Starting on Friday, Dec. 5 and spanning to Saturday, Dec. 7 the Liberty Dance program held a production of their own rendition of “A Christmas Carol.” The concert follows two female lead characters, including Elizabeth Scrooge and Jacqueline Marley who were played by senior Lancers Claire Koch and Bayli Fuchs.
Both Koch and Fuchs have been involved in the performing arts all four years in high school and have been involved in multiple productions together throughout their time. However, this was their first time having the two main leads of a concert.
The concert featured key changes to the traditional storyline of Scrooge’s tale, as characters such as Belle (Scrooge’s love interest in the films) was portrayed rather as a childhood best friend of Scrooge and Marley. The changes did not affect the show in a negative way as Fuchs stated, “I’m honestly really proud of it and I think it was really cool.”
Sharing the stage as the leads of this classic story was important as the two girls are also best friends outside of the show. “It’s always special every time we get to be together on the stage,” Koch explained.
Fuchs followed this sentiment vocalizing her gratitude she holds to the theatre department for supplying her with opportunities to perform. “ Our freshman year we were in the highest level of our dance team and we are the only two to be involved in Scarlet elite [the top level of dance] for all four years. It was definitely significant for us that this was our last time getting to do it and it was hard to say goodbye,” said Fuchs.
The Dance program also held a special show for Dance 1 on Thursday, Nov. 4. These early performances are important to the dance program because of their ability to make new dancers more comfortable on stage and prepared for the more advanced shows that lay ahead of them. According to Fuchs, “The story is a lot shorter, and some pieces are less present…However for many of them it’s their first time dancing and they can experience the show as well as learn from us.”
Performing arts have been a crucial part to many dancers at Liberty, and being able to participate has been a way to relax and find time for something they enjoy. For Koch dance is,” kind of like our mental health spot. It’s where we’re comfortable, where we have friends, and where we have found that we really belong.”
The goal in holding concerts for the Dance community has been to make more people comfortable in performing dance and find a way of expressing themselves in a unique form in a low stress environment. “It has helped me express my emotions in such a beautiful way… I love it so much,” explained Fuchs.
Dance is not finished as the department is planning to continue their shows before the year concludes. In a closing remark, Koch stated,”Come support the performing arts! We have Scarborough coming up as well as ‘Little Women’ on April 30 and May 1.”
