Professors will strut their stuff at SRU’s dance show
Slippery Rock University professors will hit the dance floor, some for the very first time, to benefit students at “Dancing with the SRU Stars” Wednesday night.
The performance takes after the popular ABC network show where celebrities are taught the art of dance by professionals. In SRU’s version, the dance students become the teachers, pairing with professors and staff to perform a routine before a panel of judges.
Rachel Male, president of the National Honor Society for Dance Arts at SRU, said five faculty and student pairings have been rehearsing since mid-November for the competition, and the proceeds will benefit the winning student.
“What this event is actually doing, is the student in the winning couple will receive a scholarship toward their tuition and fees,” she said. “I think everyone’s feeling good about it. No one has said they feel nervous. It’ll be a fun, low-stress performance.”
During the event, audiences will be shown videos of the rehearsal process for each team to see how much work went into the performances. The judges will be dance professors and professor contestants from years past.
Contestant Jeremy Lynch, professor of special education, said he began rehearsing with no previous dance experience.
“I was terrified at first; I had no idea what I was doing,” he said of his first rehearsal with exercise science and dance major Jade Daniels. “Learning how to modern dance is a challenge. It’s fast. She’d show me something and make it look incredibly easy, and it took me an hour to learn.”
Lynch said “Dancing with the SRU Stars” has been an eye-opening experience.
“This is one of the few times I can show up and people tell me what to do and when to do it. I get to just sit back and learn,” he said.
Male said the event was postponed during the height of the pandemic. This is the fifth “Stars” event in the university’s history.
“I think it’s so great to have people take the stage again and also help our winner in their creative endeavors at SRU,” she said.
The best part about his dancing debut is how fun it is, Lynch said, and the fun is something the community should come experience Wednesday night.
“We get to do something we’ve never done before in front of people we work with and students we teach,” he said. “It’s going to be fun.”
The event will take place at 7 p.m. in the studio theater at Stoner Instructional Complex on campus. Tickets are $10 for the public and $5 for SRU students.
