The lights dimmed, the sound of an Irish fiddle filled the air, and cheers radiated from the crowd as Boston College Irish Dance (BCID) began the first of 16 dances for its annual showcase.
BCID held its 17th annual showcase, this year named the “Éire’s Show” as a play on Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour,” in Robsham Theater on Thursday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. The showcase featured 16 BCID dance numbers and three guest performances by the Dance Organization of Boston College (DOBC), Synergy, and BC Dance Ensemble (BCDE).
The showcase was an overall high-energy experience, with dances choreographed to energetic songs like Alex Newell & DJ Cassidy’s “Kill The Lights,” Lady Gaga’s “The Edge Of Glory,” and, of course, Swift’s “You Belong With Me.”
“Kill The Lights,” choreographed by Sarah Keefe, MCAS ’24 and Meghan Drew, MCAS ’24, got the audience into the spirit of the show. BCID performed intricate choreography, while staying in sync, and the audience clapped along to the beat of the well-known song, occasionally cheering out in support of their friends.
Another notable dance, “You Belong With Me,” was choreographed by Alexa Barrett, CSOM ’24, and stayed true to BCID’s overall Taylor Swift showcase pun. The dance was set beautifully and skillfully, and lived up to the reputation of such a well-known song. The choreography displayed how pop music can be set to Irish step dance, and allowed the audience to appreciate it in a new way.
BCID also performed its annual routine to “I’m Shipping up to Boston,” by Dropkick Murphys, which this year was choreographed by Margaret Hunt, MCAS ’24 and Emma Stolpe, MCAS ’24. Doing a routine to “Shipping” is a tradition for BCID, and this routine, coupled with its costume choice of wearing shirts displaying various Boston sports teams, was a fantastic way to continue the tradition and excite the audience for act two.
Another notable routine was BCID’s well-known “a cappella” dance tradition, which was choreographed by Keefe and Barrett this year. While the routine started with about 30 seconds of music, the only noise was the in-sync steps of BCID once the music shut off.
The audience was captivated, watching every perfectly coordinated step. Each dance was engaging, but this one demonstrated the high caliber of BCID.
The three guest performances from DOBC, Synergy, and BCDE each brought unique styles to the stage. Their inclusion in the showcase was a wonderful way to add some unexpected, but welcome, surprises to the show. Each of the groups, beyond their talent, contributed a different type of energy and passion that radiated to the audience.
Near the end of the showcase, the BCID seniors performed a special dance choreographed by Stolpe. It showed how impactful BCID has been for each of the seniors on the team, and it was an emotional moment for both the dancers and audience to be able to witness these girls performing with one another in their final showcase.
The finale, which was to “Carousel” by Beoga and was choreographed by Hunt and Stolpe, featured the entire BCID team, and was a fresh blend of traditional Irish dancing with modern choreography, something BCID is known for. It delivered a strong end to a spirited showcase.
BCID’s “Éires Show” was an energetic and exciting performance to see and combined traditional dance with engaging songs. Whether it was the intricacy of the dances, the spirited song choices, or the pure joy the dancers showed onstage with one another, it was a performance that proved how relevant, and purely fun, Irish dance can be.
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