For two nights, Cahn Auditorium adopted the atmosphere of a concert venue.
Boomshaka, Fusion Dance Company and Refresh Dance Crew took the stage Friday and Saturday for their annual production ReFusionShaka.
Flashing lights cast over 135 performers who danced to student-choreographed jazz and hip-hop combinations. The crowd’s cheers eclipsed the thunderous music during the two-hour show.
Medill graduate student Meredith Zhou attended the Friday show. She sat in the second row, where she watched a Boomshaka drummer in the aisles during the closing number. Zhou said the performance was “a little bit like a movie.”
Like some other attendees, Zhou brought handmade signs. Hers read “Flora Be My Bae” and “Joyce Look At Me” for her friends in Refresh. Zhou said she was inspired by signs fans brought to k-pop concerts.
RFS was different from any of her undergraduate experiences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Zhou said.
“Because I’m a graduate student, it’s giving me the young, vibrant, college vibe,” Zhou said. “Usually graduate students don’t get to experience that part of college in NU.”
Each show featured different guest dance groups. K-pop group NU K-Dance and Bollywood troupe NU Deeva performed Friday. Saturday included contemporary dance group Graffiti Dancers and Latin dance group Dale Duro at 7 p.m., and Bhangra team NU Bhangra and African dance troupe Afrothunda at 10 p.m.
Despite audience praise, Communication senior and RFS President Anna Simmons said working behind the scenes made her nervous at times.
She co-choreographed Boomshaka’s routine to “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl” by Chappell Roan. Simmons said most of the piece came together during tech week, during which rehearsals took place every day leading up to the first show.
Until then, she said she worried whether the resulting number would match her vision.
“My advice to myself is always it’s going to work out because it has to,” Simmons said. “I tell myself that often when I’m producing or things are getting really stressful.”
Simmons said the RFS executive board booked the venue last year. They decided on performance themes this summer, selected sets early September and started rehearsals five weeks ago, she said.
Communication senior Melanie Ahn designed the lighting for Fusion’s opening and closing sets. She said the lighting and sound team members began discussing this year’s show before last year’s ended. They watched choreography videos down to the hundredth of a second to determine which lighting could highlight certain movements.
Ahn said she prioritizes the choreographer’s vision when creating sets.
“At the end of the day, that’s their baby, and they’ve been working on that for so long,” Ahn said. “In addition to wanting to accentuate the choreography, we treat it like a light show, almost.”
This production included 2,486 cues, which Ahn said was about 2,000 more than an average musical production.
Some audience members at the final Saturday show flocked to the orchestra pit during performers’ bows to Charli XCX’s “360.”
Communication junior and Refresh performer Savannah Spring said this crowd stood out to her the most.
“When the crowd is cheering you on, you’re so much less in your head or thinking about little things,” Spring said. “You feel the music and the moment and just have fun.”
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Related Stories:
— Captured: ReFusionShaka brings vibrant energy to Cahn Auditorium
— ReFusionShaka rocks the stage, brings together NU dance community
— ReFusionShaka is back: Fusion, Boomshaka and Refresh to take the stage this weekend
