'We Got The Beat'

The entrance of Goldstein Auditorium was decorated with balloons in the shape of boom boxes in preparation for the '80s themed DanceWorks performance "We Got the Beat." As audience members took their seats, the buzz inside the auditorium calmed down as everyone waited for the show to start.

Lights embraced the stage, music started to play and with each dancer’s movement the smell of their hairspray filled the auditorium.

Photo: Julia Olteanu

The dancers give thanks to the production crew and audience.

This year’s DanceWorks performance was met with thunderous applause and cheers between each dance and once again at curtain call.

Choreographers and dancers had been working since October to prepare for the 29^th annual DanceWorks show, performed on Feb. 20 and 21. With about three months of rehearsals and 88 dancers to coordinate, co-director Brianna Peach felt proud of the show.

“Creating the show was such a rewarding process and I was so honored to get the opportunity," she said. "It was a lot of hard work and it took a lot of time and effort from myself and the rest of our board, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way."

The auditorium was packed with proud parents, family members, and friends of the dancers. Throughout the performance, audience members would constantly call out dancers by name to show their support.

One student said to her friend sitting beside her, “she looks so happy,” describing one of the performers onstage in the first dance called “80s Mega Mix.”

“I’m always super amazed,” Fatima Faisal, a newspaper and online journalism senior said.  

Faisal came to the performance to support dancer and friend Caroline Koller.

“She’s been working super hard and it’s great to see her kill it out there,” Faisal said. 

High-energy hip-hop dances were intermingled with classic lyrical performances and feisty jazz pieces. The audience cheered along with the high kicking legs, multiple turns and fluid jumps performed by the dancers.

“They’re all really talented. Clearly a lot of work has been put into making the show,” Jessica Pupkin, policy studies and philosophy senior said.

After three months of rehearsals, the dancers met their curtain call smiling from ear to ear. Some even shed tears as they hugged their fellow performers and friends.

“At the end of it all, it was definitely a bitter-sweet feeling," Peach said. "I could not be more proud of the cast and how the show came out. I will miss DanceWorks so much after I graduate."