This past weekend, 85 students filled the rooms of the Edison Building. Each with a number pinned to their clothing, they began stretching and warming up for auditions. Some wore sweats and t-shirts, while others in leotards and tights. Auditions for the University of Tampa’s Dance Happening were about to start.
“The wonderful thing about the student Dance Happening is that anyone is welcome and eligible to audition,” said Susannah LeMarquand, an adjunct dance professor at UT who is in charge of Dance Happening this semester.
She also stated that people from various dance backgrounds tryout. They could have years of experience or none at all; any student is invited to participate. “We want anyone who loves to dance to be involved and be able to experience their love of dance through a performance outlet,” said LeMarquand.
Dance Happening is a UT event that began in the 1990’s and happens twice a year; in the fall and spring. This event is sponsored by the Department of Speech, Theater, and Dance. The first half of the performance will take place in Falk Theatre. There will then be a brief intermission for the audience to walk over to the Plant Hall Verandah for the remainder of the show.
The whole program is choreographed by students and alumns who have danced in past Dance Happenings. There are 15 student choreographers this year with only two returning. Jazz, hip hop, modern, lyrical, and tap routines are rehearsed twice a week until the performance.
Sarah deOliveira, one of the student choreographers was helping sign-in the dancers along with Rhiannon Crawford, a first-time choreographer. When asked how many students are picked after auditions are over, Crawford said that almost all dancers either make it or are understudies.
“I’m helping train the new choreographers,” said Meagan Nagy, an alumna choreographer. All of the student choreographers introduced themselves and explained the pieces they will choreograph.
Mikey Hupp and Jana Huebner both auditioned for the Fall Dance Happening. Hupp, a junior Biology/Education major, said that she wasn’t nervous. She has 17 years of a dancing background and this is her fifth show.
Huebner, a junior Marine Biology major, described her nerves as minimal. “I decided to try out for Dance Happening after I saw it and it looked like fun,” she said.
While these two students have previously performed in Dance Happening, some were at the auditions trying out for the first time. Approximately a quarter of the dancers there were first-timers. One of these hopefuls was Gabrielle Randazzo, a freshman Allied Health major with a potential dance minor. Having danced since she was three-years-old, she was not nervous. She had heard about auditions in her dance class and decided to give it a try.
The audition itself consisted of several parts. The first was a simple “across the floor” routine. This is where the dancers got to show the choreographers exactly what they were made of. This consisted of simple tasks such as a “sassy walk” along with more advanced moves for the seasoned dancers. They formed lines and danced across the floor. After this was accomplished, each choreographer gave a combo pertaining to their specific dance. There were modern, jazz, tap, and hip-hop combos, since all of these genres will be represented in the show.
Each combo had specific moves and emotions relating to that particular medium. For example, the jazz combo had crisp and sexy moves to it, while the modern was more about emotion and flow.
The cast lists were posted on the Edison Building’s door on Sept. 4, and excited the casted dancers who will have the opportunity to perform this semester.
Fall Dance Happening will take place this year from Wednesday Oct. 26 through Saturday Oct. 29 and will start at 8 p.m. in Falk Theatre.
Laurel Sanchez can be reached at lsanchez@spartans.ut.edu.