By Angelia Roggie
Features Editor
Flashing lights, sparkling costumes, melodic music and sweeping, hard-hitting dance moves enchanted audiences as the SBU Hip-Hop Team set off to see the Wizard.
The 31-person team danced away to a production titled “A Wiz Through Oz,” a hip-hop take on the original “Wizard of Oz” movie, Tuesday and Wednesday in the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. Similar to the film, audiences follow Dorothy (senior Jaclyn Haskell) as she enters the strange world of Oz and tries to find her way back home to Kansas. Along the way, she befriends Scarecrow (senior Gerard Conyers), Tinwoman (senior Cori Bolea) and Lion (junior Dhaakira Braswell), who all hope to ask the wizard (senior Michael Hughes) for the thing they most desire.
Dorothy makes an enemy of the Wicked Witch of the West (sophomore Justine Haskell) after accidently dropping a house on the witch’s sister. Throughout the performance, the characters burst into different genres of dance, including tap, contemporary and hip-hop.
The production could be described as more than a dance show, as it featured an abundance of singing and acting as well.
Jaclyn Haskell sang “Over the Rainbow” as contemporary dancers performed. Her sister, Justine, wrote the script for the performance to showcase the comedic dialogue between the main characters.
“I wrote the script for every character in the show to contribute with their personality in real life,” Justine, a psychology major, said. “It worked out great.”
Justine, also the director of the show, explained she and her sister started preparing for the event last year.
Jaclyn, coach and choreographer of the team the last four years, said this show meant more to her than any other show she created.
“This show literally means everything to me — it’s the perfect ending to my senior year,” Jaclyn, an education major, said. “I have danced with my sister since she was 2 years old, and it’s going to be the last time we dance together on stage. (We) created this show together, and I can’t wait for people to see how good of a (team) we are.”
The sister duo shined as Dorothy and the Wicked Witch. Both women were humorous and exhilarating dancers. They played off each other well on stage with Jaclyn’s sweet style and Justine’s intense flair.
Conyers brought great warmth to the role of Scarecrow, and Braswell’s swag-filled Lion brought tremendous power through her dancing. Bolea, as Tinwoman, captured her character’s sassy nature and interpreted her dance with robotic perfection. Senior Megan Sudore, who played Glinda, matched her good witch character with adorable charm and fun-loving moves.
The show ran almost an hour and 45 minutes, and some of the dances seemed to blur together as a result. Some contemporary dances seemed very similar to others within the program. A couple of numbers could have been cut to create a more cohesive show, such as the “Ease on Down the Road” Charleston dance and the last segment of “The Wizard,” which seemed to start and end with a battle, but then start again so the wizard could prove himself.
The entire group portrayed sheer strength and ability. The team demonstrated stunts, splits, backflips, aerial tricks, pirouettes and jumps.
“A Wiz Through Oz” finished the night with a dance to Fun’s song “We Are Young,” leaving audience members with a lasting impression of the SBU Hip-Hop Team’s exuberance.
“I loved that dance because it means a lot to the seniors,” Jaclyn said. “This was the last show we were going to perform together.”
Jaclyn said she hopes the show will create a lasting impact at St. Bonaventure.
“I hope the university will see how talented the team is,” she said. “There are so many members that can act, sing and dance. My goal is for more people to join next year, and I want the team to continue growing after I leave.”
With this year’s final riveting performance, the SBU Hip-Hop Team is definitely on its way to dancing success.
roggieac10@bonaventure.edu
