'Past, Present, Future' Focus of Riddim Show

Author: Abbie Beanne

On the first clear, warm night in several days, the air was laden with spirited energy, infectious sexuality and Jamaican chicken. Amidst marble-colored clusters of balloons strung with iridescent ribbon, black and silver draperies and tasty foreign food stood an enormous crowd struggling to find extra chairs and pulsating to the rhythmic beats of popular and techno music, which would soon provide the inspiration for numerous amazing acts, ranging from the provocative to the truly unique.

As a bright blue bulb illuminated the curtains, a voice off-stage proclaimed: "We are our past, but we have new thoughts with new ideas. We play in the present and form our future, building a blueprint for those after us." These were the words imparted at the commencement of the spring 2002 Riddim show "Past, Present, Future" last Saturday night as a benefit to the Angels Fund, etablished in honor of the four students, formerly members of Riddim, who passed away in April 2000.

The troupe currently has 30 members, all part of the 80 member Riddim World Dance Club. The show included not only forms of dancing, lindy hopping and bombshell stepping but singing and juggling as well. The opening dance, "What It's Like To Be Me" elicited a succession of catcalls from the audience and ignited the energy in the room. The choreographer of this piece, Lanford Beard '04, explained that the most difficult part of choreography is teaching the dances and "explaining the moves to a group so that everyone can do it the way you see it in your head, because everyone approaches dances from different perspectives."

From the looks of these incredible moves, however, it seemed that the ideal image was achieved, as were those in the acts that followed, adding more fuel to the flames. Especially flammable was the second piece, choreographed by David Yi '04, featuring (among others) Yi and Morgan Jones '04, who are known within the troupe as the "resident break dancing/popping-and-locking experts," which involved spectacular break-dancing and even some tantalizing clothing removal.

Other particularly popular numbers included a sensual song and sassy attitude compliments of Mailyssa Gueray-Adodo '02, who sang "Tyrone" by Erykah Badu, and Middlebury College's master of entertainment, Brian Pletcher '04, who mesmerized the audience with his popular contact juggling. Surprisingly, Pletcher only practices for about an hour every couple of days now, a significant decrease from his earlier practicing days. When asked why he became interested in contact juggling, he said, "It just seemed like an interesting and different thing to do."

Other performances included a traditional Indian dance by Mallika Kao '05, who is not in the troupe, and a visiting group from Brazil called Capoeira de Brasil. The latter has already made several appearances at the College and each time has rendered the audience speechless with their radical gymnastic stunts and intense musical style, which is a collaboration between drums and feet.

One other number, which spawned an uproar within the audience, was "Oops ... I Did It Again," originated by Britiny Spears, and performed by Associate Professor of German and Associate Provost for Institutional Diversity Roman Graf, Brainerd Commons Residential Assistant Anna Benvenuto, Associate Dean of Student Affairs Kathy Foley-Giorgio and Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Karen Guttentag. Graf commented, "If I had the oppertunity to do something like this 20 years ago, I might have chosen a different profession."

"Foley came up with the idea," said Benvenuto, "because she thought it would be a fun way to honor [Riddim's graduating seniors] and give something back." As one member of the Riddim troupe reminded the audience after this number, "Three dollars for a 'panther burger;' watching faculty dance: priceless."

Yet, the finale, said Beard, "really embodied what Riddim seeks to do with dance," alluding to the piece choreographed by Toni Spence '04, Beard described as having "several different layers and movements, which all came together at the end."

Founder of the Middlebury College Riddim troupe Tessa Waddell '02 explained that the title of the show, "Past, Present, Future," symbolizes the growth of the organization."

She continued, "It's kind of like seeing your child grow up and letting it loose to the world. I have to let go of Riddim and let other people shape it."

The original board, consisting of six seniors, including Waddell and her "right-hand," Eve Coronado '02, will be graduating this year.

Waddell concluded, "It is obvious that we are more than just a group of people dancing. We are a big family. We love to dance, we love to dance together and we love to dance for you."