The College's Synergy Dance Company presented its Spring Spectacular in front of a packed crowd on April 23. The show featured an assortment of dances including tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical and hip-hop. Every dancer on stage displayed a great amount of skill and, more importantly, a great deal of passion for dance.
"We've been practicing a couple days a week since break," Alissa Rufino, sophomore English major, said. "We've put in a lot of hours at the studio and our hard work has paid off. It's a lot of fun on stage."
The show's masters of ceremony provided the audience with reasons to laugh in between numbers and introduced each number in a creative way.
The dances featured a creative compilation of songs, including music by Bob Marley, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson and Ludacris as well as several famous Broadway numbers.
The dancers' costumes were all well-chosen. The number titled "Man In The Mirror/Smooth Criminal," for example, featured costumes consisting of top hats, suits and white gloves.
Every number was choreographed by a member of the team, not by a professional choreographer.
"We had a lot of rehearsals and extra practices and this performance is the end result," Jenna Fitzgerald, freshman business administration major said. "We should be very proud of ourselves."
Montclair State University's Rhythm Nation Dance Company joined the Synergy Dance Company in putting on the show and performed three of their own numbers. This was the first semester that Montclair State participted and the founding members were thankful to the Synergy Dance Company for allowing them to perform on stage in front of such a large audience.
The TCNJ Dance Team, which usually performs at sporting events, was also given the opportunity to perform on stage and did not disappoint.
The Spring Spectacular was particularly important to several senior members who may have performed their last dance. The final number featured every senior member in a dance titled "Senior Spotlight."
For these Synergy Dance Company members, many of whom had danced together for four years, this performance was a walk down memory lane as the number featured choreography from every past show in which they appeared.
The lyrics of the final song, "Now and forever, I will always be with you," were symbolic as the senior members took their final bow at the College.
The audience members applauded, their arms filled with bouquets of flowers, as the dancers took their final bows on the Kendall Hall stage.
The Spring Spectacular ended with a series of thank-you's, effectively demonstrating how much work actually went into the show. Overall, the performance was equally enjoyed by both the dancers who were given a chance to perform and audience members who witnessed it.
