Music, dance, even yo-yos featured at Ovation competition

RIT students will have a chance to show their talents and compete for cash prizes during Ovation: RIT Performing Arts Showcase, from 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 7 in Ingle Auditorium in the Student Alumni Union.

Ovation will feature 14 acts of dance, vocal and instrumental music. The first-place act will win $1,000, with a $500 prize awarded to the second-place act.

RIT President David Munson and his wife, Nancy, will emcee the competition, which will feature judges from RIT and the community. The judges and their biographies can be found on the event website.

“Nancy and I know our students are bright, but the number of students who also have talents in the arts is phenomenal,” Munson said. “We enjoy watching and hearing them perform at every opportunity we have and are delighted RIT allows them to continue their passions in performing arts.”

The performers come from diverse backgrounds, representing majors from nearly every college at RIT. They include:

• “Death By Glamour,” video game tune arranged by Miles Davenport and Roman Barnes
• “Blissful Hour,” marimba percussion, by Alex Negrini
•  RIT AIM Medley Showcase, jazz fusion
•  Yo-yo performance, by Max Gonzaga
•  “Black Chrome,” original rap by The Crown Kid Steven Simmons
•  Currents n Sync,” tap dance by Hannah Boettcher and Yasmin Khan.
•  AFro Dance Club, dance by the AFro Dance Club Choreography Team
• “Flamenco Farruca,” solo Flamenco guitar by Miles Rothman
•  “Astonishing” from Little Women, sung by Alison Maselek
•  WADAIKO, Japanese drumming and dancing group
•  Vocal Accent, a cappella group
•  Rachmaninoff’s “Bells of Moscow,” piano piece by Jonah Cousins
• The Jive, an RIT jazz combo
• “Spinning,” performed by Courtyard, a slow indie rock, chamber rock, and chamber pop band

Last year’s winner, a rocking cello duet now named “Double Stop!” featuring Brandon Faunce and Gavin Palmer, along with guest Charles DiGiovanni, will perform during the judges’ deliberation.

Ovation is free and open to the RIT community.