior Katy Gerber, one of the choreographers, offered insight into the preparation that goes into each show. “After we have our dancers we get a very limited time to rehearse,” she said. “Our group had five or six formal rehearsals so we had to practice a lot off-stage.” Despite the time constraint Gerber said she was very proud of her dancers’ accomplishments.
All of that hard work paid off on opening night, as Gerber’s group, co-choreographed by Junior Jessica Maslyn, was one of the show’s top performances. “Closer” focused on showcasing one’s individuality while still maintaining the cohesion of the group.
Other highlights of the performance included the eclectic “Live Free or Dance Hard,” Irish dance performance “Congress Reel,” and hip-hop performance “So Dope.”
There were also stand-out guest performances by Knightline, Sláinte Irish Dancers, and the Geneseo Ballroom Dance Club. The Geneseo Bhangra team gave an outstanding performance with a less familiar style of dance. Energetic and well-executed, Bhangra was the talk of the show.
Even with such great performances there were noticeable lows in the night’s performances. One routine featured an empty stage in the middle of the routine for about five seconds. This choreography choice was very confusing to watch and the impact of each dancer re-entering the stage was deflated by it.
Also, several of the dancers in the back rows seemed to forget that the audience could still see them. At times, dancers watching their peers in order to keep up with the routine detracted from the performance.
Remembering Orchesis has an open-invitation to all potential dancers, it shouldn’t be a surprise there was such a variance between the highs and lows. In fact, the final performance of the show in which every single performer got on stage for a massive dance-party was a perfect conclusion to a night where anyone who wanted to dance was included in a fun performance.