Students enjoyed an enchanted evening at the Disney-themed 2016 Fall Kick Off, hosted by the Campus Activities Council.
In between the acts, the audience got to see skits performed by CAC members, who were dressed as Disney characters. Cinderella ran across the stage, looking for her lost shoe, and Maleficent and Kristoff sang a duet together, ending with Kristoff sadly walking away.In total, there were 15 acts, with performances ranging from original songs to bands to dancing and skits.
“I thought that Kick Off was really good this fall,” said Roxy Gehring, a sophomore. “One of the things that was really good about it was all the variety between the acts.”
Audience members were given the chance to vote for their favorite act and while it was a close call, Isaac and Phil Longenecker, a brother duo, won the fan favorite award, as well as second place overall.
For their act, the Longenecker brothers stood on stage and told a story, while a video played in the background. The video was recorded and edited by Jesse Bontreger, a senior.
The story was about the brothers surviving in Witmer Woods for a day, and it involved several mishaps, including continuous bickering, a struggle for food and water and the potential murder of their older brother.
Phil Longenecker said that the story was inspired “by the episode of ‘The Office’ where Michael Scott survives in the woods for a day.”
Isaac Longenecker added, “We had a bunch of different story ideas from before school started, but they all revolved around brotherly conflict themes.”
The brothers were unsure of how the audience would respond to their skit, but they were happy to hear that people liked it.
“We felt our act was pretty outrageous and weren’t sure how the audience would react,” said Isaac Longenecker.
The first place winners of Kick Off were Phil Chan, a junior, and Nimoy Vaidya, a sophomore. For their act, they performed a breakdance routine.
“It felt awesome after winning first place at Kick Off,” said Chan. “It was an extremely delightful experience.”
Vaidya had similar feelings.
“[Winning] made us really hype!” said Vaidya. “I don’t think either of us expected to win. Maybe we were a little hopeful since this was our best routine yet.”
Their routine took a little more than a month to think and run through. They practiced about seven to eight hours a week, but they enjoyed the practice time.
Chan has been breakdancing for about four years, and does it as a form of expression.
“I’m not really good with words,” he said. “I tend to put all my emotions into dance. It also takes away all the stress and anxiety that gets built up in everyday life.”
Vaidya has been dancing seriously for the last three years. Both Chan and Vaidya created a breakdance club for anyone interested in joining the dance community.
“We teach simple steps,” said Chan, “to hopefully bring more diversity into this culture.”