'We're so open arms': Blank Canvas puts on fall showcase

The dance world is known for its competitive nature and high intensity training. However, for UNC dance company Blank Canvas, performing is more than technique and skill.

Blank Canvas is UNC’s largest student-run dance company, with nearly 250 members.

On Nov. 24, the company held its 2024 Fall showcase in the Beasley-Curtis Auditorium at Memorial Hall. The show featured 26 dance numbers choreographed by 29 students, and included multiple costume and lighting changes, with styles ranging from contemporary, to tap, to musical theatre. Audience members showed up in droves, filling both levels of the auditorium.

The dance company prides itself on welcoming anyone who wants to dance. 

“So something with Blank Canvas is you could have no dance experience, or you could have a bunch of dance experience,” President of Blank Canvas Morgan Whiteside said. “We have all different styles, all different levels. So we actually do have a lot of dancers who have never danced one day in their life, and this would be their first showcase.”

Some dancers have previous experience in competitive dance and have rediscovered their passion for the sport in the inclusive community of Blank Canvas. 

The organization's Treasurer Mattie Naples transferred from the University of South Carolina to UNC after her first year. She joined Blank Canvas soon afterward and found its different approach to dance refreshing.

“All the dance clubs at South Carolina were really competitive, and it was five rounds of auditions,” Naples said. “That's what I think is so special about Blank Canvas. We're so open arms.”

Naples said she felt comfortable doing what she loved without stress or pressure at Blank Canvas. 

“Everyone here always pushes myself to be the best version I can, and will hype me up in practice, and that just makes me want to do even better,” Naples said.

The showcase started promptly at 5:30 p.m. and opened with a jazz routine to “The Beautiful People" by Christina Aguilera. The rest of the first half featured 12 distinct dances, including a modern dance to “United in Grief” by Kendrick Lamar, contemporary to “AMERIICAN REQUIEM" by Beyoncé, and jazz to “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson. 

Some numbers included up to 50 dancers on stage. 

Large dances, however, did not mean individuals were eclipsed by the shadows of other performers. Members took turns funneling on and off the stage during a number, and different people were given their time to shine during a solo moment or in the front row.

In between the dance numbers, awards for technique and improvement were presented to dancers and choreographers. These awards were a testament to the hard work Blank Canvas dancers put in all semester.

To prepare, the organization uses a unique rehearsal schedule curated to cater to each individual. 

“You can sign up from one to eight dances, different styles,” Whiteside said. “They meet at different times during the week, we ask that every dance you sign up for is a 45-minute commitment rehearsal each week. So you could have two, you could have eight — each one is 45 minutes.”

Some dancers, like sophomore Media and Journalism major Caylah Pearson, see this extracurricular as a release from the rigorous academic atmosphere of UNC.

“I feel like dance is like the most therapeutic part of my schedule,” Pearson said. “Like, honestly, that's like the easiest thing to commit to outside of school, because it's fun and it's something I've always been passionate about.” 

Pearson is one of many who share that sentiment. In the middle of the show, dancers shared video testimonials about how the company helped them start or rediscover a love for dance and make friends along the way.

Following an intermission, the second half of the show was just as explosive as the first, with routines including a musical theatre piece to “Money Money Money” from Mamma Mia!, and a tap number. They wrapped up the night with a Bruno Mars hip-hop and jazz dance mashup.

All dancers were met with boisterous applause at curtain call.  

With a night of dancing over, the dancers concluded their show with the audience singing and swaying with them.

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