Betsy Sherwood’s left ankle is sprained, swollen and tightly bandaged, but she knows it won’t stop her from dancing.

‘I haven’t missed a recital in 20 years,’ said Sherwood, the co-director of this year’s DanceWorks production. ‘I’m not going to miss this one.’

Sherwood and the 120 members of DanceWorks will perform at Goldstein Auditorium tonight, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. It’s the organization’s 18th annual presentation and the last for seniors, some of whom have lived and breathed DanceWorks for four years.

‘We really are just a huge family,’ said Kristen Shepherd, a senior television, radio and film and marketing major and DanceWorks producer.

Shepherd, Sherwood and co-director Amanda Cushing are on the executive board of DanceWorks, a not-for-profit student organization that qualifies as Syracuse University’s largest club sport. The three say they’ve been working on the production since this time last year, and agree that managing the show has taken over their lives.

‘I don’t have a boyfriend anymore because I’m working on DanceWorks,’ said Sherwood, a senior political science and speech communication major.

She and Cushing said their positions in the organization contributed to their decisions not to study abroad – and that they often work late into the night, until they get kicked out of their office in Schine Student Center.

‘But then you get to this weekend,’ said Cushing, a junior inclusive education major. ‘And it’s so worth it.’

This year’s production will feature 20 student-choreographed dance pieces, ranging in genre from hip-hop to ballet to Tahitian belly-dancing. Shepherd says she and the DanceWorks crew have worked hard to present a diverse mix of dances and fit them together to balance the show.

‘There’s a lot of hip-shaking,’ Cushing said.

Each of this week’s shows will last just over two hours, the directors and producer said. Dancers have been practicing for months and met this week in Goldstein for a series of full rehearsals.

The DanceWorks board members have worked to expand the organization’s involvement on campus, and this year the group participated in four SU events, including the Parents’ Weekend Cabaret and the Homecoming Parade.

But what they’ll likely miss most is the DanceWorks community and the opportunities it affords.

‘We’ve been dancing our whole lives,’ Sherwood said. ‘It’s something to look forward to, something to work for.’

And for now, they still have a lot of work ahead of them. After this week’s performances, the executive trio will look towards next year’s shows and begin to choose younger students as their successors. They’ve learned that DanceWorks is more than a social group, an athletic event or an artistic performance – it’s a full-time job.

‘If you’re not in class,’ Cushing said. ‘You’re working on this.’

Published on February 25, 2004 at 12:00 pm