The Ann Lacy School of Dance and Entertainment will present its annual Christmas show Home for the Holidays.
Home for the Holidays is scheduled to return Dec. 10-13 in Kirkpatrick Auditorium in Kirkpatrick Fine Arts Center.
The show features a variety of ballet, tap, jazz and hip hop numbers.
Home for the Holidays is described as “the most lavish Christmas dance extravaganza west of New York City,” according to the dance school’s website.
“If you close your eyes during this show, you’ll miss something,” said Jo Rowan, chairman of the Ann Lacy School of Dance and Entertainment. “We go ‘bam bam bam’ from one fun thing to the next.”
The show includes more than 20 songs with holiday classics such as “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and “Joy to the World.” The dancers also will perform their famous Santa kick-line and a nativity involving 80 dancers. Some songs are catered specifically to children. Dancers dressed as a family of squirrels will perform “Jolly Old Saint Nicholas.”
“This is my first time doing the show and I’m really excited to be performing with American Spirit,” said Emily Jones, dance freshman. “It’s exciting to be performing on stage beside other amazing dancers in the school and it really makes me appreciate the talent pool at OCU.”
Rowan has new plans for the show this year, such as a tap number called “Cool Yule.”
It is more complicated than anything seen in Radio City Music Hall, Rowan said.
In the past, the Act 1 finale is a big number. This year they are focusing on what Christmas is really about, which is peace on Earth, Rowan said.
Rowan said she likes to keep everything up to date, from the musical arrangements to the lighting technology used.
“No other school in Oklahoma has lighting instruments more up to date than the Ann Lacy School,” Rowan said.
Putting on a show of this scale takes careful planning and hard work, she said.
The dance school was in preparation for this performance since last year’s holiday production ended. The whole show order was planned by June 7.
The nine instructors and 120 students involved in the production have been working to prepare for this show since Labor Day. Some of the students are in as many as six numbers.
“It’s a lot of joyful work and energy,” she said. “It’s what I do.”
Showtimes are,
–7 p.m. Dec. 10-11,
–2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Dec. 12, and
–2 p.m. Dec. 13.
All shows are in Kirkpatrick Auditorium in Kirkpatrick Fine Arts Center. To reserve tickets call the box office at 405-208-5227, noon to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday or online at www.okcu.edu/ticket office.
Leave a Reply