SWC is almost ready to ‘Bring It On’

The arts department at Southwestern College does the perfect job portraying impartiality and diversity in its upcoming play “Bring It On.”

The play explores themes of equity and inclusion as well as those of privilege, race, and gender.

As a multicultural dancer and full-time student at Southwestern College, Jovani Chavez is a perfect example of this. Chavez will play Twig from the Jackson Squad, which are the more diverse and lower-class cheerleaders from the play. He connects to his character in that like him, Twig is a multicultural young boy who is creative and wants fairness and equality.

“This show pertains to acknowledging people of color as well as how the equality of this campus should be according to how the show demonstrates it,” Chavez said.

Acknowledging LGBTQIA people, Black Lives Matter and diversity in general are the biggest messages of this musical. In fact, all dancers in the show have different backgrounds, nationalities and genders. 

This play is not like any other that has been done at SWC. It is not just a show based on cheer and winning a prize, there’s much more meaning and emotion behind it.

This musical’s focus is to show the beauty of different backgrounds and the understanding individuals have towards one another.

Diversity is also shown through the dance styles. While cheer is more about stunts and firm tosses, hip hop includes more fluid dancing with an emphasis on sudden and loud movements.

This is the first time dance choreographer Dana Maue has worked with a cheer coach and used the styles of both dances to keep the theme. With a total of 24 songs throughout the entire musical, the dancers practice four days a week to perfect their performances. Being that not all dancers are cheerleaders, they are constantly learning a variety of new dance routines, cheer moves, stunts and tumbling.

However, the amount of practice has been difficult for some of the cast as a lot of full-time students are involved in the show. Since the first few practices at least six to seven dancers have dropped. However, being a part of a play while juggling with school or work helps students learn to multi-task.

“The good thing about musicals is that students leave knowing how to dance sing and act,” Maue said.

Participating in musicals can be beneficial for students because they realize they have abilities and strengths they did not even know they had. There are many dance majors who graduate knowing how to do more than just dance, and as many music majors who leave knowing how to cheer and act.

Maue said what makes her job as a choreographer worth the hard work is when she gets to see students  new found confidence show itself on stage. When organizing choreography and choosing the roles the students will be playing, Maue tries to challenge students in a way that will be embraced in the show. She does not put anyone out of their comfort zone but rather tries to make everyone feel confident with their choreographies.

What makes this musical stand out is that the music, theatre and dance department are all working in unison. The personal connection with all of the students is stronger compared to other plays. Because there are so many people involved in this play, it is almost as if they have become a family by the time the show is over. 

“I think of two words that come to mind when I watch this musical, acceptance and friendship,” Maue said.