BAM Busts a Move at Fall Recital

Dec 13, 2018 | News | 0 comments

Sara Pinette Contributing Writer

   All forty-five members of Bust-A-Move Beavers came together for three shows during Thanksgiving week to give students, friends and families a performance that left the audience electrified and roaring with applause.

The shows included different styles of music and dance including lyrical, tap, contemporary, jazz, clog, hip-hop, and even some ballet. The show kicked off with all black attire and a high tempo beat as the entire club took part in the number titled “Soul Bossa Nova” choreographed by Alyssa Leonard, Carson Hope, and Jamie St. Pierre – all UMF students.

During the first half of the show, the club performed large group numbers such as “Jailhouse Rock” and “Supermarket Flowers”, which showcased the clubs synchronicity and fluidity as a team.

Among the group dances, the show featured 27 others pieces choreographed by 19 different members of the club and for many, that is the most exciting part of putting on a show like this. Heather Towle, a sophomore and psychology major, performed with BAM for the first time during show week.

“It felt really great to perform with my really close friends and I’ve been dancing pretty much my whole life, but I’ve never actually performed my own choreography.”

The President of the club, Morgan Laferriere, then chimed in and said, “her choreography is so good.”

  Towle choreographed the dance “The Way You Make Me Feel” which was a jazz piece that featured seven dancers who dazzled in blue sparkly tops as they sassily strutted across the stage.

 Laferriere is a rehabilitation major who has been a part of the BAM club since her first freshman semester at UMF. Laferriere choreographed two dances, her favorite being “Bohemian Rhapsody”.

“No one has ever done a 5-minute production number in BAM – ever – so I thought it was really cool,” Laferriere said. BAM showed a true passion for performing by dancing to the classic and many other time-honored pieces such as “You Can’t Stop the Beat” and “Footloose” after the intermission.

Preparing for this show was no easy task, according to the members of the club. Countless hours of choreography, rehearsal, costume designing and forging.

“I think there’s just so much to be done,” said Laferriere. “ I feel like I have finally everything done and then I remember ‘oh wait I have that other thing [to do]’, but it all came together in the end.”

 It did, in fact, come together at the end as the whole club left the stage after taking their final bows and gave some of the seniors a spotlight to perform one final time. Seniors Rachael Chavarie, Abby Waceken, and Monicah Paquette were able to shine in their own unique and individual way, with tiaras sparkling on their heads.

 “Dancing the last senior piece felt amazing, emotional, and bittersweet,” said Chavarie, a senior Elementary Education major, who will be student teaching in the spring. “I’ve been dancing since first grade so knowing it may be my last time performing on stage made it really personal for me. It’s hard to believe this chapter of my life may be ending, but I’m excited to see what’s next in my life.”

 BAM constantly works towards being an inclusive club to all UMF students. “We’re really a big family. Whether they’ve been dancing their whole life or this is their first time doing dance,” said Hope.  “They can join and participate in groups to try different styles of dance.”

According to BAM’s showcase pamphlet, any students who are interested can check out their table at the club fair next spring, or talk to any current members.

UMF Enjoys Rare Collaboration

Nov 18, 2017 | News | 0 comments

By Kelsey Dunn – Contributing Writer

Students were recently treated to a collaboration of UMF’s Lawn Chair Pirates (LCP), Bust A Move Beavers (BAM), and Clefnotes called “Pirates Bust a Clef” in Lincoln Auditorium. This collaboration has not happened in years, making the performance more surprising and enjoyable.

Each group is different in their own way and brings UMF an extra flare. BAM expresses themselves through dance styles such as tap, hip hop, clogging, and lyrical. LCP is UMF’s talented improv comedy group, bringing laughter to Lincoln Auditorium regularly. Clefnotes is UMF’s pop vocalist group, singing current and popular songs that students can all sing along to.

While students were filling up Lincoln Auditorium, some students sang along to the music that was playing beforehand. BAM members started to clap to a song and urged the crowd to join in. Soon, the room was filled with a rhythmic beat. The three distinctive groups were dressed in different colors; LCP wore red shirts, BAM wore black and Clefnotes wore their white club shirts.

“We spent a long time figuring out how this would all work out because we weren’t around when it happened in the past,” said Josh Beckett, a junior and co-leader of Clefnotes. “We spent a long time trying to figure out the order of who should perform, but LCP and BAM are easy to work with and really fun.”

“BAM was asked to do the event with LCP and Clefnotes,” said Paige Morrison, a senior BAM member. “Our dance routines were from the past semester dances, so nothing new was revealed before our upcoming shows.”

“Pirates Bust a Clef” started with BAM’s opening number, with the Pirates cheering them on and the crowd roaring in applause. The next performance came from LCP, who played three games; Four Square, Bachelor and Sniper. All three games made the audience laugh so much that they were crying. BAM then came back with a great performance, followed by Clefnotes performing seven songs back to back; Marvin Gay, Say You Won’t Go, Eleven Blocks, Say You Love Me, Counting Stars, Put Your Records On and Skinny Love.

The soloists captivated the crowd, including senior Krystal Livermore. “Most of their songs were really good,” she said, though she lamented one song where it was hard to hear the soloist.

LCP mixed some of their roles up, which threw Livermore off. “They mixed up the people who do their original skits. For example, in Sniper, Jonas [Maines] wasn’t the main guy like he usually is,” Livermore said.

“Pirates Bust a Clef” ended with Clefnotes singing Boondocks by Little Big Town and LCP and BAM joining them up on stage. Everyone was dancing and singing along; it was noticeable that both the audience and the performers had enjoyed their night.

Jonas Maines, a junior LCP member, believed the collaboration was a worthwhile experience. “It was a good experience to get three types of different artistic performances together,” he said. “It is to everyone’s benefit when three different styles come together to see what we all do.”

Livermore loved going to the event because she hasn’t been able to go to a Clefnotes showcase. “I loved the three in one because sometimes it’s hard to attend all of these events when we are so busy,” she said. “It was really great to get to see all three groups perform.”

Editor in Chief: Maxen Ryder Assistant Editor: Ashley Ward