BEMIDJI — Bemidji State dancers, alumni and local dance groups performed in the BSU Gymnasium on Thursday to kick off the 78th season of Funtastic Dance Follies, a three-day show set to continue through Saturday.
The annual event showcases routines from BSU groups including the dance team, cheer team, swing club and ballroom club, as well as alumni.
A different local dance program is also featured each night, with First City Dance Studio performing on Thursday, Just for Kix on Friday and Fusion Center on Saturday.
With so many dance styles highlighted throughout the program, Follies co-director Suzy Langhout expressed that the audience can expect an entirely unique show each year.
“The show is open to all BSU students, staff and alumni, so we never really know where the numbers are going to come from,” she said. “Sometimes people have a group of friends that get together and say ‘Hey, we should do this.’ It’s meant to be open to everybody, and so we have kind of a real eclectic group of people usually.”
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Students in BSU’s dance clubs spend the first part of the school year building their skills before putting together routines and choosing their songs for the Follies shows.
Dancers then put the final touches on their numbers in the two weeks leading up to the three-day showcase.
Though routines and songs typically change throughout the years, one number is pretty much a staple in the show.
Titled “Beep Beep,” the skit-like chase scene has consistently been a fan-favorite performance since it debuted in the 70s.
“It was two guys, and they were wrestlers if I remember right. They put the little number together and thought it was so fun,” Suzy said about the skit's origin. “It went for a couple of years and then it kind of died out. As we were watching shows one year, somebody said we should bring back ‘Beep Beep,’ so it came back in 1989 and it has not left since.”
Though it’s a long-running part of the show, “Beep Beep” is never quite the same as the year before, so audiences won't know exactly what to expect.
“Every year, somebody comes to me and says ‘I’ve got an idea for ‘Beep Beep,’” Suzy said with a laugh. “It’s got a little bit of a different twist to it this year.”
Creativity and self-expression
Follies co-director and Suzy’s husband, Hondo, said that the main appeal of the show is that it gives new dancers a chance to perform on a stage, often for the first time.
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“My first year in the show I had never been on stage, so it was a big deal,” Hondo said. “That’s the same for most of our students, they’ve never been on stage before and it’s their first chance to try something like this.”
With many of the dancers being new to the performance scene, Suzy and Hondo strive to create a welcoming and comfortable atmosphere where participants can express themselves and have fun.
“With that comes a little bit of that stage fright and it’s just a different energy,” Suzy said about the show. “It’s kind of like going into a final, thinking you’re prepared but maybe not quite prepared. It’s just a different energy that hits the stage because they are all pretty much new dancers.”
While many Follies participants are dancers taking the stage for the first time, some choose to stay behind the scenes and use their skills to help the show run smoothly.
“Some people are kind of afraid to get on stage and so they’ll either help behind the stage or help set things up or they’ll run the spotlights,” Suzy said. “Some just like to be on the set-up or tear-down crew.”
Directors, dancers, choreographers and behind-the-scenes helpers all working together to put on the three-day show might sound like a daunting task.
But for Suzy and Hondo, what makes the event come together is seeing dancers express themselves on stage and show off the skills they've learned.
“The best part is that the students get to input their creativity,” Hondo said. “It’s about them expressing themselves and trying something they’ve never done before.”
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Additional shows are set for 7 p.m. on Friday, April 21, and Saturday, April 22. Tickets can be purchased at the door and cost $10 for general admission, $5 for youth, $5 for seniors and BSU alumni, and free for BSU students and children under two.
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