Dance fever!
Krystle Gravitt has been dancing nearly her entire life.
When Gravitt came to Eastern to major in elementary education, it was just natural for her to join the EIU Dancers.
“I just have to dance, it is something I just have to do,” the junior said.
The EIU Dancers are scheduled to grace the stage for their first concert of the year.
After a rough start to the year that included a complete overhaul of their leaders, the EIU Dancers performed at Homecoming and are now ready for a full concert Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The concert, “Rhythm Unleashed,” is free to the public in the McAfee Gym.
Most of the EIU Dancers have been dancing most their lives, including Gravitt, who is the vice president of the EIU Dancers. Only two of the women started dancing in high school poms, said Stephanie Mair, a junior early childhood special education major.
Mair is the new treasurer for this year.
For the first time in a long time, all the officers graduated last year and an entirely new group of leaders had to take control.
The new leadership has helped the dancers choreograph the entire concert. The concert is a mix of types of dance. The group is opening with their homecoming routine and continuing with jazz, ballet, tap and lots of modern dance. No two numbers in a row will be the same, said Melissa Pritzl, a junior elementary education major and EIU Dancers president.
“Modern dance is not what you see every day on TV,” Gravitt said. “It’s all original and creative moves we have made up.”
Gravitt said occasionally they attempt a dance move, do something accidentally and it becomes a move for a performance. The group allows all of the dancers creative freedom to choreograph.
“It is Eastern’s own dance company,” Mair said.
The group of 15 women and six men has been practicing for the spring concert since September and has practiced three hours a night for the last week in preparation.
The EIU Dancers are under the direction of professor Jeanna McFarland.
Mair hopes to have the opportunity to coach dance when she is a teacher if it is possible. “I would love to dance my whole life,” she said.
Dance fever!
The EIU Dancers will be performing this years show “Rythm Unleashed” in McAfee Gymnasium on Friday, March 31 and Saturday, April 1 at 7:30 p.m. (Carrie Hollis/The Daily Eastern News)
