The fall dance show was added to the ensemble’s calendar this year in hopes of promoting the spring show.  As the first ever fall showcase, the November 15^th performance will act as a teaser to the larger show in the spring.  Dance Ensemble Co-President, Shannon Stahl, says, “So many people go to the see the show at the end of the year we thought it would be a great idea to give them another opportunity to see what the dance ensemble does ahead of time.”

Those who attend the performance will see a one to one and a half minute dance performance from each class in the ensemble. Each class will perform a choreographed dance on stage. With 15 styles of dance, there is sure to be something for everyone: hip-hop, Latin, musical theatre, ballet, African, tap, modern, jazz, Irish soft and hard, acro, competition, Country, and couples country.

With 160 members involved, the Dance Ensemble is one of the largest student run organizations on campus. Stahl uses the ensemble as a place to hang out with friends while doing what she loves.  Stahl says, “Dancing has always been a part of my life and I love that I have had the opportunity to continue it here at college.”  She helps to run all meetings and organize events the ensemble takes part in.  Along with the duties of being president, Stahl also teaches Advanced Jazz, is in the Latin and Ballet classes, and competes with the competition team.

The university’s competition team is composed of a group of 20 committed girls from the ensemble that compete every year at the Garden State Invitational.  For the past two years, the BU team has taken home first place at this competition, as well as a “Most Crowd Appeal” award at last year’s event. In addition to the invitational, the team has performed at the Special Olympics and in the Homecoming parade.  In upcoming weeks they will perform at Treefest, a local charity event that donates trimmed Christmas trees to less fortunate families.

If two competition titles and a “Most Crowd Appeal” award cannot convince you to come to the show, then maybe some brownies will! In addition to the dances at this fall showcase, the ensemble plans to raise funds by selling baked goods and Bloomsburg University Dance Ensemble t-shirts on the night of the performance. Come out and enjoy the music and performances Sunday, November 15, at 7 pm in the Kehr Union Ballroom!

Front page photo courtesy of http://organizations.bloomu.edu/dance/

Check out this video from last year’s spring showcase!

Each child receives two large toys, two small toys, a game, a book, a stuffed animal and a bag of stocking stuffers from the donations by people like you. Toys must be unopened in the original wrapper or still have the tag on. Even though the economy is struggling, children still should experience a normal holiday season as much as possible. Last year TFT helped over 4,300 families, and with the number of toys growing each year, the organization hopes to help around 4,500 families.

Even though we are all college student and struggling for money, try and put some money aside for less fortunate children in our area. We were all kids once, so we know what it feels like to experience the holiday season with presents. So please try and donate a toy or two to the on campus or off campus drop off locations if possible and put a smile on someone’s face during this holiday season.

courtesy of http://www.campustheatre.org/

Why are all of these people dressed in strange clothes in a line outside of a movie theatre? Because they’re waiting to buy tickets for the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

For those Rocky Horror virgins out there, this Halloween cult phenomenon is a musical comedy that parodies horror and science fiction films. The premise of the movie tails a couple in distress. They get a flat tire and knock on the nearest door for help. The couple is then thrown into the house of a bizarre doctor, where they observe a strange and sexually ambiguous atmosphere.

The movie is usually a big hit with audience members.  The general consensus is that most people are aware of the film’s existence.  However it’s not very safe to say that most people have seen the film, or experienced it at midnight on Halloween.

There are some who have simply rented the DVD and watched it at home, but that might not be the way to go. Penn Tech student Rachel Putterman has some experience with this issue.  Putterman made last year’s Halloween her first trip to see the movie in theatres. She had rented it and wasn’t the biggest fan, but all of her friends told her she had to see it in theatres.  Putterman said “I thought I still wouldn’t like it, but it was so much better participating in the whole thing when you’re in the movie theatre.”

Courtesy of http://www.campustheatre.org/

A seasoned veteran Mike Andrews, who has attended for three consecutive years, is planning on making this year his fourth.  Andrews is a college student at Susquehanna University who’s been going to this event with friends ever since his high school years.  He said, “You really have to go in with an open mind and just try to have fun, cause the whole thing is pretty chaotic, but in a good way.”

Andrews is bringing a few of his college friends along, and most of them are first-timers like Kyle Header.  Header said “It should be pretty funny, my girlfriend’s lending me some of her clothes.” Header won’t be the only guy there dressed in female’s clothing.  The show doesn’t start until 11:00 pm, but the line starts to build about an hour before.  The entire block fills up with people who look like they might be working the corner.  It may be a shocking visual for the uninformed by-passer.

Once you get into the theatre and the show starts, there is a lot more to get used to.  Every theatre has their own specific rules and regulations to keep things from getting out of control.  But aside from that, you’re free to do things you might not be able to any other time in a movie theatre.  The event is interactive and allows for some pretty outrageous behavior. Andrews explains that “You can yell profanities out at random times and throw rice around the room, it’s pretty much a given that things will get sloppy.”

There’s a list of items the newcomer to the Rocky Horror scene should bring along to be properly prepared.  The more popular items on the list include rice and toast for throwing, water bottles or water guns for obvious purposes, and newspapers as a defense mechanism from all the chaotic elements of the show.  As Andrews explained earlier, thing’s really do get sloppy in the theatre.

So for the adventurous college student out there looking for something new and different this Halloween, the Rocky Horror Picture Show might be just the ticket.

Many fans stuck out the cold weather, and trust me it was freezing. Despite the frigid weather and pouring rain the Huskie Football Team came out with a victory over Cheyney 28-6.

Panelists include state Sen. John R. Gordner and Superior Court Judge Correale F. Stevens, along with Jeffrey R. Beard, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, and Deborah B. McDivitt, director of finance, Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts. The panelists will discuss the cost of government in today’s climate of escalating budgets and the increasing number of services demanded of courts and the justice system in both civil and criminal matters.

This event is sponsored by the Bloomsburg University departments of finance and legal studies, political science, and sociology, social work and criminal justice, as well as the Montour County League of Voters.

This forum is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Mark L. Usry, associate professor of finance and legal studies, at (570) 389-4796 or musry@bloomu.edu.

BU Professor Jeanette Keith will speak on “Mosquitoes, Environments and the Social Construction of Yellow Fever” Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 7 p.m. in the BU’s Andruss Library, Schweiker Room. The lecture is free and open to the public.

In 1878, a major yellow fever epidemic swept through the Mississippi Valley, killing more than 18,000 people. It is now known that yellow fever is spread by a variety of mosquito with very specific environmental needs; in 1878, that discovery had not yet been made.  Historically, when the origins of a disease are unknown, humans construct socially useful stories to explain who gets sick and who dies.

For more information, contact David S. Heineman, assistant professor of communications, at (570) 389-4188 or dheinema@bloomu.edu.