Before opening day, music can be heard from the walls of Hall Auditorium. Walk through the doors and see the purple and red lights illuminating the dancers who are testing out the stage for their future performance. Sitting in the audience are more members of the crew, waiting and cheering them on before they get to practice.
Vision Dance Company is on its way to unveil its newest performance. “Vogue Vision” is the theme of their show, showing at 7 p.m April 3 and 4 in Hall Auditorium. General admission will be $8, while Miami University students can get in free with a Miami ID.
Vision Dance Company is a student-run group that was founded in 2001 by seven Miami students and has continued throughout the years as one of Miami’s top dance groups. Their 23-member team will showcase a variety of styles–including ballet, contemporary, hip hop, jazz, Latin, musical theater, modern, tap and heels–and will collectively perform the final “Vogue Vision” number. The group has planned, choreographed and practiced all year for their two performances.
Madelyn Evans, a Miami senior and president of Vision Dance Company, said she has put a lot of time and effort into what will be her final performance with the group.
“I’m hoping everything goes really smoothly,” she said. “But I am so, so excited, and also sad because it is my last show ever with Vision. I can’t wait to come back and see who our new members are going to be next year.”
As president, Evans has worked behind the scenes renting out Hall Auditorium, collaborating with the social media team and leading the group.
“These girls have become my best friends, my sisters, so, it’s just amazing having that community,” Evans said. “You know you are going to come, you’re gonna see everybody, everybody’s going to cheer you up and support you no matter what you are going through.”
Lexie Knox is a dancer and choreographer for Vision’s contemporary dance number. This is her third year as choreographer. She has been planning this dance since summer.
For the dance, Knox picked the song “Northern Attitude,” by Noah Kahan. After seeing him in concert, she knew she wanted to perform it with a large group.
In her process of developing the dance, she said she started by looping specific parts of the song until she could visualize the movement. Then, she drew on paper the positions of where the 18 dancers will be on stage. Every week, Knox was able to film new parts to dance and adjust the structure until the show was approaching.
“The song is super powerful, and it’s really meaningful to a lot of us,” Knox said. “I don’t care if it’s perfect, I don’t care if there’s mess-ups, I just want everyone to have fun and enjoy it and be really into it.”
Both Evans and Knox said they have found support and community through Vision, and encourage dancers to join next year through Miami’s Hub website. As well, past performances are posted on their YouTube channel.
“I hope they find as much joy in Vision as I have found,” Evans said.
