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Photo by Photos via Kelsey Lagerman

Photo via Kelsey Lagerman

Pure Dance Marquette has set out to produce an upbeat show, while building community and giving back.

Pure’s spring semester showcase, “Peace, Love and Pure Happiness,” will be at the Weasler Auditorium on Sunday, April 17. Performances will be at 12 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Admission is free.

Pure is an on-campus dance group that primarily focuses on continuation of jazz and lyrical dance training. However, its showcase will feature a few other dance styles, including pointe. Pure will have a total of 13 dances.

The showcase will have guest performances from Hype, The Gold ’n Blues and MUsic.

Aside from guest performances, Pure set out to make this show unique through its theme, “Peace, Love, and Pure Happiness.” Pure voted on the theme from a long list of possibilities and has found it to be a big hit in comparison with past themes.

“We try to center all the songs around something regarding (the theme),” Kathleen Orfei, a junior in the College of Health Sciences said. “It makes for a happy show.”

Each dancer is allowed to be in up to six dances. This semester, dancers auditioned for Pure by dance number. Any member of the group can choreograph.

This semester, Pure is comprised of 27 dancers. Each semester the number increases.

“Every year Pure improves,” said Kelsey Lagerman, a senior in the College of Business and co-president of Pure. “With adding new members, we get people with different styles and different backgrounds.”

Pure is a growing force on campus and stresses the importance of team building and camaraderie. Members said that this sets them apart from other groups.

“Pure is different because of the community we have,” said Casey Houlihan, a senior in the College of Health Sciences. “We have Pure sisters, where on show day we give each other a gift as a form as encouragement.”

Show day itself is busy. Everything is set up the day of the show, including costumes, decorations and flowers. Dancers also get pictures taken before the first show.

The team sells flowers and takes donations for each show. All of the proceeds go to Make-a-Wish Foundation, a non-profit organization that grants wishes to children ages three to 17 who have life threatening illnesses.

Like the theme, the philanthropy is different each semester and was voted on by the dancers.

Even though there are new twists each semester, some things remain constant. Costumes are saved to be reused in upcoming shows if needed.

The showcase was scheduled earlier in the semester than it has been in the past, which has proved challenging as it offers less chances to rehearse. The group rehearses twice a week. At times, extra practices were scheduled.

E-board has also tried to improve its publicity to get the word out about the show. They are designing a Snapchat filter and started uses decals on the ground around campus.

Members have found each obstacle rewarding and worth their time. Dancers are excited to show audiences what they have worked on all semester and their overwhelming passion for performing.

“I’ve always loved being on stage, but especially with Pure, it’s a lot of fun to be on stage with such an awesome group of girls,” Houlihan said. “We all love to dance. It’s great to share that with people.”