The bittersweet feelings are settling in for graduating dancer Mackenzie Butler as she prepares for her last showcase here at Eastern.

Butler said she has been dancing since she was 4-years-old, making for 17 years of dancing all together.

After dancing for so many years, Butler said she won’t stop dancing after graduating in the spring but she will miss the feeling of having her team and the friends she has made on the team.

“I’ve come to terms with it being my last year so I’m pretty okay with it. My body hurts so I won’t be overly upset about it,” Butler said.

Butler began at a young age because her mother wanted to get her involved in something extracurricular.

Butler also said no one else in her family dances; however, she has stuck with it and also has found it relieving to express her artistic side with drawing as well.

Butler is a senior art major with and said she finds herself just as relaxed after spending two hours in Doudna working on her art as she does after two hours in the studio working on her dances.

“If I am having a horrible day on Tuesday or Thursday, I sit in my night class and it’s so relaxing. Any other day I go in my room and just dance,” Butler said.

Butler also said having dance allows her to have a stress reliever from her art classes that can be overwhelming at times.

“When I’m working in the painting studio and get sick and tired of it then go to the studio it’s a nice break,” Butler said.

As the end of her dancing career comes closer, Butler said it is a bittersweet feeling that she has come to accept.

She also said throughout her dancing career she has noticed her taste in dance change from hip-hop to contemporary. Butler said that throughout her career she struggled with being confident with her performances, which she has overcome now at the end of her career.

Butler also has been choreographing her dances for the last seven years. She is one of six choreographers on the team.

She has partnered with another Eastern dancer to choreograph the final dance for her final showcase.

The dance will be done to the song “Hold Back The River” by James Bay.

The team has a total of 18 dancers on it right now, including Butler, and will be preforming 18 dances for the end of the year showcase.

All of the dances will have been choreographed by one of the six choreographers within the EIU dance team.

The showcase will also include dances in other genres such as hip-hop, contemporary, jazz, lyrical, and even tap.

Every year the dance team spends months choreographing and preparing for this end of the year showcase.

This year, the showcase will be held on March 24 and March 25 at 7p.m. with tickets only being $5.

Cheyenne Fitzgerald can be reached at 581-2812 or cmfitzgerald@eiu.edu.