The Prestigious Pardettes’ fourth annual spring showcase was meant to be hosted on a stage on the Quad, but plans were thwarted by a Saturday filled with rain. Nevertheless, as red curtains hugged the elevated stage and bright lights illuminated the performers, an ecstatic audience filled the back court of the main gym in Kirby Sports Center to support the student hip-hop and majorette dance group.
“This definitely has been our biggest turnout,” Pardettes co-captain Amaree King ‘26 said. The 120 available chairs were filled quickly, with another 40 filling the aisles.
The stage hosted nearly 30 performances from the Pardettes, Lafayette College Dance Company, Salsa Club and guest performers. Three groups from Muhlenberg College came to perform: SOL, its first Latin and Caribbean dance group, Mayhem Step, the step team and Poised Ivy, the college’s first majorette dance team.
The theme of the showcase, “Icons Edition,” was brought to life by co-captains Ariana Welch ‘26 and Jasmine Williams ‘27 as a spin on the showcase’s theme in 2022, which was inspired by Beyoncé’s 2018 Coachella performance.
“Jasmine just started spitballing ideas, like we should do Michael Jackson, Prince, Britney Spears, Whitney Houston — all these musical icons,” Welch said.
The Pardettes kickstarted the showcase with an ecstatic dance to Spears’ hit “Gimme More,” wearing white dress shirts and red ties, before more Pardette pieces in smaller groups, solos and duets.
They switched into sparkly gold suits and once more into jeans and white tops.
“We were trying to give like a 2000s Aaliyah look with the jeans and the tanks,” Williams said.
Dance Company performed in all black and sparkles to the tunes of a dance-pop mix. Both Salsa Club and Poised Ivy brought a pop of colour, with red fringe skirts and bright red and sparkly suits, respectively.
The Pardettes partnered with Muhlenberg earlier this semester during Black History Month.
“SOL blew us away, and we were like, we have to have them at our showcase,” King said.
“We wanted to include popular icons like Bad Bunny, but we also wanted to highlight artists from all over the Caribbean diaspora,” SOL captain and choreographer Grace Thompson said.
Multicultural fraternity Phi Sigma Chi, multicultural sorority Mu Sigma Upsilon, Inc. and Caribbean and African Dance Club also performed.
“We wanted this to be an event that brings together the campus community,” Welch said. Her father also DJ’ed the event, and friends of the Pardettes volunteered as ushers.
“The show wouldn’t have gone as smoothly, and it wouldn’t have been as good as it was without those people,” King said. “Everything we needed, we had, except for more seats.”
Leading up to the showcase, the Pardettes trained eight hours a week this semester and every day in the week leading up to the showcase; all captains choreographed at least two dances for the group. They were also supported by Janiya Hood ‘25, the Pardette’s coach and founder, who has helped with all past showcases.
After all the performances and an intermission during which the audience broke into dance to the DJ’s tunes, the Pardettes came on stage to award their dancers and honor their seniors with flowers.
“It was like the seniors’ final hurrah,” Williams said.
“I had people from class there, friends there, people from my sorority, people from old soccer teams I played on,” Welch said. “It just felt like a very good way to close that chapter.”