echo Written by Abhilashah Praba Thiagarajah
Edited by Varshini Vijayakumar & Ms. Amanda Chong
Special thanks to Reene (SDC President) for pictures
“We dance for laughter. We dance for tears.We dance for madness.We dance for fears.We dance for hopes.We dance for screams.We are dancers for a reason,to express who we want to be.”
Without further ado, “Let’s Heat the Stage!” said Renee the president of The Sunway Dance Club (SDC) and project manager for the “Heat the stage” event. If this is your first time hearing about “Heat the Stage”, you sure have missed out a lot. Not to worry, The Sunway Dance Club hosts dance-charity productions annually and “Heat The Stage” was SDC’s production for 2017. The Sunway Dance Club has hosted several successful dance-charity productions in the past such as “Viva La Botas” in 2015 and “InMotion” in 2016. This year’s “Heat The Stage” that was held on Friday, August 25 was no different. The idea behind the theme,”Heat the Stage” was to address real issues and problems and give people the opportunity to express themselves.
One of the most memorable elements of the entire show was that several different dance genres were incorporated seamlessly into one show that was no longer than 2 hours. It included dance sequences ranging from hip-hop to contemporary as well as Break Dancing, Latin and Popping. Each dance sequence featured different songs that excited, stimulated and had the audience members on the edge of their seats. When DMX’s “X Gon Give It To ya” played whilst the dancers were simulating a dance battle on stage, we could all agree that it gave us absolute “Deadpool” feels, minus the swearing and vulgarity of course, but cool nonetheless. Other songs played included “Deep Down Low” by Valentino Khan, “Fireball” by Pitbull and “Muse” by OCAD. The evergreen hits from the 70’s, “It’s Just Begun” by The Jimmy Castor bunch and “September” by Earth, Wind and Fire were some of the other songs played.
Apart from the dances, the show had a beautiful and inspiring storyline that was presented as clips on the screen played in between each dance segment. The storyline follows the spiritual journey and life of two male protagonists at different stages in life. One of the protagonists is a middle aged man working a regular office job while the other is a young college student who finds it difficult to cope with college life. Their lives converge and the pair find themselves having a deep conversation about passion and happiness. Their conversation leads to a somewhat unexpected friendship. So, what was the major take-home message?
Finally, the show wouldn’t have been completed without the elaborate background sets, stage lighting and costume changes for every single dance sequence to understand the importance of self-expression and to be passionate about the things that make you happy. The costumes varied from 1940’s vintage polka-dot dresses to urban/hip-hop clothing. It’s safe to say that with a beautiful storyline, great music and captivating dance sequences, “Heat The Stage” had something to offer for everyone regardless of age, dance and music preference. The Latin dance segment was the best because the music, dancing and vintage themed clothing were all on point! If you still aren’t convinced whether or not to attend the next SDC production, here are some of the comments the audience members had on their favourite part of the show:
“The body popping was crazy! Their movements were just so good!”
“Loved the Voguing because of the formation and choreo.”
The success of the “Heat the Stage event” can be attributed to important qualities such as determination, discipline and time management. Another key element is communication as it ensures that the right message is delivered to the right person. Despite the fact that they had less time to prepare the event compared to the previous events, they still managed to put on an awesome show. Moreover, they brought in experienced choreographers to help out with the event. This just goes to show that planning and finding people with expertise on your team is crucial in ensuring success.
