By JORIE MEIL – This past weekend marked the annual Sue Hewitt Dance Studio Dancers with Heart and Sole charity show at the Indiana High school. On January 20th, students with a variety of talents performed to support local charities. This year’s profits went towards Family Promise and the Care Center.
This year’s show was a huge success. The studio raised $6,300 for the two charities. The money was raised from ticket sales, concessions, and the DWHAS t-shirts that the dancers donated money for.
The Indiana Care center is an organization that is devoted to helping neglected and abused children, and Family Promise is an organization devoted to helping less fortunate families. Both organizations expressed their gratitude to the performers and audience.
The driving force behind all of this is Sue Hewitt, studio owner and teacher. She organizes the event, choreographs many numbers, and inspires her students to give back to the community while doing what they love. Hewitt states, “This year was an excellent show, we had a great audience, and I was very proud of my dancers.”
Dancers from the studio had the opportunity to perform with their dance classes throughout the show. Also, the dancers could choreograph their own dances either by themselves or with friends. IHS seniors Halle Angelo, Jessica Cash and Kristen Forrester performed and choreographed a dance to the song, “Waves.”
An enthusiastic Angelo, who also sang and played ukulele on a mash-up of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “What a Wonderful World” expressed, “I like that I get to dance and choreograph my own dances as well as perform on stage with my friends to benefit others.”
The show offered a variety of acts. The large majority of the acts were dance related, but high school students are allowed to showcase other talents as well. IHS’s own dance team performed two numbers, and senior Joel Moore performed a violin piece. Other acts included vocalists, piano players, and a flutist.
This year’s Dancers with Heart and Sole charity show lived up to the anticipation set by previous years. Performers and audience members alike enjoyed the experience. Senior dancer Sydney Shearer said, “I love participating in DWHAS because it gives me a chance to showcase something I love to do with a fantastic group of people.”
This year’s show was a great success, here’s to more good years to come.
[Photo by Kim Forrester]
Caption: IHS dancers (right to left) Liz Denver, Kristen Forrester, Jessica Cash, Maeve Morris, Mia Lenzi and Sydney Shearer perform “Look Through My Eyes” at this year’s DWHAs event.
