Dance Club spices up winter show with fanny packs and retro routines

The St. Thomas Dance Club went retro for its winter show Saturday with old-school fanny packs and a “Spice Up Your Life” theme, performing for a packed crowd in Brady Educational Center auditorium.

The show incorporated lyrical, jazz, hip hop and tap dances.

Club co-president and junior Ellen Pappas said she was confident that the Dance Club show and the free fanny packs would draw students in.

“The show is short, there’s a free something that you can walk away with, and you get to see your classmates up on stage shaking their butts,” Pappas said.

Pappas said the songs were all based off of the Spice Girls’ message of “girl power.”

“We do a large production number with the entire club, so that’s a mixture of Spice Girls songs,” Pappas said. “We were a little inspired by their Olympic performance.”

The co-ed dance and a number using glowsticks to “Gangnam Style” were crowd favorites.

Senior Ryan Doyle attended the show for the first time to support fellow senior Allie Krug.

“I thought ‘Gangnam Style’ glow in the dark was really good,” Doyle said. “That was creative.”

Sophomore Abbey Smith attended the performance even though she didn’t personally know any dancers.

“I’ve only been to one but I guess I liked the other one because I actually knew someone in it, but this one was still good,” Smith said.

Pappas said her favorite number of the show was the co-ed dance.

“It’s been absolutely hilarious to see my boyfriend ask me, ‘what time is dance tonight?’” Pappas said.

Smith also thought the co-ed dance was a hit.

“The guys were really funny,” Smith said.

Even though both PULSE and Dance Club had shows the same weekend, sophomore Rachel Manary didn’t think there was any competition.

“I think we’re both so different,” Manary said. “PULSE is more like performance.”

Pappas, who has been involved in Dance Club for three years, said the club allows students to make friends on campus.

“I think the reason why everyone’s in Dance Club is for the love of dance and it’s so fun to be involved on campus,” Pappas said.

Baihly Warfield can be reached at warf3860@stthomas.edu.