Waltzes, rumbas, sambas, oh my
The UVU Ballroom Team is preparing for their spring concert. Courtesy of Chris Witt.
The UVU Ballroom Dance Company finishes off the semester with their spring dance.
Walking into Assistant Dance Professor Chris Witt’s office, students cannot help but notice one thing: The famous, highly coveted Mirror Ball Trophy that many celebrities have fought for on the television show “Dancing with the Stars.”
While this mirror ball trophy is about half the size of the one given to the winners of the popular show that has been on for fourteen seasons, the honor is no less prestigious. The UVU Ballroom Dance Team and its director, Scott Asbell, earned this trophy in 2010 when it competed against other colleges on the television show. With hard work and dedication, not to mention fierce dance moves, the team had the judges throwing up tens.
Now, the team is set to show off the moves that helped make it famous. Thursday, April 12 through Saturday, April 14, the UVU Ballroom Dance team will perform its spring concert in the Ragan Theater.
Audiences can expect to see this internationally ranked dance team dish out all types of ballroom dance styles from the sassy swing, the fast paced quickstep, graceful waltz, the spicy cha-cha and Professor Witt’s personal favorite, the fun and flirtatious foxtrot.
Some of the highlighted pieces will include a medley which has been seen in previous tours and competitions that locals have not had the privilege of witnessing, as well as a brand new Latin medley to music from favorite films of the past and present.
Getting ready for this performance has taken close to a year to prepare, practice and perfect.
“Some of the dancers have been with us for the whole year, but we have a few new dancers who just started in January, so we had to start over a little bit with some dancers,” Witt said. “But we have been working on choreography for these pieces for the whole year. It will be a really good show!”
The team will also debut a theater arts piece which has a interpretive dance style, choreographed by Paul Winkleman, owner and teacher of the Center Stage Dance School.