FlyPeople to give sweet show

Imagine this: a lavish all-you-can-eat buffet of cheesecake, fruit tarts, decadent chocolates, delicious candies, mouthwatering brownies and heavenly raspberry-filled cakes. Sounds like a dessert lover's dream, right? Well, on Feb. 12 at 7 p.m., FlyPeople will turn this fantasy into a reality with their annual fundraising event, Pour Some Sugar on Me, hosted in the College Center's Villard Room. The sweet treats will no doubt entice all attendees. However, they will certainly not be the only attraction. "It's three hours of music, dancing and dessert," said Sophie Laird '10, a veteran member of FlyPeople.

A jazz duo will set the scene with some boogie tunes; The Vastards, The Minstrels and The Devils will each take the stage throughout the night; Vassar Ballroom will perform; and, of course, FlyPeople has a little something up their sleeve as well.

"This event is one of the few times we get to bring back dances from past years that fit the Valentine's Day theme," said Joey Army '10, a member of FlyPeople. "We'll be doing three or four dances that are already in our repertoire this year," added Laird. "We'll do the ‘Bad Romance' piece we performed at the rave, we'll do ‘Down,' a happy hip-hop piece, and we'll do a dance to a remix of Britney Spears' song ‘Toxic,'" she said.

Laird choreographed "Toxic" herself. She describes it as "a thrashy, sexy ex-girlfriend sort of dance," adding "the dance is about wanting someone in a really longing, kind of crazy way. It's like the bad ending of something good on Valentine's Day."

Although many of the dances may have romantic undertones, the event is definitely not just for lovebirds. "If you have a date, it's fun to come and share a dessert. If you don't, it's just as fun to come with your friends. It's an event for everyone," said Laird.

Pour Some Sugar on Me will be a night of entertainment, indulgence and fun, but it's also an opportunity for FlyPeople to raise money and grow as a dance company. The event was started four years ago to raise money for FlyPeople members to attend workshops and perform at Disney World over Spring Break.

"We attend a three-hour workshop and learn routines that the professional dancers do in the Disney parks, then we have a mock audition," said Laird. "The workshop teaches us a lot about how to go into an audition professionally, how to pick up choreography quicker and how to perform instead of just dancing," she added. "We get experience and the opportunity to perform some of our dances on-stage in downtown Disney."

The Disney trip is a testament to the fact that FlyPeople is constantly growing as a serious dance company. When FlyPeople started, they practiced in the Villard Room or Rockefeller Hall and performed in the second floor of the Students' Building. Now they perform in the Frances Daly Fergusson Dance Theater and uses practice rooms in Kenyon Hall.

"Getting a theater space to perform in, combined with the dedication of our artistic directors and the talented people who dance, FlyPeople has come a long way. We're definitely getting more serious," said Army.

"The dancers keep getting better, the choreography keeps getting better, and the styles keep changing," Laird added. "We do everything from jazz, hip-hop, modern, lyrical, ballet, point, tap and Broadway. We've done Irish hard-shoe, and we're going to be doing some stepping this semester," she said.

Clearly, FlyPeople is serious about dancing and perhaps just as serious about desserts.