After weeks of intense dance practice, students from various BYU-Hawaii dance classes took to stage, showing the audience how to “Dance through Life.” Choreographed and organized by Director Nina Foster, a choreographer and BYUH dance instructor, wanted the audience to have a positive outlook on life. “Dancing through life is a choice. We can choose to be happy. Life is not perfect but it is so beautiful, and we should dance through it,” said Foster. The show featured students dancing to express different emotions of life such as sorrow, joy and love. Foster described the show as “special” despite it being her seventh dance concert at BYUH. “The spirit here is so strong. I am so proud of the students. I feel their hard work paid off beautifully,” she said. Foster said most of the students had never been on the stage before, so she did not expect them to be perfect professional dancers. However, she felt blessed they gave 100 percent and delivered a great performance. “Many of the students came up to me after the show and told me ,‘I can’t believe we did this!’ I like to see the students grow. It’s not easy, but the main thing is we learn and are happy,” continued Foster. One of the dancers, Mikayla Rowland, a freshman majoring in exercise and sports science from Arizona, had never danced in such a production before and said she was glad all the hard work paid off. Rowland said they spent 20-to-50 hours a week in dance practice. “It feels so good to have done this, and we hope the audience really enjoyed it. It’s a fun thing for everyone to be a part of,” she said. Several dance numbers involved Foster’s family members, including a duet with her daughter, which Foster said will be in her heart forever. “It was a precious moment, and I wanted to freeze that moment. It just reminded me that every minute brings me so much joy,” said Foster. Audience members and dancers also enjoyed the tender moment of mother and daughter. Rowland said she found Foster’s dance with her daughter the most meaningful. Rowland shared, “To see her dance with her daughter was cool because it’s her story about how she left her family when she was 10. I’m glad that the audience got to see that part of her life.” Audience member Erica Knight, a sophomore majoring in political science from Utah, said, “I was teary eyed because she had her kid in the show. It was so sweet having them in there.” Knight said she saw the performers put in their whole heart and soul into their performances and was glad that, although some of the performers were more experienced than others, all of them participated and had so much fun. “You could tell that they all wanted to be there,” continued Knight. According to dancer Edgar Cabrera, a sophomore majoring in hospitality and tourism management from the Philippines, the performance was different and fun because of the people. “We are like a family. It’s so full of love and energy,” said Cabrera. Cabrera said working with Foster was the highlight of this semester because he always felt so much love whenever he was around her. He continued, “She always wanted us to reach our own potential. She told us to just enjoy ourselves.” For Jian Wei Bench, a senior majoring in business finance from Indonesia, the dance concert was the perfect way for him to spend his last semester at BYUH. “It was fantastic to be in this production. Being my last semester, I wanted to make an impact in my life,” said Bench. The Abliz Dance International concert occurs every three years, according to Foster, and includes dance classes EXS 186-Basic modern dance, EXS 288- Hip Hop, and EXS 289- Dance production.Uploaded Feb. 4, 2016
Writer: Danna Osumo
