From belly dancing and flamenco to waltz and Samba , the Ballroom, Latin and Swing Thing group will take on an international theme in its annual spring show this Friday and Saturday in McCormick Auditorium.
Jennifer Ahoni, the show’s director, came up with the theme “Where the #$@%! is BLAST?”
“The entire world is united by dance as a form of self-expression, and I wanted to do a dance show that showcased that,” the McCormick senior said.
About 13 choreographers incorporated the international theme into 18 different theatrical dance pieces, from Argentine tango to Polynesian dance. One piece about a night in Paris features the men as lost tourists who are seduced by women that teach them how to dance Bachata, a Latin dance, Ahoni said.
With 85 cast members, a record number of dancers will be performing compared to past BLAST shows, said President Kristin Agüero. Evanston community members are also part of the cast, and Agüero attributed the increase to the growing popularity of ballroom dancing.
“Especially now with shows like Dancing with the Stars, social dance is becoming really cool,” the Weinberg junior said. “The show is a way for students to see that it doesn’t have to just be Drew Lachey dancing, that they can learn it too.”
Communication sophomore Trina McGee, the show’s producer, said BLAST shows offer a unique experience for audiences.
“It’s not like one of those shows where you sit and watch and clap at the end,” McGee said. “We very much encourage our audiences to get into the story and to yell and shout and scream out in the middle of the pieces.”
BLAST is comprised of a performance team and a competition team, and this year’s show marks the first time a piece is devoted entirely to the competition team to encourage the integration of the two teams, said Communication junior Greg McKenna, competition team co-captain.
McKenna said he hopes the show will debunk students’s stereotypes of ballroom dancing.
“People hear ballroom dancing, and they think it’s all fancy people in tuxedos dancing around in crystal ballrooms or stuffy people who don’t know how to have a good time,” McKenna said. “There’s actually a lot of hip-hop and elements from other stuff that we use, and it can be really fun.”
Ahoni said students can see dance styles that are not commonly showcased on campus.
“(NU) has several hip-hop groups, several groups that do jazz pieces, but we don’t have any groups that really do ballroom and Latin dancing,” Ahoni said. “This is going to be an entirely new experience. We spent an entire year working on the show, so we really think it’s going to be excellent.”
The performances will start at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., and tickets cost $5 for students, $10 for general admission.
