VIVA LA DANZA – Jessica Sanchez, Lizeth Tirado and Annette Mendivil change the mood with a belly dance during “Viva La Dance!” at SWC’s Mayal Hall. PHOTO BY April Abarrondo
JACKPOT!
Like the Las Vegas strip, audience queued up for “Viva La Dance!” waited under the starlight in a line that snaked from Mayan Hall to Jaguar Walk.
Ol’ Blue Eyes himself would dig it, baby!
When an Elvis impersonator kicked off the show, guests knew the old rules were out of the window.
Each dance incorporated famous hotels from The Strip like an Egyptian fantasy at the Luxor and Smooth Water at the Bellagio. Some titles slapped the name of a hotel that was not already being used like Tainted Eyes at the Wynn or Sick Cycle at the MGM Grand Arena.
Dancers of Voice of the Mirage showed their poker face while depicting evil overpowering good. A lavender screen behind the dancers softened the acrobatic movements, symbolizing the struggle between right and wrong. During the middle of the routine, some dancers revealed their hole cards and weaved in a flag sequence to romanticize the evil with the dancers. Most of the performers in this dance were advanced and showed they were not bluffing. They kept their audience rapt by smoothly like sexy cigarette girls working the room.
“Noche de Fiesta en el Circus Circus” shuffled the deck with a lively ballet folklórico. Dancers stomped about in crocodile skin boots and florid costumes from Nuevo León. Passive music led dancers through the number, but the true rhythm of the performance was the syncopated stomping of boots that transformed the stage into a bass drum. Of all the performances, this was the best and highlighted SWC’s richly diverse student body.
“A Moment Of NV at the Tropicana” showcased the Latin dance known as bachata, which involves advanced partner footwork with a kiss of sex appeal. Female dancers spiced up the performance with white-fringed costumes that glided with every turn.
This dance had a great sense of style, though the performers soft-played the intense footwork and the fast pace of the Latin dance, overplaying sex.
Audience members were all in when “Egyptian Fantasy at the Luxor” performed a hotly- lit belly dance. Three dancers with candle lit trays balanced on their heads rolled their midsections in sexy circles. As they hypnotized the audience with their movement, each dancer used tight footwork to saunter over the stage.
At one point the dancers lined up behind each other and swayed their arms side to side like a shimmering Shiva amid the twinkling lights on a hot Nevada night. “Viva La Dace,” as Sinatra would say, was a hit, baby!
