Things to do This Weekend: DanceWorks Concert

- By Ashley Ricks, Staff Writer -

Imagine a weekend full of nothing but dance! Lucky for Meredith students, a weekend full of dance is a reality during the weekend of April 27. From April 27-29, Meredith’s own dance department is having its annual concert showcasing students’ dance skills. DanceWorks occurs every spring semester, and involves students creating their own choreography and then teaching it to other students. At the end of the semester, everyone involved in DanceWorks performs in front of friends and family to show off their hard work. This year, the concert will be performed in Jones Auditorium and will start on Friday at 7:30 p.m., and will continue on Saturday at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. There will also be a DanceWorks show at 3 p.m. on Sunday, and the gala will be at 7:30 p.m.. The gala consists of the dances the judges enjoyed watching the most from the past three days. There is no specific dance style that is featured during the weekend; audience members will see works of ballet, modern, tap, lyrical, hip-hop, and more.

Anyone is able to join DanceWorks, and no dance experience is needed. There is one day of auditions, and everyone who attends the audition is guaranteed a spot in a dance. Students who are choreographing pick who they want to be in their dances. Macy Messer, a junior at Meredith, who helped choreograph a dance for this year’s showcase, will have her dance be the opening number on the first night’s showcase. Messer describes co-choreographing a dance as “the feeling of watching something you once saw in your mind, watching it come to life over the course of three months, and having someone you love so much do it with you, that feeling is just, it’s indescribable!” DanceWorks provides students with many benefits which are different for every dancer that participates in the program. Messer believes the best part of DanceWorks is “the friendship(s) I gained in the process of it all!” Messer even met her current roommate during DanceWorks last year. Messer will be performing her dance, which is a mix of contemporary and modern, on April 27 at 7:30 p.m., or April 28 at 3:30 p.m. Each DanceWorks showcase is free, and Messer declares “it’s going to be epic and you’re not going to want to miss it.”