Mac Dance’s annual showcase carries on despite COVID-19
Performing arts have the power to, for a brief moment in time, bring people together in a shared experience. This year’s Mac Dance showcase The Show Goes On is a reminder of the students’ ability to come together, albeit online, to share their love of dance. The group features a range of styles: from jazz and tap, to musical theatre and Bollywood.
Last year, Mac Dance’s annual showcase was held at Mohawk College and was almost entirely sold out. This year, the show will be held virtually as a YouTube live stream on Feb. 27.
“We want to make it feel as much like a typical show as possible, so we made a show order, a virtual program, we’re having an intermission and we’re having raffles. Chance [Sabouri, Mac Dance president] is going to do a little speech at the beginning. The biggest difference obviously is that you’re not going to be sitting in a chair screaming at people on stage in front of you,” said Lauren Shoss, a fourth-year health sciences student and secretary of Mac Dance.
In September, choreographers and dancers began the process of preparing dances for the showcase. Each piece is two to three minutes in length and it is up to the choreographer to choose the music and set the choreography for their group.
Dance classes this year have been taught over Zoom, posing its own unique set of challenges, from half of the choreographer’s body getting cut out of the frame to dancing in cramped spaces to getting kicked out of the call due to unstable internet connections. However, through mutual support, everyone moved past these challenges together.
“We've heard from a lot of our dancers that people are just so thankful. They see dance as a break and escape from the stress of school. I know that's how people feel in a typical year — you go into the studio and you kind of leave the rest of the world behind [to] focus on dance for a bit and just let yourself really get into your movement, so it's really nice that people are still able to get that from the year,” said Shoss.
The Silhouette interviewed some of Mac Dance’s choreographers to get an in-depth look at some of the pieces that will be performed this year.
Going Home by Kevin Vong
Vong described his piece’s style as a type of hip hop fusion that blends contemporary and hip hop styles.
Choreographed to Sonn and Ayelle’s Lights Out and Vance Joy’s Going Home, the piece pushes traditional definitions of hip hop. Where hip hop is typically defined by its hard-hitting movement, Vong brings out the texture and subtlety with particular attention to emotion in his piece.
“Especially during the pandemic, [I was inspired by] going home to reconnect to what is important to you instead of looking out to the material world. Sometimes family, home, is what you should rely on and it’s really important,” explained Vong.
For Vong, dance has become a form of home and he hopes that the audience will feel that through movement. Currently in his fourth year of linguistics, Vong said dance will forever remain as a source of inspiration and for all intents and purposes, his second home.
Got It in You & Grave Digger by Lauren Shoss
Shoss roots her dance pieces in storytelling. Drawing from her personal life experiences, her two pieces Got it in You and Grave Digger are two halves of a whole, with antagonistic but related storylines.
Got It in You, a lyrical dance set to the song of the same name by BANNERS, is based on the idea of finding the strength and power within yourself to overcome life’s obstacles and challenges.
Complimentary to Got It in You,Grave Digger is a contemporary piece exemplifying the feeling of being weighed and held down. Set to the song by Matt Maeson of the same name, Shoss described the piece’s darker and more aggressive tones as a welcome challenge, as she branched out of her comfort zone to create the more intense piece.
Now in her fourth year of the health sciences program, Lauren is considering pursuing a master’s degree in sports psychology, with the intention of working with athletes from a mental health perspective.
“I think [work with athlete mental health] is really needed in the dance world. I've seen a lot of my teammates suffer from body image issues, low self-confidence, perfectionism and eating disorders . . . It is a very neglected population, but they're in need of support,” explained Shoss.
Burlesque by Hannah Armstrong
Armstrong’s jazz group is channelling their inner Christina Aguilera in her piece entitled Burlesque, inspired by the film. In her first year choreographing a jazz piece, Armstrong decided upon the theme of burlesque as a fun and uplifting dance concept.
“The biggest challenge was probably just trying to envision how I wanted the routine, while also trying to make it [conducive to] online [viewing] . . . What can make a jazz routine really great are the transitions, group formations, interaction between dancers and just the energy on stage, so trying to replicate that online was probably the biggest struggle for me,” explained Armstrong.
As one of two co-vice presidents for the recreational dance team, Armstrong admires that Mac Dance connects diverse individuals by their mutual love of dance. In the spirit of The Show Goes On, she detailed how the Mac Dance community has impacted her as a dancer and as a person.
“I did competitive dance throughout high school and I always assumed that that would be the end of my kind of dancing career, but coming to university and then finding this team [allowed me to] keep doing what I love. . . I'm very thankful that everybody is here because they want to [dance] for fun and because they're invested,” Armstrong said.
Vienna by Abby Buller
When finding inspiration for her piece, Buller found that she clicked instantly with Billy Joel’s Vienna. As a tap choreographer, she liked the song for both its musical elements in combination with tap sounds as well as its message.
As tap dance is largely dependent on dancers’ timing of tap sounds with each other and the music, creating a tap dance in an online environment poses its own set of challenges. With technical difficulties in teaching over Zoom, Buller pointed to the timing of intricate steps as one of her greatest challenges.
Buller described her creative way of splicing dancers’ videos together for her dance’s showcase performance.
“When I get dancers to send me their videos, I want [to coordinate] their feet sounds, but I need to [overlay the] music in with it. I was so happy when this worked out — the [entire group] has Bluetooth headphones, so they're going to listen to the song through their headphones, film out loud so the can get their feet [sounds] and then I'll put the music in over top,” explained Buller.
The Mac Dance team hopes that The Show Goes On will bring people together in an otherwise distant time, reminding them that even though we are physically distant, we are still all in this together.
“Mac Dance reminded me of what the dance community is supposed to be just like. A bunch of people coming together to have fun, to share a common passion, to create something really beautiful and meaningful together and just having a great time,” said Buller.
By: Andrew Mrozowski
For many artists, creating their work is a very emotional experience, forcing them to go through various stages. At one point they could feel wonderful and happy before immediately turning to disappointment. This creates a fragile state for artists and makes them feel vulnerable with their unfinished piece.
On Nov. 30, 13 various artists from Mississauga to Niagara Falls will come together to share pieces that they are working on, amongst other pieces they have done in the past. As they get ready to showcase what they have in store for viewers, three sisters meticulously plan out the second annual Work In Progress art exhibit, taking place in Hamilton’s industrial district.
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Michelle Teitsma, lead artist and curator, came up with the idea after she considered the financial investment that is typically required to participate in other shows, costing artists upwards of a few hundred dollars to display their work. To make ends meet, they need to be confident that the work will sell.
“When you go to a show, you want to see real artists. People who have spent years working on their craft. You also want diversity. Not everybody is into the same type of art, but you still want a nice taste of everything. So, when I put it out to the art world about doing [Work In Progress], my sisters wanted to help out with it,” explained Teitsma.
With the event being sponsored by Marie Phillips and planned by Helen Campbell, the trio of sisters are only charging artists a small fee with all profits from the event going back into the artists’ pockets.
“It’s our hope that the artists leave with more than they put down to be a part of this,” said Teitsma.
For Teitsma, this is the culmination of almost 30 years worth of work in the art world. Graduating from Sheridan College for traditional-style animation in 1983, Teitsma was fascinated with learning different mediums before eventually settling on oils as her medium of choice.
Setting up shop in Dundas, Teitsma has found herself captivated by the world around her. Just stepping outside of her door and experiencing the community of Dundas has its own particular vibe that inspires her.
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“I’ve been doing a lot of street scenes from Dundas. Although, I’m very taken by the feel of Hamilton... Hamilton has a lot to offer with its history, the people, it’s a very working, hands on, soul to the earth mentality, and I think that is really expressed in the paintings,” explained Teitsma.
Teitsma is just one of the thirteen artists who will have their work displayed at the art exhibit. Various artists across many disciplines working with paint, ink, photography and materials including leather, pottery and real flowers will showcase their work. Not one artist is the same as the other and all the works will be in progress.
“With artists showing their fragile side, it opens up conversation between them and the viewer with the hopes of getting them to understand what the artist is trying to do... I want them to leave with their minds opened a little more than they arrived. To see things that they might not have expected to see," explained Teitsma.
Work In Progress will take place on Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. at the Cotton Factory on Sherman Avenue North.
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