p. Sunday at 2 p.m. in the University Center Commonwealth Auditorium, the College’s student-run dance company, Pointe Blank, will perform its fall semester show.
p. The show will feature 14 dances and should run about an hour and a half.
p. “[The show] will be hosted by emcees from 7th Grade Sketch Comedy,” Lisa Bateman ’09 said. “We have jazz, lyrical, Pointe, tap, hip-hop and modern dances, as well as a Christmas-themed Rockette-style kick line.”
p. Bateman, who has been a member of the company for three years, joined because Pointe Blank offered the type of dance style that interested her. The opportunity for members to choreograph their own dances was another lure.
p. All the dances in Sunday’s show were choreographed by the current company, which consists of 29 members. New members are selected based on their performance and attitude exhibited during tryouts held in the fall of each year. With the company members changing somewhat annually, each year’s show offers something different.
p. “Past shows have had the same variety because our members all have different areas of dance that interest them. One difference in this semester’s show is that the two male members of the company are not able to perform, so the entire show will feature our female members,” President Jennie McFaden ’09 said.
p. Each year since the founding of Pointe Blank in 1995, the group has put on one show per semester, usually in November and April. The company has been rehearsing since the beginning of the semester.
p. “The show is going to be pretty hot,” Lauren Williams ’09 said. “We’ve got a really talented group this year and a lot of variety in the choreography, so it’s definitely something worth seeing. Plus, since it’s in December, we’ll be throwing in a little holiday cheer.”
p. Because the dances are so diverse and range from ballet and jazz to hip-hop and modern, according to McFaden, the organization attracts a wide variety of dancers, creating a unique atmosphere.
p. “Pointe Blank is a good group of people, laid-back and fun to be around,” McFaden said. “When I was offered an opportunity to be in charge of something I enjoy and get to know people in the company better, I had to take it.”
p. Williams, who has been with the company since her freshman year, agrees that one of the reasons she tried out for Pointe Blank was its members.
p. “I joined because dancing is a great way to relieve stress and because the group seemed like a whole lot of fun,” she said. “I also wanted to mix up my modern curriculum with a variety of dance styles.”
p. Tickets for the show will be on sale in the UC outside the auditorium before the show. They will cost $4, with $1 of every ticket going to the College’s chapter of Habitat for Humanity.
p. According to Bateman, the group was careful to schedule the show around Grand Illumination.
p. “The show’s going to be a good one,” McFaden said. “We’ve got great dancers and awesome emcees.”