PAC Big Show Debuts Saturday in Dodd

By KALYNA JOWYK

This weekend could prove to be the biggest fundraiser yet for the student-run Performing Arts Club as the co-ed group gears up for the PAC Big Show this Saturday.

This year’s Big Show theme is “Painted Dreams,” and the show will feature an array of dance styles: contemporary, hip-hop, jazz, modern, and some pieces that mix the forms.

“A lot of the songs have a very mystical sound,” said PAC’s president, junior Becky Lallande, of the music choices for this year’s show.

The pieces themselves are the inspiration for the overall theme each year. Student choreographers propose each dance at the beginning of the semester and the group as a whole comes together three Sundays during the semester to show their progress. Each choreographer works in conjunction with their group on a weekly basis while also dancing in other pieces.

Kathy Harty-Gray, former Mary Washington College professor and member of the Friends of Dance alumni association, will be choreographing the show this year.

“The styles of dances are usually based off what the choreographer feels most comfortable with,” Lallande continued, saying that PAC “is a great outlet for trying new things.”

The show will feature the songs “Cosmic Love” by Florence and the Machine, “Stir” by Rascal Flatts, and even a mash-up of a Nine Inch Nails song over dubstep beats.

Though rehearsals have been intense and finals are fast approaching, Miller-Freutel and Lallande say the run-up to the show hasn’t been too stressful.

“It’s so friendly and welcoming that it doesn’t feel stressed. It’s fun,” said Miller-Freutel.

Lallande added that it is the “best week of the semester because everything comes together beautifully.”

The PAC Big Show debuts this Saturday, April 2, at 7:30 p.m. in Dodd Auditorium. Tickets are $4 at the door with student ID or $5 without. There will be another show on Sunday, April 3, at 2 p.m.

[Photo credit: Sirena Montgomery]