DanceTech, a Georgia Tech dance company, held their Spring Showcase at the Ferst Center on April 2. The event was a chance for DanceTech to perform new choreography from this semester, as well as a chance to celebrate dance at Tech overall.
Invited groups included Seoulstice, Tekstyles and Impact ATL. Of the performing groups, two, DanceTech and GTDC, are companies that have a number of styles in their repertoire while the others are all hip-hop groups.
The show had 13 dances choreographed by DanceTech. The dances all averaged to a minute; the performances were short. They cut songs to shorter lengths to accommodate the brief choreography routines. A lot of their pieces incorporated red background lighting and black costumes. It seemed to be a favorite as the contrast is quite dramatic. However, the overuse of this powerful combination lessened the emotional impact.
DanceTech had dances that were based in modern, hip-hop, tap and ballet. The stamina and energy the dancers exhibited for the hip hop dances was comparable to some of the other pieces by solely hip-hop groups.
Two of the company’s dances were solos, and while they were done well, did not really stand out. Many of the dances utilized popular songs, such as “Seven Nation World,” “Disturbia” and “Run the World.”
In the show this semester, GTDC had three pieces: modern, ballet and tap. The modern piece was the best dance in the show because it utilized a fast paced tempo that the large number of dancers managed to keep up with. The dance, choreographed by Emily Miller, was set to Coldplay’s “Every Tear Drop is a Waterfall.”
Both GTDC and DanceTech had tap pieces, but sadly, due to the volume of the music, the tapping was not quite audible. The brief moments that were clear made the dances much more enjoyable and light hearted.
Impact ATL aims to spread the word of God through dance. The dance group tries to do this by dancing a story. “L.I.G.H.T,” the dance, told a story of three patients with different ailments that all get cured. The dance pieces multiple song clips together, making it quite long.
The dance came off as corny because they tried too hard to tell the story with unnecessary props like a doctor’s lab coat and a clipboard. It was disappointing since the dancers had the most hip-hop skill as a whole, and so much energy was lost in their story.
Seoulstice had the best hip-hop dances of the night. The length of the dances were a few minutes, and they clearly enjoyed dancing.
The last group to dance before intermission was Tekstyles. They had multiple songs, ranging from Latin beats to hip-hop. The dancers formed a dance circle, letting each other show off their skills to the music. The dancers were clearly having fun as they jumped up and down and poppedand locked.
Overall, the showcase was an upbeat and fun experience. From the joyous hip-hop to the pumped up modern dances, this was a comprehensive snapshot of Tech’s versatility. These dancers spent the semester learning, choreographing and practicing while studying for classes. Performances like this are a great way to let students to indulge their creative sides while working towards technical jobs.