All of the lights will be on Xpressions at Thursday’s fall showcase, hosted at 8 p.m. in Bovard Auditorium. The performance will feature 17 student-choreographed pieces, under the theme “All of the Lights,” as well as three performances from different dance organizations on campus.
“We’re really excited for all of our hard work this entire semester to pay off and for our vision to actually come to life on stage,” said Bella Ngyuen, Xpressions director and sophomore health promotion and disease prevention major. “We have one show per semester, so this is essentially what we’ve been working towards.”
This performance will mark Xpressions’ 10th anniversary as a USC organization, as well as a start of a new era as the majority of the group’s directors graduated last spring.
“We’ve had these four amazing directors, and they honestly have just laid the foundation for everything that we have,” said Karsyn Wendler, Xpressions director and a senior civil engineering major. “[The former directors] were so smart with the codes and the Excel and stuff that we have no idea how to do. This semester it’s essentially an entire new group of directors. I think it’s pretty special for all of us. It’s our first time doing everything.”
The members of Xpressions are primarily former competition dancers who chose not to major in dance at USC but still wanted an opportunity to continue their dance careers. Ngyuen also explained that the structure of the group requires a smaller time commitment compared to other campus groups like USC Song Girls or Trojan Dance Force.
In preparation for Thursday’s performance, Xpressions directors Logan Forster, Ngyuen and Wendler arrived at Bovard Auditorium at 11 a.m. to begin setting up lighting cues. The whole company then had a blocking rehearsal at 3:30 p.m. Before the doors open at 7:30 p.m., the dancers will take some time for their pre-show ritual.
“You squeeze a hand and you pass the squeeze around until the first person that gave the squeeze out gets it back,” Forster said. “It’s sharing energy and making sure everyone’s on the same wavelength for the night.”
While Forster will perform her own choreography Thursday night, she’s most looking forward to seeing the dances from the outside dance organizations — Trojan Tap Troupe, Break Through Hip Hop, Team Jashn — being featured.
“I’ve never seen Team Jashn before, and it’s going to be fun to have a new style of dance on stage,” said Forster.
Team Jashn is a Bollywood and hip-hop fusion group, much different from Xpressions’ traditionally contemporary and jazz repertoire.
The performance will also feature a dance choreographed by Xpressions’ alum Sofia Gabay and former “Dance Moms” cast member Mackenzie Ziegler. While not a student at USC, Ziegler joined Gabay in choreographing and performing a routine in the Xpressions’ showcase last spring, which she chronicled on her YouTube channel.
“[Ziegler] won’t be dancing, but she will be in the audience,” Ngyuen said. “Her mom bought four tickets.”
While the show is sold out, there will be a standby line for tickets.