The last dance

This year I took the role as Costume Co-ordinator for the Trent Dance society at my university. In my second year I considered pitching for this role and, looking back now, I am so pleased that I ran for it and was fortunate enough to be voted for! (MASSIVE THANK YOU!)

During my time as Co-ordinator I've worked on numerous projects for the team. The beginning of the term marked our annual show, 'Opus'. This means 'a separate composition or set of compositions' or 'an artistic work, especially one on a large scale', both which reflected how within the show there was going to be a variety of performances from different dance genres etc.

Design-wise, I was set the task of designing the posters, flyers, tickets, show tops, online promotion (e.g. Facebook cover photos, profile photos and an Instagram image) stage backdrops and most importantly... the snapchat filter! I also ordered and helped decide on all the costumes for the show with the choreographers, as well as working closely with the Finance Department of the university. It was a big job seeing that there are roughly 200 dancers in the society but all the hard work paid off and the show ran smoothly and was a great success!

Second term was competition term! This was a quiet time for my role. Costumes had already been ordered for the show and so were carried through for our competitions. The team competed at the Northampton and Manchester dance competitions as well as hosting our own.

Therefore, for our competition I designed the competition tops which each participant received. As well as this I designed boards for the TV screens dotted around the venue which named all the universities competing that day and promoted our social media channels.

The final term was one of my favourites! VARSITY! This is when Nottingham Trent University and the University of Nottingham compete against each other in multiple sports events. This year Trent Dance performed at the Varsity Basketball Games- the womens' and mens', as well as the American Football Game. Performing the routine was so much fun and I know it will be imprinted in my head for at least 2 years or so!

My job this term was to design the costume for the performances. I wanted to make it reflect sports, stand out and most importantly- TO BE COMFORTABLE TO DANCE IN! The costume chosen was a black and white striped jersey with with a pink neckline and stars. The costume was based on a referee uniform which I thought was a good link to both of the sports, forming part of the 'Trent Army' team.

When I ran for Costume Co-ordinator one thing I said I wanted to change was the Trent Dance logo. I wanted to make this look more modern and sophisticated, as well as provide the team with the ability to buy sweaters with this logo. These would be cheaper than our current team jumpers (student life!).

The sweaters turned out a success and team members have told me how they want to buy the other colours etc which is great news! Next year's president also told me how she plans on using the logo next year too!

Overall I've had a great year at Trent Dance and my advice to anyone starting university this year is to JOIN A SOCIETY! It's great fun and you meet so many people and get given amazing opportunities, so make the most of it!

As for me, having just finished university it's now time to find somewhere to dance...