The Joan Kroc Theater filled quickly April 18-20 for “Be True…Be You…JUST DANCE,” the Mesa College Dance Company’s spring show. With seventeen dances choreographed by Mesa students, the show celebrated creativity and self-expression through dance. The dedication and passion exhibited by both the dancers and the event organizers was obvious; guests expecting a good show were not disappointed.

The show is the culmination of an entire semester of hard work. The spring show is choreographed by students, while the fall show features faculty choreography – a pattern that will be flipped for the first time in the upcoming fall semester. Student choreographers submit proposed choreography to a faculty panel; this semester, nineteen of twenty-seven proposals were accepted, and seventeen were ultimately ready for performance.

Jan Ellis, Director of the dance program, organizes the event each year, dedicating countless hours to ensuring that the show runs smoothly. “I think that the students had a good experience, and this is what it’s like in the real world,” Ellis said. “You have to stay on top of your game, and you have to know where you’re going and what you’re doing, and they did that.”

Some casting directors attended the showcase, and several Mesa dancers are being rewarded for their hard work with a lineup of auditions.

Mariah Salas, one of the choreographers, has been involved in the showcase for four years. Her dance was inspired by “Harth,” a symbol that “represents truth, unconditional love and beauty. I personally try and live a life full of those three things so I wanted to make a dance that showed how much joy those three concepts brought to me.”

“I was blessed with an amazing cast that gave me exactly what I wanted and they picked up choreography extremely quick,” Salas said. “I think the main struggle for me was exhaustion. I performed in four different pieces as well as choreographed a piece. It was very physically demanding. I worked around this by making a point to make time to relax, take epsom salt baths and get massages. I think it is very important to have a good balance of rigorous work and relaxation.”

Kori-ann Kobayashi, the student who also created the title for the show, honored her late grandmother with “Hello My Friend,” a dance she choreographed with Trai Nguyen and Michael Manguino. Ten talented Mesa dancers captured the audience in their narrative, and then claimed their hearts at the end of the piece when Kobayashi’s grandmother’s picture was shown.

“We all take inspiration from our life experiences,” Ellis said about the piece. “And so, Friday night I’m sure you could feel that there was a huge representation of the Kobayashi family at the theater.

Another student choreographer, Erik Molina, was inspired by the northern lights; he said that he “imagined both what it would be like to see [aurora borealis] live and what it would be like to be the lights themselves dancing in the sky.”

It was Molina’s third semester in the dance concert. “It was a great learning experience. First time I’ve ever choreographed something other than hip hop for stage so it was definitely a challenge. On the other hand, Mesa has a great dance community and it feels like family so it wasn’t hard getting along with the dancers,” Molina said.

The show reflected both technical prowess and an ability to effectively and creatively combine a unique blend of themes and ideas. For the finale, all of the dancers came out in groups to represent each piece chronologically, performing a succinct flashback as the audience cheered. Smiles were broad and the families, friends, and classmates of the Mesa College Dance Company seemed thrilled to share the moment.

Each piece was distinct, creative, and best of all, reflected the passion of Mesa students. Throughout the show, everything from the stage lighting to costumes to footwork flaunted the dedication and talent of some of Mesa’s finest.