I was able to get out and see the Judge Memorial winter dance concert directed by Ms. Estrada and Mr. Shaw. The concert included dances from Judge Memorial’s Dance Company, Men’s Dance, and Dance 2 programs. For only being 45 minutes long, they were able to fit 13 unique dances into the time that told a good story. 

Dance company had three very powerful dances in “Pray,” “Proximity,” and “Warrior” that were thoroughly enjoyed by everyone in the crowd receiving claps and cheers. Men’s Dance performed three pieces of their own including “I Want you Back,” “Moonlight,” and “Change on the Rise” which were full of tricks and funny moments making the crowd laugh out loud. Finally Dance 2 had two primary dances called “Winter Hymnal” and “Worksong” which were movement filled and busy dances.

I personally thought “Change on the Rise” directed by Mr. Shaw was one of the most unique and best dances I have seen. The dance was choreographed around a bench, with each of the dancers beginning sitting on the bench in an almost depressed state. Then out of nowhere we see each of the dancers doing tricks like cartwheeling over the bench and lifting each other up in the air for acrobatic moves. As the music speeds up the dancers’ moves intensify, ultimately resulting in an awesome climax at the end that left me pretty shocked.

Overall I thought that the concert was very well choreographed and executed by the dancers. The concert had dances that were sorrowful, energetic, and wowing while putting them in different spots to keep the audience entertained. Even though there are no more showings of this concert I would recommend checking out future performances from these programs as they are certainly worth the watch.