dancer
On Our Way: Student Choreography Show
Recently, Erica had the amazing opportunity to perform in On Our Way, Oklahoma City University's Student Choreography Show. This show is always choreographed by seniors, so Erica was able to be a part of one of her friend's pieces titled Live in Living Color. This dance was a bright, energetic, 1960s inspired, musical theatre jazz dance in heels. Erica absolutely loves musical theatre and was thrilled to be cast in this dance.
For this dance, Erica was asked to be a swing as needed on top of learning her primary track. She learned two other tracks and rehearsed them a few times in the studio. Although she never needed to perform the other tracks on stage, she really enjoyed the process and challenge of learning multiple tracks at the same time. Erica is very organized and a quick learner, so swinging was a fun experience for her.
Live in Living Color was the opening number of the show, which was such an exciting experience. The cast was responsible for starting the show off with a bang, and Erica did just that. Erica smiled until her cheeks fell off and brought so much energy to the stage. She particularly loves anything that tells a story and shares lots of emotion, which this dance definitely did. Erica loves making an audience feel something with her performances. She is so grateful to have been cast in this show and loved every part of the experience. Erica is excited for more performance opportunities in the future!
We're Back Again: Student Choreography Show
Erica also had the opportunity to perform in We're Back Again, Oklahoma City University's Student Choreography Show the previous year. The dance she was in is titled, Picky Eater and Erica had the very important role of playing the tomato. Is she a fruit? Is she a vegetable? No one knows! This dance was in the style of musical theatre jazz and was very story/character driven. The lead character was a young girl who loves sweets, and all of the other dancers are depicted as fruits and vegetables trying to get her to eat healthy. Erica's character, the tomato, winds up teaming up with the little girl because the fruits and vegetables do not want to include the tomato.
This dance was very comical and silly, which for Erica, was way out of her comfort zone at first. Although Erica loves story telling with her art form, she had a hard time diving into such a goofy story, as she can sometimes find it hard to be so unserious about dance, as it is her passion and career. Throughout the rehearsal process, though, she learned to just have fun and continued to remind herself just how important comedy can be too. One of her favorite musicals is Beetlejuice. Thinking about the ensemble in that musical really helped her push herself out of her comfort zone to be able to give Picky Eater the energy it deserved. Now, Erica is incredibly grateful to have been cast in such a wacky, goofy dance, as it pushed her out of her comfort zone and taught her that sometimes, the purpose of art can just be to be silly and have fun!
Home for the Holidays
At Oklahoma City University, Erica performed in the annual Christmas show, Home for the Holidays, cast and directed by Jo Rowan. She performed in Never Fall in Love with an Elf as an ensemble elf and Away in a Manger as an ensemble peasant. Never Fall in Love with an Elf was a musical theatre jazz piece choreographed by Alana Martin, while Away in a Manger was a ballet piece choreographed by Jessica Fay.
Although Erica performed in many recitals growing up, this show was her first real professional-like performance experience. She was working with professionals and dancing with her fellow pre-professionals. It was a fantastic learning opportunity for Erica, as she participated in a quick turnaround rehearsal/show experience, maintained a high level work ethic, learned how double casting works, and experienced how professional level blocking and teching rehearsals are run.
Erica had so much fun performing in this show and has taken everything she learned at OCU into her life after college. She cannot wait for true professional performances to come!
