Dance teachers Estee Carrizosa and Samantha Hampton, with a few unique students, created the beautiful dance show this year, Limitless, which ran in the Artists Theatre on Friday, Dec. 11 and Saturday, Dec. 12.
“The concert was a collection of pieces exploring the idea of limits, and it was designed with a variety of work, ranging in genres and music styles, to provide the audience with a versatile viewing experience and to bring greater awareness to the endless possibilities within the field of dance,” said Carrizosa.
The show was meant for the eyes of students, parents and children. The dancers promised that this performance would be like no other, and they definitely kept their promise.
“Last Spring, we sold out on Friday night for the first time in a long time! That’s approximately 500 seats. We hope to do this again and again, and it is my goal to make the dance show one of the coolest events to go to on campus. The dancers have so much fun performing; they deserve a full house of excited audience members. The music is carefully selected to include a variety of tracks, and I always try to design a production that friends and families will want to attend,” said Carrizosa in anticipation of the first show.
This year, Carrizosa and Hampton tried to add things that our LBHS students would recognize through the expressive dances. Things like Snapchat and other social media were woven into the pieces, along with new music that the audience enjoyed.
“I think students liked that we were encouraging social media during the concert. We wanted an interactive audience. We just started a Snapchat account, and we already have Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. We have videos that played during the concert, and we used a lot of music – ranging from self composed tracks to songs that are on the radio right now. We also had a variety of pieces ranging from solos, duets and trios, to small groups and large groups. We used an occasional prop, and the lighting designs were nicely done,” said Carrizosa.
The dance students worked hard on creating and rehearsing the dance show; they are proud and hope many enjoyed it.
“My favorite piece is ‘Left Behind,’ choreographed by Alexandra Lewis, because of the emotions and the beauty of the movement,” said senior dancer Elise Pontius.
Though the dancers took the show seriously in order to get the performances down, there was still time for play and fun on the set.
“During one of the rehearsals, there was a drone in the studio to film us from above while we were dancing. It created a lot of wind so our hair was flying everywhere. Let’s just say it was a little bit of a Beyonce moment,” said Lewis.
The dance show this year had a different feeling than other prior shows. This one told numerable stories and explored new ways to dance.
Audience members had an amazing time watching the dance show, often expressing how they wish they could have seen it over and over again.
“The show was amazing; all the movement was beautiful, and even the hiphop pieces were mesmerizing. I think that everyone should go to see [a future] show,” said freshman Natalie Musetti.
If you saw Limitless, you likely took an emotional ride and watched beautiful pieces with even more beautiful dancers create magic.
“I hope people enjoyed the variety in the show. We had ballet, jazz, lyrical, hip-hop and modern in this production. Each piece explored the ideas of limits – either from an abstract or narrative approach. We had beautiful lighting designs, and the students were really excited for everyone to see what they had been working on this past semester,” said Carrizosa.