The sold-out crowd greeted him with cheers and applause, waiting for the opening of Cirque Du Cuse, DanceWorks’ circus-themed production. The ringleader welcomed them to ‘the greatest show on campus.’

DanceWorks celebrated 25 years on the Syracuse University campus Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights in Goldstein Auditorium with Cirque Du Cuse. The show has been a full year in the making. The dancers wanted to create a show that would surprise the audience and evoke an electrifying reaction, said Annie Barch, co-director for the show.

 ‘We went all out,’ said Barch, a senior advertising major. ‘It’s something we haven’t done before.’

Alexis Chernoff, a senior public relations major, said, ‘I’ve been to every show. I love this theme, it’s really good work.’

Sami Kay, a freshman television, radio and film major, agreed: ‘I like it. It’s a lot of fun.’

The first major dance was named after the show. It transported the audience straight to the circus. Dancers in red and gold costumes performed acrobatics to upbeat, boisterous music.

But many noticed a definite lack of the circus theme throughout the show.

‘I didn’t really see a circus theme,’ said Flavia Colangelo, a junior broadcast journalism and international relations major. ‘They never really do it through. There are some dances in the beginning and middle, but it still looks really good.’

Kay said she saw a circus theme in the first piece and in the dance called ‘Black and Gold.’ It had another strong cabaret-circus theme, with dancers clad in short black and gold can-can dresses.

‘The show seems like a professionally done dance recital,’ Kay said.

Every recital has its vocally supportive families, and this show was no different. Loud shouts of ‘Yeah, Marissa!’ ‘Let’s go, Gerald!’ and ‘You go, Nicole!’ were heard throughout the show. The beginning of every dance was met with applause and familiar cheers from the audience.

 ‘A lot of our members are dually involved in many of the sororities and frats on campus,’ said Katie Story, co-director of the show. ‘It brings a huge family to support you.’

Some even had family travel across the country to be in the audience. Abby Fisher, mother of performer Nicole Fisher, came in from California.

‘I haven’t missed her recitals since she was three,’ she said. ‘Why would I start now?’

While waiting for the Cirque Du Cuse doors to open, these family members were treated to freshly popped popcorn and cotton candy from the DanceWorks members.

Act One’s second dance, ‘Off the Rails,’ and the fourth, ‘Secrets,’ brought an introspective and calm sentiment to the show. The dancers leapt and turned in front of a warm and peaceful blue screen.

‘The dancers were not only dancing but telling a story through the choreography,’ said sophomore marketing major Hannah Stofcik.

But the crowd responded particularly well to the more vivacious numbers. During the piece ‘Work,’ the ovation from the crowd sometimes drowned out the music.

The final dance in Act One, ‘Mannequins,’ involved mannequins coming to life and stunned the crowd while it faded to black amid excited applause.

Act Two returned to the circus theme with stripes, mimes and an observable strong cabaret-circus theme with the dance ‘Butterfly.’

The robust hip-hop premise returned with remixes of both ‘Baby’ by Justin Bieber and ‘Upgrade You’ by Beyonce. The ‘Upgrade You’ remix dance ended with doused spotlights and dancers using only handheld keychain lights to illuminate their movements — apparently something no one in the audience expected. Shouts of ‘That’s insane!’ could be heard during the dancers’ exit.

The last piece of the show finished big and stayed true to the circus experience. DanceWorks closed with ‘Take It Off’ by Ke$ha. As smoke crept onto the stage and the audience clapped in anticipation, the dancers themselves filed out.

Though they began in black tank tops, as the chorus of ‘Everybody take it off!’ started, the dancers listened, peeling off their shirts to reveal gold-accented black bras. 

The SU audience enjoyed its night at the circus.

‘I absolutely loved it,’ said freshman television, radio and film major Rachel Samples. ‘I was standing up, clapping. I wanted to get up there!’

akromero@syr.edu

Published on March 6, 2011 at 12:00 pm