by Audrey Gervasi
Pacific Ballroom Dance presented its annual spring performance this weekend at the Auburn Performing Arts Center. PBD is a nonprofit community organization that teaches ballroom dance and performance to youth ages 11-18.
I had the privilege of attending Friday night’s performance. I have seen these young people perform before and have been blown away by their talent and professionalism. This year’s performance was no exception. The choreography, costumes, music selection, technique, musicality, presentation and enthusiasm were all brilliant and reflective of the many hours of practice these dedicated youth, their team directors, and other PBD staff have obviously expended. Their efforts were appreciated by all, especially the many family and friends who vocally cheered them on.
The group is comprised of four different teams selected by skill level, the Youth Premier and Backup Teams, and the Junior Premier and Backup Teams. The audience was treated to 24 (yes, 24) different dance routines, covering the spectrum of ballroom dance genres, but also including elements of ballet and modern dance, as well as performance technique. These youth not only execute technique and choreography skillfully, they present it, dramatically, comically, or poignantly, as appropriate.
Choreography is done primarily by the team leaders and other PBD artistic staff. They do not shy away from including challenging lifts, spins, and, acrobatics, and the dancers rise to the occasion (sometimes literally). These dancers would give any professional troupe a run for its money.
The highlights of the evening were the Youth Premier Team’s performances of “Feelin’ Good,” a latin medley, and “Afrika,” a standard medley. These routines took third and second place, respectively, in the U.S. National DanceSport Championship in March 2009. It was not difficult to see why. “Afrika” featured the ladies dressed in elegant red and gold dresses, and the gentlemen in black, military-style suits, performing elegant quickstep, standard waltz, Viennese waltz, tango, and foxtrot to exotic music. And “Feelin’ Good” had the ladies dressed in fetching short lavender skirts, with the gents once again dressed in black, this time in fitted black latin style outfits. The music was a medley of Michael Buble tunes to which the dancers ably performed cha cha, samba, rumba, paso doble, and jive steps.
Another favorite was “All That I Am,” also performed by the Youth Premier Team. This elegant number featured smoke effects that made it appear the female dancers were flying. The Junior Backup Team treated us to an adorable country two-step, “Some Days You Gotta Dance.” The swing numbers, “At the Hop” (Junior Premier Team), “Mr. Pinstripe Suit” (Youth Premier Team) and “Rocket 88” (Junior Backup Team) made the audience want to dance in the aisles. And the country polka “Devil Went Down to Georgia” (Junior Premier Team), complete with a dancing and fiddling Beelzebub competing with Johnnie the fiddler, was played for laughs. The samba “Ramalama (Bang Bang)” (Junior Premier Team) was a psychedelic experience, with dancers dressed in colorful neon costumes and wigs, lit by black light for an eerie effect.
PBD has been working its magic for over ten years, transforming the lives of young people by encouraging them to develop and nurture their talents and character, gain appreciation for the arts, avoid and overcome teen issues, and learn leadership and community service skills. Seeing what PBD has accomplished, I can’t help but think how wonderful it would be if every community had a program like this. For more information and to support PBD, visit their website at http://www.pacificballroom.org.
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