Brian Seam ’16: While most of the Episcopal Academy’s athletes were having a relaxing down week after the end of the winter sports season, the EA Dance team was busy preparing for the dance concert that took place in the Mainstage Theater on Friday, February 20th. The event showcased the effort that came from three months of student focus and hard work.
“I was very happy with it. I thought the concert itself went very smoothly, the transitions were nice and quick, and we had a really great turn out for the audience,” said Cara Lavallee, Upper and Middle School Dance Director.
The show fortunately finished without any major issues and satisfied its large audience that night. The audience was very supportive throughout the show, cheering frequently during numbers to energize and rouse the dancers.
“It was thoroughly put together. The numbers were really well choreographed and the solos were spectacular,” recalled Remy Williams ’15 who attended the concert.
Cheryl McLauchlan, VI Form Dean, added, “Usually I’m looking at my watch to see how much time I’ve been sitting somewhere, but when it was over I wanted a little bit more which is the perfect way to end: always having people to want more.”
The dance pieces in the concert were from almost every genre, creating an incredibly diverse show.
McLauchlan said, “I love the variety of dance that was in the concert. I liked that it went from Amanda Paolino being en pointe to hip-hop, tap, everything. It brought out the talent of so many different types of dancers.” However, one dance genre that the audience wanted to see more of was tap. Williams said, “I feel like we don’t do tap enough here, like Leah Marchant [did] who was great.”
McLauchlan, a former tap dancer, urged, “I want all of you to learn how to tap! Tapping is a fun form of dance that’s sort of dying, but I think it would be cool for there to be a full tap number. You don’t really need to work as hard to make it look hard, so I wish there was another tap number!”
“CLUE,” or the senior dance, particularly resonated with McLauchlan. “Although [the seniors are] not my children, I feel like they’re all my children, and to watch my seniors do such a clever, wonderful dance really gives me such pride when I watch them do something so beautiful,” she exclaimed.
In addition to the several group pieces that were choreographed by EA Dance coaches Cara Lavallee and Gina Tomkowich, there were solos and duets that some junior and senior dancers had choreographed themselves. These upperclassmen dancers included Claudia Teti ’16, Leah Marchant ’16, Libby Dawejko ’16, Stefania DiGiallorenzo ’16, Brian Seam ’16, Hayley London ’16, Tenaya Bailey ’15, Sam Pope ’15, and Dance Captains Amanda Paolino ’15 and Taylor Gary ’15. Their special, personalized numbers enriched the concert with dances ranging from ballet to hip-hop.
“Tenaya Bailey and Sam Pope’s duet was one of my favorites,” commented Williams. Carolyn Bell ‘16 loved the solos and duets and agreed, “I think they’re an integral part of the show. It’s in the solos and duets where all the emotion comes through. You can seriously feel their passions for the art. A few solos this year literally left me awestruck by how beautiful or entertaining they were.”
With the weeks immediately preceding the dance concert, vital tech rehearsals were getting cut due to the weather. However, Lavallee took it in a positive light and said, “It wasn’t as bad as last year when we had the eight snow days. This year had a couple of afternoons that got cancelled, but overall I think we were pretty prepared and everyone was really flexible to any last minute changes that had to be made.” As seen in the concert, the icy weather certainly did not negatively affect the Dance Concert as a whole.
As for EA Dance in the future, Lavallee reported that, “Our dance program has been growing so much that what’s happening is that we’re running out of space to rehearse. What we may need to do in the future is cap the number of students who will be able to take on the dance team, so that is something we are exploring for next year.”
This growth in the dance team’s presence is clearly a welcome development. McLauchlan concluded, “I would love to see more EA dance.”