The University's oldest dance company held its fall auditions on Saturday, but the event came with a twist — a male dancer. Expressions, founded in 1970 as an entirely student-run performance group, offered Jamaal Clue '06 a spot in the company.
During the auditions, which involved learning two excerpts from past shows and a short improvisational section, Clue was the only male to try out among 25 girls. The group accepted eight new dancers altogether, including the one male dancer, Expressions president Lucy Milligan '04 said.
"I knew they were the oldest dance group on campus, so I thought they'd be the most technically challenging," said Clue, a Los Angeles native who has two years of training in ballet training, four years in jazz and five years in hip-hop.
Clue, who had until midnight last night to decide whether he would choose to join the company, said he would join BodyHype.
"I guess BodyHype seemed to me more jazz-oriented," Clue said. "I've always been on jazz companies."
Members of Expressions said they hoped Clue would join the company.
"We accepted him because he shows the technical strengths we were looking for," Expressions artistic director Lisa Keels '03 said. "We were really impressed."
However, Milligan said, she did not expect Clue would accept, citing the remaining all-female cast as a possible reason for his denial.
Clue was also offered positions in BodyHype and diSiac, two other student-run dance companies on campus.
Expressions has always been open to male dancers, though many view it as an exclusively female group. There was a male dancer in the company four years ago, Milligan noted.
"It's unusual but not out of the question for us to audition guys," Keels said.
Expressions has had a couple of male dancers audition in the past, but "most guys that come don't have as much technical training as our girl dancers," Keels said.
Auditions for Expressions are held twice a year and the next tryout will be held at the beginning of the spring semester.
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