The 2026 Dance Pro showcase will features 15 dance performances in hip-hop, heels, tap, Tahitian and other styles. According to club co-president and choreographer Charlotte Angermeier (senior), around 250 students have prepared for the performances since early Fall 2025. The showcase will be performed three times in Thorne Hall from March 20 to 21.
Dancers, choreographers and the executive board of Dance Pro collaborate to put on the spring show, Angermeier said. Dance Pro rehearsed the full show for the second time March 3.
“The second showing can be a little bit tricky with people running into each other,” Angermeier said. “It’s good energy and nice to finally get your piece completed up on stage.”
According to Angermeier, the choreographers play a vital role in the performance by guiding the dancers through their work.
“The choreographer’s energy and their vision for the piece usually gets a lot of people excited,” Angermeier said. “It becomes contagious.”
Dance Pro co-president Ainsley Shelsta (senior) said her mission as part of leadership is to recreate her positive experiences as a first year in the club, and that her experience as a dancer shaped her leadership style.
“My goal as a president is to make sure that those freshmen, or every dancer, has the same experience that I did, if not an even better experience,” Shelsta said. “I think my role as a dancer helps centralize the mission of the club. That’s why I love Dance Pro; how it’s any style, any dancer, it’s really open for anyone.”
Sophia Celi (senior) has participated in the club since her first year. Celi said the people involved make Dance Pro what it is. According to Celi, there is a lot of freedom in the dances, and dancers are expected to bring their own energy after learning the basics of the dance.
“Dance Pro is only made possible by the people I’m doing it with,” Celi said. “I know that might be a little bit cliché, but it is certainly true.”
According to Celi, the choreographers are a lifeline throughout the process of developing the Dance Pro showcase.
“The choreographers are leaders of inspiration, creativity and artistic expression,” Celi said. “Their teaching is the most elemental form of support that they can give.”
Angermeier said she choreographs based on her music first, then tweaks the dance for her dancers. Dance Pro is a culmination of every person involved trying their best, Angermeier said.
“This club and this community [are] so much bigger than me and any one person,” Angermeier said. “It lays the ground for its own success no matter who’s running it.”
Zuriyah Smith (senior), a four-year choreographer and dancer, said she has learned from her dancers throughout the process of Dance Pro.
“As a trained dancer and perfectionist, it was difficult for me to not micromanage everyone’s independent journey,” Smith said.
Smith said Dance Pro strives to foster a space where you can break through discomfort.
“When I’m with my dancers, I try to encourage a certain discomfort and awkwardness upon first teaching, so they know it’s okay to feel off or weird about it,” Smith said. “That’s how you learn. Once you shed yourself of that pressure, it’s easier to just fully send it.”
Contact Cole Banks at cbanks@oxy.edu
