Participating in summer performing groups is a highly anticipated tradition at Dartmouth, often noted by students as a highlight of sophomore summer.
Full-year members of dance, a capella and theater groups host open auditions early in the term, inviting students from all over campus — many with no experience — to join a performance group for the term. This year, a record number of students auditioned; some groups welcomed nearly 60 new members. For full-year members, summer represents an exciting opportunity to teach, share and engage with a new space that is characterized by creativity and entertainment.
The names of each group riff off of the name of the full year group to create a clever deviation. For the dance groups, Fusion becomes Fission, Razz becomes Razzbery, Sheba becomes Shebalite, Sugarplum becomes Splenda and Ujima becomes Ujimelt. Each of these groups have unique hand signs to signify their membership — again, a variation off the full-year group traditions. Similarly, for a capella groups, the Brovertones become Stepbros, the Dodecaphonics become Summerphonix, the Sings become the Summer Sings and the Subtleties become the Doms. Finally, sketch comedy group Can’t Sell Culture becomes Can’t Rent Culture and improv groups Casual Thursday and Dog Days become Summer Casual Thursday and Dog Days of Summer, respectively.
The majority of the dance and performing groups will be performing at StreetFest on Saturday, July 18, an annual fundraiser hosted by fraternity Phi Delta Alpha. The proceeds from the event will be donated to WISE, a charitable organization in the Upper Valley dedicated to eliminating gender based violence.
For Crystal Wang ’28—a full-year member of Sheba and co-summer director of Shebalite — summer dance has been fun in a “totally different way.”
Sheba, primarily a hip hop group, makes all of their own choreography, costumes and music mixes for their shows, according to co-summer director Vishal Powell ’28. The connections he has made through Sheba have been “the most important” of any at Dartmouth, including with alumni who have since graduated.
Wang applauded those who are stepping out of their comfort zone to join any group, citing the meaningful communities that can be created from trying something new.
“Immersing yourself in a totally new environment can be really daunting. Especially in college I feel like the dance group is almost like a little micro environment that really lets people explore parts of themselves they would have never known,” Wang said.
For the directors of Fission, refining the dances to make them fit the program is essential. Co-director Camille Weinstein ’28 noted that a turn, for example, can be difficult. “We’ll just change something to make it a little more accessible. We also have Fission specific dances meant to be a little bit easier for people who have never danced before,” she explained.
Like other groups, Fission offers its members the opportunity to participate in many social events, such as making pizza at the Dartmouth Organic Farm, formals and events co-hosted with other dance groups.
At StreetFest, Fission will be performing six dances with the theme of the “Teen Beach” movies.
“I think everyone’s favorite is ‘G6’ [the dance to ‘Like a G6’ by Far East Movement and The Cataracs]. Everyone has so much fun — all the dancers do. I think the audience will definitely see that,” said Weinstein.
For contemporary, lyrical and jazz group Sugarplum, summer offers an opportunity to shift gears a bit. Co-summer director Paulina Fomicheva ’28 explained the summer is “a lot more hip hop” because hip hop is “so much easier for beginners to pick up rather than doing something technical.”
Usually around 25 members during the full-year, the summer’s group currently has nearly 40.
“My favorite part has been teaching people who have never danced before and showing them the dance community,” Fomicheva said.
During StreetFest, the group will be dancing to various upbeat pop songs. The group’s theme will be “Mean Girls.”
“I hope it [participating in Splenda] increases people’s confidence. You can learn how to dance in two months,” Fomicheva emphasized.
For Wang, summer dance has been an exciting way to find a new community.
“I just get so excited when I see people in Shebalite who will flash the hand signs at me. It is a lot of work on our end, especially with just us 5 [directors] on campus this summer. But I think seeing how much fun people are having and how Shebalite is a highlight of their summer so far has been such a meaningful part of my Sheba experience,” said Wang.
For Avery Aaronson, co-director of Ujimelt, creating a sense of community is also essential.
“Our name, Ujima, is the third principle of Kwanzaa and means ‘collective work and responsibility,’” she explained. “As we become Ujimelt for the summer, we are taking care to keep our roots in mind and truly embody this sense of teamwork and community that makes us all better.”
Ujimelt’s StreetFest theme is “High School Musical.” The group will be performing 7 dances, 2 of which are performed by Ujima.
“Our Ujimelters have been working so hard and we are seriously so impressed by their talent and passion,” Aaronson added.
The Dodecaphonics are Dartmouth’s oldest gender inclusive a capella group. Ava Tillman-Schwartz ’28, full time member and summer co-president, said she enjoys that there is “less pressure to be super polished and prepared in the summer, which makes things more fun, more lighthearted.”
Summerphonix has various traditions, such as watching the film “Pitch Perfect” and going to dinners before or after rehearsal, referred to as “rah.” Permanent members do not solo over the summer. Instead, 2 to 3 summer members do so per song. The group will be performing 4 arrangements at StreetFest.
Can’t Rent Comedy has 14 summer members. During auditions, Can’t Rent asked people to bring an open-ended monologue or impression. Summer co-president Nick Lutzky ’28 recalled his own audition for Can’t Sell — when he imitated a smoke alarm running low on batteries.
Lutzky said he appreciates the art of sketch comedy, and how the form lends itself to constant revision.
“With a sketch, because you can try something out and see if it’s funny before you run it, there’s a million different ways to do it,” he explained.
While summer performance groups are very much a social space, lots of work goes into teaching the summer group members the technical skills needed to create a strong performance.
“We devote a lot of energy into teaching people how to write sketches, how to block them, how to be in scenes, and getting them comfortable with that,” Lusky said. “The final product doesn’t matter as much… I care a lot more about getting everyone into a sketch.”
Similarly, creating a community is the primary goal for Summerphonix.
“We are putting a lot of attention into making it feel like it’s a social space, especially since we have people from all over — like athletes; we have people who have never sung in their lives; we have people who have been singing since they were three; we have people who probably never would have been friends in the first place. [We are] trying to have people walk away with friendships and a positive view of college a capella,” said Tillman-Schwartz.
For Can’t Rent, getting people involved in the sketching process and performing on stage is essential. Every group member will be writing or co-writing a sketch this summer, and the group will be performing 5 sketches at StreetFest.
Ultimately, “I just want people to feel like they are funny. Because they are,” Lutsky said.
