You can MIDDance if you want to...

Author: Sixiao Huo

Though it was cold and rainy outside, MIDDance's spring performance heated up McCullough Social Space on Saturday night. A standing-room-only crowd cheered, laughed and shimmied in the aisles to the program's 19 pieces, unified under the theme "Old Skool." By the final curtain at 9:30 p.m., dancers and audience alike were tired yet smiling from the show's contagious energy.

The performance opened with a troupe of 10 middle schoolers starring in "Roc Ya Body." Though they were certainly enthusiastic, the youngsters have a ways to go if they want to someday emulate the performances that followed. Attracting support from Middlebury residents was a major goal of the program, according to MIDDance tri-president Tina Velez '05. "We wanted to make it a family show," she said. Including younger members of the community encouraged friends and parents to attend, filling the audience with fans of all ages. In total, 290 tickets were sold. Skip Branch '06, one of the event's MCs, also touted the show's charitable contributions, noting that proceeds from the show went to Equality Now, an international women's rights organization.

The rest of the show embodied the group's mission statement, which reads, "We, the students of MIDDance, promise to dance our hearts out and enjoy performing at all levels." The roster covered a variety of dances from countries around the world. Genres such as ballet, tap dancing, a "South Asian Invasion" and plenty of hip-hop ran the gamut of styles. The show's musical choices were also wide-ranging, spanning artists from Elton John to 50 Cent. Ross Commons CRA and avid fan Michelle Rey lauded the program's diversity. "I liked that they covered lots of nationalities," she said. First-time attendees also enjoyed the show. Evan Leitch '06 admitted that he "had no idea Middlebury had such a vibrant dance community."

One of the performance's many highlights was a step-for-step reenactment of the final scene from Dirty Dancing. With Bill Medley's "The Time of My Life" blasting over the sound system, Asher Burns-Burg '05.5 and Cyn Hernandez '05 became Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, respectively. Nobody put Baby in the corner as the pair spun and shook to the delight of the crowd. And yes, they even nailed the lift.

Another fan favorite was "Back to the 80's," choreographed by Julie Rankin '05. Serving as the gym class embodiment of the "Old Skool" theme, the piece included 13 performers clad mostly in tight fitting neon garb. Headbands and belly shirts for the male dancers completed the authentic look as the group gyrated to a Romanian techno beat. "The most important part was that the people on stage were having fun," quipped Rankin, noting that she also wanted to do "something people could laugh at."

Indeed, it was difficult to tell whether the audience or the dancers enjoyed themselves more. The crowd roared during the entire show, often cheering for favorite dancers by name. For their part, many of the performers sported grins for the duration of their time on stage. Having fun is one of the pillars of MIDDance - the group does not hold tryouts and many of its members had never even danced in front of an audience before. "I wanted it to be informal," remarked Rankin. Her group rehearsed for only an hour each week until doubling practice time as the performance approached, and the entire production was not rehearsed until one week in advance. But the polished moves that filled the stage on Saturday suggested much more rigorous preparation. One of the show's few blemishes was a near drop during a particularly difficult Midd Cheer maneuver, but the tumbler in question arose unscathed and the group finished the dance with plenty of good cheer.

This was the first year MIDDance received funding to promote the event. Velez suggested that the promotion and costumes that financial support made possible led to "one of the best shows we've produced." Everyone involved agreed with that assessment, and Middlebury's dance aficionados are primed for yet another lively performance when Riddim's spring show takes the stage this Friday. Like MIDDance's "Old Skool," it is sure to be a smash hit.