House Arrest’s ‘footwork’ makes show a success

Known as the Explosive C4 Bomb Squad Florida Chapter of House Arrest 2 Championship Dance Team Inc., Florida A&M University House Arrest chapter did nothing but live up to its name Friday night.

The showcase included performances by four other House Arrest 2 Dances Teams from across the nation.

Beginning exactly at 7 p.m., the HA2 Florida Chapter opened the show with a scene called, “HA2 Favorites, a “fusion of past performances,” playing old hit songs accompanied by its appropriate dance. This first scene did its job of capturing the audience’s attention.

After the first performance, plaques and awards were given to the President and Vice President of Florida’s Chapter. Filled with tears and great appreciation, this showed the softer side of the infamous HA2 Dance Team.

The first guest team to perform, known as the Fire Chapter “BAMA State (Alabama State University),” tried to wow the FAMU crowd but to no avail.

“Alabama State was good but everyone knows guest performers have to get blown out a cannon to get any attention from the FAMU audience,” said Ketia Felix, a 20-year-old physical therapy major from Orlando. “I have never known an audience to be harder to please than the FAMU crowd; you can’t come half-steppin’ when you come to FAM.”

The lovely ladies of HA2 Florida Chapter came out in a scene called, “Candy Shop.” Equipped with large orange and white lollipops and matching uniforms the crowd seemed ready to see what they had to offer. And, judging by the audience reaction, the performance was just what the doctor ordered after BAMA State.

To give the House Arrest teams a break, Essence Dance Theater graced the stage. Though at times the crowd did not show any reaction, when the performance was over, Essence received nothing but applause.

The HA2 Western, known as the “Ghost Chapter” came out with a performance that was meant to make the audience laugh, using a skit from Napoleon Dynamite and other teen-movies. The team initially received positive reaction due to their choreography, but fell short on their uniforms.

Next, came the men of HA2 Florida Chapter in a scene called, “Summa Dis, Summa Dat.” In this electric performance, there was never a dull moment. Not only did they have the choreography and matching uniforms, they also continuously kept the audience amazed, using their smooth and seductive moves.

The next two performers were HA2 chapters from North Carolina Central “Juke Squad” and Alabama A&M “Country Cool.” Though the teams were foreign, FAMU showed love. Both teams had great stunts and choreography.

The HA2 chapter soon added yet another explosive performance. Presented as an Asian theme, the C4 Bomb Squad showed its diverse side in this innovative scene.

“I liked the C4 final scene,” said Erica Jackson, a 21-year-old nursing student from West Palm Beach. “The scene was unique and very entertaining.”

The dance showcase ended with all HA2 squads hitting the stage showing the audience their footworking skills.

All in all, the show was great. It was well organized and also introduced another FAMU organization during the show’s intermission.

The FAMU Film Society showed two short films that had the audience laughing the whole time. The scenes were very funny and well put together.

“I was surprised to see a film during the show because last year the show was not put together this nice,” Felix said. “Using the films for the intermission was a pleasant surprise because they were funny and different.”

Some of the teams from out of town thought that the show was a success and said they would gladly come to visit again.

“It is always good to come and support other teams,” said Tyree Hodstom, a member of HA2 Chapter One “The Ice Cold.”

“Besides the long ride, I will always come back,” said Hodstom, a 21-year-old physical education student from Olive Harvey College in Chicago.

Compared to last year, the show was a big improvement. Though the at times it was hard to hear the hosts and hostess due to technical difficulties, they did a good job in keeping the audience’s attention between teams, and the show had no long breaks in-between dance teams either. It started on time and ended on time.

The Florida Chapter of HA2 really represented. They had the choreography, uniforms, themes and positions that were all on point. Ending their week on a very positive note, Vice President Arionne Nettles thinks that the great performance would be good for the interest meeting on Monday.

“I feel that a lot of people are now aware of what we do and it should spark their interest in joining the dance,” said Nettles, a 20-year-old business administration student from Chicago.

Contact Katrelle Simmons at famuanlifestyles@hotmail.com