By Kate Vandermeulen – Director of Marketing and Communications

On Friday, Apr. 4, the Lennoxville community gathered to watch BU Dance’s final showcase of the year, A Movement in Time. From jazz to ballet, to hip hop and everything in between, the group of dancers pulled out all the stops to wow the audience with an inspiring show. 

The showcase featured performances from the competitive, pom and club teams. The dancers have been hard at work practicing their routines since September, some spending up to eight hours weekly in the dance studio rehearsing. The night started off strong with an opening number to We Found Love by Rihanna, featuring every dancer that would grace the stage throughout the show, and collaboratively choreographed by executive team members Abby Epstein, Korine Gravel, Gabby Lalonde, Kate Vandermeulen, Sonoma Brawley, Shannon Gaskarth and Makena Burns.

The competitive team performed the eight numbers they had recently competed with back in March, the club team showcased their contemporary, jazz and hip hop routines, and the pom squad brought the energy with a mashup of the routines you might have caught at halftime this year. Alongside the group numbers, there were also solos and duets in every style and emcee breaks brought to you by Halle Brindley and Claudia Leonforte. 

Amongst the audience members were students, staff, parents and even past members of BU Dance. One of these members was 2023-24 Senior Coordinator Rianna Ostrosser who commented that she “was moved to tears watching this year’s dances. The coordinators and dancers did such an amazing job and should be immensely proud of themselves”. Interpretive dance connoisseur and full-time dance boyfriend, Reece Bastien, was also in awe of the show, remarking that the dancers were “breathtaking.” Sophie Gauthier shared her experience as an audience member at A Movement in Time, saying that “The numbers and choreographies allowed them to express themselves emotionally on stage. More specifically, Kate Vandermeulen’s number, Time to Gogh, highlighted the end of her time with BU Dance, which caused her to be emotional at the end of the number and left me emotional in turn”. The audience testimonies from the show beautifully exemplify just how powerful dance can be for everyone involved – dancers and viewers alike. 

Makena Burns, who has been a dancer on the competitive team for the past two years and now co-coordinates the pom team, summed up the experience of the showcase from the dancers’ perspectives: “Dancing with your best friends is the best feeling in the world, it makes all the hard work worth it!” Burns’ co-coordinator, Shannon Gaskarth, held a similar sentiment: “Throughout my three years on the team, I’ve experienced not only a transformation in my stage presence as a dancer, but in my leadership and artistic capability as a choreographer and designer.” 

For many, this year’s showcase was a bittersweet experience as it was their final time performing with the team. Senior Coordinator Gabby Lalonde described the show as a “heartwarming way to close off the competition dance chapter of my life. This club has been a pleasure to run and I can’t wait to see what the incoming coordinators do with it next!” As Senior Coordinators Kate Vandermeulen, Gabby Lalonde and Bridget Cloetta say goodbye to the team, they could not be more proud to welcome incoming Senior Coordinators Sonoma Brawley and Léonie Gagnon. 

The dances were not the only thing showcased at A Movement in Time: besides talent and dedication, the quality that was most evident on and off stage was the love that the dancers held for the art and for each other. 

*Kate Vandermeulen is Senior Coordinator of BU Dance