Students hold dance extravaganza

Austin Dodge

Austin Dodge

— 3 min read
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A theater stage with several people dressed in costumes dancing in the foreground. Behind them are other dancers. The first couple of rows of the audience can be seen.
Dancers perform Village People's "Y.M.C.A."

In the quiet between finals and graduation, a handful of Mat-Su College students gave us a bit of excitement. On May 5th they performed a dance extravaganza at the Glenn Massay Theater. The event was free, open to the public, and well attended.

The dancers came in two groups. The first were students from the Dance Club. The second were members of the public enrolled in college's new community education dance classes.

Behind the two groups stood Sharon Peek. Formerly a dance teacher at Burchell High School, Peek is now president of the student Dance Club and the instructor for the community education dance classes.

Peek organized and choreographed the event. Dance numbers were grouped by decade, with the students progressing through them chronologically. Between dance numbers, the dancers changed into period-appropriate outfits, all of which were provided by Peek.

The event kicked off with a waltz. After the dancers had to leave stage to change into the next decade's costumes. As she did throughout the night, Peek filled this pause with something interest. Here she presented a life-size cut-out figure of Alys Culhane to Alys Culhane. Alys Culhane is the director of the Palmer-based Bright Lights Book Project, which distributes free books all across Alaska.

A woman in a glittery dress presenting a life-sized cut-out to the woman depicted in the cut-out.
Alys Culhane receives her life-size cut-out.

Next came the cha cha and the tango. Between these two numbers, Peek invited members of the audience to the stage to perform a lively "Mexican Hat Dance."

Before the 1950s and 1960s dances, Peek invited up to the stage anyone who had performed those dances when they were current. More than a few people volunteered, which speaks to both the size of the audience and the variety of people in it.

About 10 people of all ages dancing on the stage in pairs.
The 1950s and 1960s dances involved members of the audience who were alive for those songs.

Finally, the dancers moved to the 1970s. This portion began with Cuokki's "Robot Song" (a track that heavily samples Kraftwerk's classic "Die Roboter", naturally making it the best music of the evening). As this "Robot Song" began, only two dancers were on stage. Mr. Wiggles – a robot from the campus's Robotics Club – was joined by a club member in a space suit. Then the other dances joined in, doing robotic movements before transitioning to outright disco numbers like Saturday Night Fever and Y.M.C.A.

A primitive stationary robot with a balloon for a head and a man in a silver "space suit." Both are dancing.
Mr. Wiggles and his Robotics Club handler do a "Robot Dance."

Throughout the night, Peek made the crowd feel involved. She did this by inviting members of the public to the stage, by liberal use of door prizes, and by choosing some songs that the audience could easily dance to without getting up (especially Y.M.C.A.)

We look forward to the dancers' next show!

A wide shot of the audience of about 150 people, many of them performing movements with their arms.
The audience performing "Y.M.C.A."
Three people stand on stage, looking out at the audience.
Announcing door prizes.
Students in costumes approach and hug a woman at the edge of the stage.
Students congratulating Peek at the end of the show.
Foreground has two dancers dressed in Sonny and Cher costumes. Other dancers in background.
Two of the community education class students performing as as Sonny and Cher.

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