On Friday, Feb. 15 at 7:30 p.m., Patchwork Players, the Department of Theatre and Dance’s student organization, will be hosting ETSU’s first Dancing with the Bucs, a one-night event inspired by “Dancing With the Stars.” The event will take place in the D.P. Culp Student Center’s ballroom and is open to anyone who wants to enjoy the performances.
“Since Dancing with the Stars has always been something so popular and something that a lot of people enjoy watching, we thought it would be cool to do our little spin-off of it, and people showed a lot of interest in it. So, we’re hoping that this event will really kick us off,” said Molly Burnett, Patchwork’s project manager.
While the event will last only one night, Patchwork and the dance teams have been preparing since last semester.
10 stars were chosen to represent several of the campus’s student organizations, and were then paired with 10 pros, students from Amalgam Dance Company, ETSU’s student-led dance group or students with other dance experience.
“I think one of our big goals is to promote Patchwork Players in general. Like I said, we’ve been trying to really get it back up and running, but also, to be able to bring together all of these different people from all around campus,” Burnett said. “Hopefully, all of those people will bring 10 or 20 of their friends, and then we’ll have everybody in one room, one night, getting to watch people dance and just having fun.”
The event will feature intro videos for each team, their dance routine, a judging panel and at the end of the night, an announcement of the winning pair.
Patchwork hopes to continue Dancing with the Bucs as an annual event in future years, giving more students the chance to be a dancing star.
In addition to Dancing with the Bucs, Patchwork is planning a few more events during the semester that anyone can join. These will include a design competition for those interested in theatre design, as well as a musical revue with the theme “Broadway Backwards,” ranging from gender-bending performances to other unique spins on songs that may typically be performed in a certain way.
Patchwork Players will be having their next meeting on Friday, Feb. 13 from 5-6 p.m. on the 1st floor of Gilbreath Hall, and welcomes anyone interested in learning more about the club or with a love of theatre, regardless of their major.
More about Patchwork Players, along with their future meetings and event dates, can be found on their Instagram @etsupatchwork.
