Dancehibition 2019

By Anh Do

On Wednesday May 8^th, on the Santa Fe campus, we had a beautiful showcase of students’ dance performances called Dancehibition, which aimed to celebrate cultural diversity and the art of movement. This year we had a total of ten performances by both US domestic students and international students from Nepal, Vietnam, South Korea, Nigeria and the Philippines. There were a variety of dance genres, ranging from ballet, jazz, and lyrical dance to Nepalese dance, urban and hip hop.

As Johnnies, we do have a busy schedule, and especially at this time of year when the last classes are in session and end-of-term papers are assigned. It was not easy to find time for practicing, and a lot of us in fact only started rehearsing a few days, one day or even half a day before the show! Many of us felt anxious and stressed out because we all wanted to put on a great show with such little free time and much schoolwork. But all the hard work and emotional turbulence were so worth it as they culminated in a beautiful and memorable show. Each of us felt the adrenaline rush from performing live and being one with the music on stage. We watched each other perform, gave each other feedback at the pre-show stage rehearsals and cheered for our Johnnie dancers both behind and on the stage. By the end of the whole experience, we laughed at our own pre-show nervousness and little mistakes on stage, only to relish in the fact that we put a lot of hard work and passion into making Dancehibition happen, and that what in the end really matters was that we all had fun!

Here are some photos from the dance showcase:

If Plato thinks the body is just a cage entrapping the soul, restricting it from the higher plain of divinity, well then I guess he never knew the power of dance or just never took it very seriously. Yet all jokes aside, I really believe that dancing is incredibly liberating. One dances because it is fun, emotional, experimental but also oddly disciplinary, spontaneous while simultaneously intentional. Dancing is a hybrid of seemingly contradicting characteristics, but that is precisely what makes it so addictive once you two grow some kind of bond.