eMotion Dance Company presented its annual fall show in the auditorium at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21.
This year’s theme was “Echoes of the Soul”, and the show consisted of 18 dances. Over 350 family members, friends and faculty gathered to watch the modern, breakdance and hip-hop dance teams.
Seniors Aiden Gross and Daniel Percy acted as Co-Masters of Ceremony. They had students sing their favorite Beyonce songs, boosted the crowd’s energy and interacted with eMotion performers — all part of humorous planned skits to introduce each dance.
For sophomore breakdance choreographer Laksh Ngangom, the night stood out because of the crowd’s unexpected enthusiasm.
“Normally, the audience doesn’t cheer for modern, but once we heard them cheering for modern and being all hype, we all knew that this was gonna be a really good show,” Ngangom said. “We all just felt the energy.”
The evening also held significance for parents watching their dancers near the end of their high-school careers. The fall show is often the second-to-last schoolwide showcase for senior performers.
Gretchen Faust, mother of modern team member and senior performer Lucille Faust, “could not be prouder”.
“She’s come so far, and she did so great tonight,” Faust said. “It’s wonderful. The whole company is amazing, and we have such a good time every time we come.”
As part of eMotion’s decades-long tradition, alumni were invited onstage to join current performers in a freestyle dance circle to close out the show. Director Paris Kent said the moment highlights the program’s continuity and community.
“It’s great to see everything coming back full circle — all of my alumni, people who just love and pour into this program that come back every single year, and just see the development and the growth,” Kent said.
This year’s finale also included less-familiar faces: Westside High School’s Inertia Dance Company. Breakdance members from Inertia and eMotion showcased their talent in an extended dance battle. Ngangom accepted the challenge.
“They were calling us out,” Ngangom said. “He did a jazz split, so I just came on, like ‘Okay, I’ll do a bigger jazz split.’ It just comes naturally.”
As Kent prepared to formally close out the show, audience members cheered for another round. Going into her seventh year in the director role, Kent is glad for another “amazing fall show.”
“I feel exhausted but accomplished,” Kent said. “The dancers pour their souls out on the stage. That was the whole purpose of the show: echoes of the soul.”
eMotion’s next performance will be for the HISD Dance Montage Festival and Emerging Choreographers Showcase on Jan. 24, 2026. Follow the company on Instagram @emotiondc for more updates.
