The CFAC was filled as a large crowd came together to see the talent that Calvin College had to offer. Singers, dancers, musicians and even an improv act mounted the stage in an attempt to prove Calvin’s got talent. The performances were diverse in genre, some acts taking a serious stand, and others producing laughter from the crowd with comedy acts. Everyone in the audience had a chance to vote, and the winner at the end of it all was the group Our Daily Dance Crew, also known as ODD Crew.
Gabe Gonzaga, the director, writer, cinematographer and choreographer for ODD Crew, commented on what the experience meant to the group as a whole:
“Our performance was the biggest and most ambitious project ODD Crew has ever done.” The ODD Crew has been around for only two years, and some of the seniors involved were founding members. The idea for the story the dance narrated came from memories of freshman year that seniors could come together and talk about. The number of different experiences in the group gave them a lot of material to work with.
“Calvin has had a special place in our hearts for giving us a place to dance, meet new people, and discover different passions,” Gonzaga said. “Through all these great experiences, we also wanted to look forward to how these significant parts of our college experience would carry over into our lives after graduation.”
The work for the performance started as early as December of 2016. The process was long and complicated, organizing thirty people that wouldn’t all be in the same room until the actual performance. For the videoing, they had to take one shot at a time, and wait for the snow to melt to get much of the footage. Gonzaga explained, “to see our work come together for one day after all the preparation was very stressful yet ultimately satisfying. In other words, indescribable!”
The overall show went smoothly. Gonzaga commented on some issues with communication between the committee and the members of the group, but that was the only snag. This was lessened by the work that the tech and stage crews put into the stage sound and lighting. They helped to ensure that transitions between each act went smoothly, and the performances were at their best.
Senior Dillon Carhuff, a weekend programming intern for Nite Life, explained the preparations for the event. Each of the performing acts had a chance to to get accustom to the stage at dress rehearsal on Friday. On Saturday they could go through a dress rehearsal, and run through their act twice. This was not only helpful for the performers, but also for the tech and stage crews to work through how transitions and set up would go for all the acts.
“There was a lot of coordination that needed to happen between our team, each act, and the OCCE [Office of Conferences and Campus Events] leading up to the event,” explained Carhuff. “We had to figure out when rehearsal times were going to happen and when the tech and stage crews were going to be there. We felt the event went very smoothly, though.” Carhuff attributed much of the success to “the amazing work of the tech and stage crews.”
