The Solano Dance club hosted its own event on April 9, from 1:30 pm-3:30 pm in Room 1740, the dance studio in building 1700 on the Fairfield Campus, to increase the Club’s outreach to fellow students on campus.
You may think that dancing is not your thing, but “Just Dance,” a motion-based rhythm game where players mimic on-screen dancers and/or choreographed dances set to the tune of popular songs, is something anyone can participate in.
When attendees first walked into the dance studio, they were greeted by the club president —Lexi Esteban —and Secretary —Elijah McCalister of the Dance Club, alongside pizza and cookies for students.
While people were still settling in, the Dance Club got started with songs that were requested by attending students, including “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”, “Boys A Liar pt.2”, “Lets Groove”, “Thriller”, “Smooth Criminal”.
McCalister stated that his reason for being at the event was “helping out Lexi” since “you know, I am the secretary.”
According to McCalister, the Dance Club put this event on to “just come and have fun, you don’t have to join it fully unless you want to, you don’t have to be good at dancing that’s why I’m here, you just come and you learn.”
He also mentioned that he’s been dancing his “whole life…I learned how to dance when I was very little.”
McCalister has been closed off about his life of dancing, stating that people “look at you and judge the flip out of you.”
He then decided to open up his artistic side, saying, “I just joined this [Dance Club],” figuring that it “maybe could help with that,” referring to his social anxiety around dancing.
McCalister believes that joining a dancing group like the one he’s in helps conquer social anxiety, “especially if you’re dancing in a group, even just practicing by yourself with you, God in the mirror, but then you gotta be in front of people eventually.”
A part of the pitch to join was the attendee’s choice of song. When no other dancers took Esteban up on her offer, I jumped on the opportunity to pick one of my favorite Just Dance songs from when I was younger: “Let’s Groove” by Earth, Wind, and Fire.
This song’s choreography works well for groups because it is a multiplayer dance song with three individual roles that need each other to recreate the dance on-screen, rather than a single role on-screen with everyone mimicking the same role. “Let’s Groove” allows groups of three to interact with each other, allowing everyone to dance together.
A student that I spoke with beforehand stated that the reason he joined in on the Dance event was “just to have fun, to relax, and take a break from my studies.”
Another song that was played towards the end of the event was Thriller by Michael Jackson, a song cataloged in The Michael Jackson Experience. The game is similar to “Just Dance” but with Michael Jackson songs only. The final song that was played before the event came to a close was “Smooth Criminal.”
After this, I was able to get a few minutes of Lexi’s time to ask her what made her and the Dance Club put on the event.
“They wanted something fun to do,” she said, while not taking the Club too seriously.
“This is not ‘Dance Moms’…we’re just trying to have fun, learn dances (and) make friends,” she explained.
She also explained how certain events, like a dance clinic, which teaches real-deal choreography, could sometimes be scary, stating, “I thought we needed an event that was more open to everyone so that people could see how lit we get up in here.”
