The audience entered the auditorium as upbeat music played and dancers were singing along. Then the curtains opened and the party began. On January 12th, the Bingham High dance classes performed at the annual showcase. This performance marks the end of the semester and the end of dance classes. This year’s theme was “Welcome to the Party”, and the performers did just that: party! The performance featured Bingham Dance Company, Bingham Ballroom Team, Mance Co., as well as the dance classes including Dance 1, Dance 3, Hip Hop, and Social Ballroom 1. Most of the dances were choreographed by Bingham’s dance teachers Gina Terrell and Lori French, or by students.

The audience was able to dance along in the “Cha Cha Slide ” and “The Boot Scootin’ Boogie.” During both dances, nearly everyone in the audience was up and moving. It was a fun way for everyone to participate in the celebration.

Dance Company and Ballroom Team hosted clinics the Saturday before the performance. These clinics were for Tiny Dance Co. and Tiny Ballroom. Bingham students danced with younger children from ages 3-15. The youngest

performers were squirming with happiness as they awaited their time to shine. The teams taught each age group a dance and then performed it with them at the concert. Dance Co. and Ballroom offer many activities for students to have fun and try something new. The Dance Company performed “Party in the U.S.A.”, “I Want to Party”, and more with Tiny Dance Co. and Bingham’s Ballroom Team, who performed “You Make Me Feel So Young ” with Tiny Ballroom Team. 

When asked, Ashlee Sumsion, a member of Bingham Dance Company, replied that her favorite performance in the concert was the opener called “Welcome to the Party.” It’s a hip hop routine that the team got to choreograph together and looked like so much fun to be in. She stated, “The closing piece, “When the Party’s Over” was the hardest dance to learn because we hold jars in our hands the whole time.” Ashlee’s favorite experiences with Dance Company this year has been, “Performing at football games! It’s always so unreal performing in front of so many people on the field.” she also loved the SALT Festival where Dance Co. received the Best Choreography and the Best Performance awards. You can see them again at the spring concerts which are held on April 19th–21st. “Thank you to everyone who supports Dance Co! We appreciate all of the love and kindness!” 

Tyler Atkinson, who is on the Ballroom Team, said, “The most difficult challenge for me has been the amount of work that ballroom requires. Despite being relatively short dances, they are typically very difficult and leave little room for error. But they look amazing and I feel epic while doing them, so it’s a win in the end.” His favorite experience with the Ballroom Team was their pictures. “I was still getting to know everyone, so it was fun to just spend a day doing rad dance moves with such great people.” He went on to say, “My favorite feeling is acing a performance. Nothing feels better than dancing your heart out and getting it all right.”