Epic week has kicked-off with an epic night of dance. Tuesday, April 22, three dance groups competed for the chance to win Cabrini’s first ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ Competition. The event took place in the Grace Hall atrium where about 45 students gathered to watch their peers compete.
An epic spruce to the night was an unlimited amount of your choice of ice cream or milkshakes. The refreshing snacks gave the event just enough excitement to attendees with its interesting topping choices such as cherries, rainbow jimmies, m&m’s and oreos.
As students entered the door and had their id’s scanned they received a free raffle ticket, useful for the entire night. The raffle tickets gave students a chance to win free ‘Epic week’ t-shirts.
The evening began at 8 p.m. with musical entertainment by MC, Gary Johnson. He took music request throughout the entire event via text message by providing audience members with his cell phone number. He sung fan favorites such as ‘Never ever getting back together’, ‘Bye Bye Bye’, ‘Wrecking Ball’, ‘Do You Want To Build A Snowman (from Frozen)’ and many more.
“I like that he played a Taylor Swift song,” Assistant sociology professor, Dr. Owen said. “If I had to express myself in a song it would be a Taylor Swift song.”
After a few songs by Johnson, the night opened with a lyrical routine by Courtney Hanson and Amie Roetz. The song was to a cover of David Guetta’s ‘Titanium.” “We really love cover songs,” Roetz said. That was part of the reason they chose the song to dance to. But there was a deeper story behind why the ladies decided on that particular song. “The lyrics are really strong and explains what we have dealt with in our lives,” Hanson said.
The ladies wore red lyrical styled dance dresses to add a little touch to their routine.
As the event moved along Johnson entertained the attendees with more music going from playing the piano to his guitar. Being very interactive with the audience, it was no doubt that he was a crowd favorite.
Changing up the mood of the night was the Cavalier Contemporary Dance team. With six dancers they proudly strutted to the stage with their various-colored sequenced tops. As the music began audience members lit up to the familiar tune. The ladies performed a musical dance routine to the classic ‘You Can’t Stop the Beat’ from ‘Hairspray’.
Following the bright routine from the Contemporary Dance team, Johnson took the stage again interacting with the audience. Johnson helped the event with smooth transitions in between each group to keep things lively.
The third and final group of the evening was the familiar faces of the Cabrini College Dance Team. Though not all members were present, they gave a show-stopping hip-hop performance. The group performed a remix Beyoncé collaboration featuring popular songs: ‘Crazy in love’, ‘Single Ladies’, ‘Get me Bodied’ and ‘Freakum Dress’.
After such outstanding performances it was left in the hands of the judges. The judges included 2013 Miss Cabrini Jennarose DiGiacomo, Dr. Owen, English professor Dr. Filling-Brown, and dance team choreographer/coach Jacqueline Marciano.
“The performers had great technique, energy and stage presence,” Filling-Brown said. Dr. Filling-Brown has prior dance history and is currently the choreographer for the Cabrini College Theater.
The judges seemed to have nothing but positive things to say about the overwhelmingly great talent. “It was very nice to see that each group offered something different,” Marciano said. “I really liked the variety.”
While the judges tallied up their scores, the audience had the opportunity to pick their favorite of the night. Johnson offered his final selections of the evening, as the voting continued.
The event ended with all three groups on the stage to announce and crown the winners of the night’s show. The Cavalier Dance Company won crowd favorite with their musical classic.
The overall winners of the night were Roetz and Hanson. “We are really excited because we didn’t know that we would win,” Roetz said. As they took their picture and the crowd cheered you could see the shock on their faces.
“We chose lyrical because it is something we are both good at,” Roetz said. Both ladies entered the competition just to share their love for dance. But they walked away showing their peers that they have talent and with a gift from Cap Board.
