What's super, a show and occurring tonight at 8 p.m.? Why, the Sarabande Supershow, of course! Tonight at the Cohen Auditorium, Sarabande will perform with eight other groups: BEATS, Hype!, Spirit of Color, Tufts Dance Collective, Bhangra, BlackOut, Major: Undecided and the Tufts Irish Dance Club. Tickets for the spectacle are on sale at the box office for $7, all general admission.
The supershow is Sarabande's only fall performance. The dance group, which is composed of 19 Jumbos this semester, has been working extremely hard on their nine dance numbers after selecting songs in September. Due to past experience in dance and similar mastery of basic skills that the members share, they only meet for practice once a week for each number.
"We're not just ballerinas," Sarabande president and senior Jessica Mattos said. Songs comprising their fall performance are generally far more mainstream than their usual fare. For example, Sarabande will be dancing to Natasha Bedingfield's "Unwritten," which will hopefully get the tie to MTV's "The Hills" out of everyone's head.
Choreographed by senior Lisa Charest, the number will be performed by the entire ensemble.
Another feature, choreographed by senior Elyse Nakama, will be Anna Nalick's "Breathe," which will showcase eight of the girls and focus on the gracefulness of the dancers through individual solos.
The dance to the tap, flapper-style song "Happy Feet" was choreographed by sophomore Cassie Wallace and a cover of "Proud Mary" with a slow start and fast ending was done by senior Stephanie Fowler, certain to be a crowd favorite.
Also included in the production will be Coldplay's "Clocks," The Fray's "How to Save a Life" and Natasha Bedingfield's cover of the Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses," choreographed by junior Kathryn Maus, senior Erin Young and sophomore Stephanie Dres, respectively. Rounding out the program is a tribal drum-oriented, Blue Man Group selection, guest choreographed by junior dance minor Stephanie Sirabian. Sarabande's fall show provides the ideal opportunity to indulge in mainstream music guilty pleasures while simultaneously enjoying a fresh, new visual accompaniment.
The group is very excited for its first performance this year after picking up two new freshmen.
Many seniors graduated last semester, and the loss of veterans is always lamented. The acquisition of new group members, however, brings different talent to their ensemble.
Since September, the members of Sarabande have formed close bonds, what junior Laura McNulty describes as a "continuous community." They hope this translates into synchronization and cooperation on stage.
"It's very rewarding to see all of the effort we put in come together at the end," Sarabande Co-Producer Caroline Pronovost said.
Sarabande's talent lies in the mix of classical training and modern hip-hop moves to produce original, graceful, and entertaining dance numbers.
