By now you probably noticed that there’s a CREA show going on about every week, whether it’s dancing, singing or comedy, the students of CREA courses get the chance to showcase their hard-earned skills in front of their loved ones, friends, family, and of course, one random YOUvA Today journalist: yours truly.  After all, no true passion project is complete without the unsolicited judgment of strangers on the internet. So, without further ado, here are our thoughts on the ‘Movement into focus’ show at CREA this Saturday.

For those unfamiliar with CREA dance shows, the room is intimate, the crowd only a few meters away from the performance. The dancers themselves were divided by genre into three distinct moments. The show began with a ballet-inspired performance complete with soaring music and enough leaps and twirls to impress even the fittest of audience members. This was followed by a style inspired by jazz dancing, where the simple black costumes and neutral lighting of the previous performance were replaced by warm tones, still-image projections and the orchestral music switched to an eerie, percussion-heavy mix of sounds and lingering silence. 

Finally, the last group once again turned the evening on its head with a hip-hop number, clad in fluorescent tights and neon-bright shirts, striking makeup shining in the dim glow of the ultraviolet lights. What was almost as delightful as the performance itself was the aftermath, as excited dancers and their choreographers mingled with friends, family and random audience members in the bar area of CREA. 

Far from professionals, teachers, students, sociology majors and dentists stood around, some still in costume, each one of them grinning infectiously at the thrill of having the hard work of 18 weeks finally come to fruition in a stunning performance.

Photographer: Juliette de Groot