Loon-E Crew is hosting its first in-person show since 2019 on Saturday, April 23 at 7 p.m. in Laurie Auditorium. The members of Trinity’s only hip-hop dance team have put on annual dance exhibitions since 2008, but were unable to host in-person in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID restrictions. This year the team is bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and ready to make a triumphant return to campus.

Needless to say, the circumstances during COVID weren’t exactly ideal. Camille Abaya, a sophomore biology major and chemistry minor, explained that, due to restrictions, the team had to simply record their dances. Abaya joined the dance team in the fall of 2020, when COVID restrictions were in full effect, and described how she and other new members initially struggled to find their way around during their first in-person meetings.

“We were like, ‘Oh, where’s the green room?’ and the seniors were like, ‘Wait, wait, they don’t know where it is. Oh, shocking.’ And we were like, ‘Yeah, directions, I need directions,’” Abaya said.

Some members are feeling both nervous and excited about the change. Ava Gleason is a first-year neuroscience major who joined the team in the fall of 2021.

“COVID hasn’t really affected my experience with dance,” she said. “But I am looking forward to experiencing dance at college and seeing how that differs, you know, when it’s student-led, versus being led by faculty or studio directors.”

Abaya said performing for a recording is different from performing live.

“I think the only difference is that now we don’t have to block where the camera is. Because, for example, our Doja Cat routine [a previously performed recording] was a medley of Doja songs, and there’s one part that’s to a TikTok audio. So then we have two people do a TikTok dance and we have plans for where the camera pans. And so then we can kind of control the focus of the viewer. ”

Abaya went on to explain how the length of the showcase switched from one routine to a whole sequence of dance numbers, and how they plan to have a bigger finale than usual due to the lack of restrictions.

Claudia Kuchar, a senior environmental studies major, said that she was feeling a little nervous about the show.

“There are only three members who have done a show before. And so that kind of feels like a lot of pressure,” she said.

Due to the effects of COVID, there are also fewer people involved in the show. Kuchar added that there were previously more people in Loon-E, and when COVID hit, the crew lost some of their support.

“People just don’t go to practice as much or are not as dedicated as they were before COVID,” Kuchar said. “And this is something that I kind of sensed from a lot of other on-campus clubs. After COVID it feels like people aren’t used to staying committed to in-person things.”

The theme for the showcase is women empowerment in hip-hop and pop, and the chosen music artists reflect that theme: Salt-N-Pepa, Britney Spears, Beyonce, Adele, Doja Cat and Alessia Cara are just a few artists from the lineup Loon-E has planned this year. There will be 30-40 people involved in the show this year, and the general atmosphere surrounding the team is one of excitement.

“I think performance day and performance night are my favorite things,” Kuchar said. “There’s an electric energy when people are getting ready for a show […] I think there’s just a new level of focus. We all sync up together and things click, and our musicality really comes through when we’re performing.”