The Dance Club at the University of Iowa will have their 16th annual Benefit Show on Saturday, April 11 at 5 p.m. at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts. Proceeds from ticket sales and donations will go towards various community nonprofits and UI student groups — including the Des Moines nonprofit Dance Without Limits, whose mission is to provide accessible dance programming to children and young adults with special needs.
“As a student organization, we firmly believe that dance is an art and a sport that everyone should get to enjoy, which is why we love to support programs like Dance Without Limits,” Alissa Brummer, president of the Dance Club at UI, told Little Village.
The Dance Club provides opportunities for UI students of various majors to dance in college, similar to a studio dance community, with dancers of all levels and styles welcomed. The club stands at 68 members, with 29 of those serving in leadership roles. Financial dues from members cover the costs of the Benefit Show, with additional fundraising efforts led by the club’s treasurer.
“We also have fundraisers throughout the school year to raise money for the Benefit Show,” Brummer explained. “The more money we raise prior to the Benefit Show, the more money we are able to donate to Dance Without Limits.”
After last year’s Benefit Show, the Dance Club was able to donate $500 to the Dance Without Limits (DWL), which the nonprofit’s president, Ann Ungs, called a tremendous help.
“Donations help us with the cost of renting a venue for our performance and allow us to provide new costumes for our dancers to wear, tutus and/or T-shirts they can keep after the show,” Ungs said.
She co-founded the nonprofit in 2009 with dance teacher Monika Peltz after the pair noticed a gap in the local dance community. Ungs was working as a pediatric physical therapist at the time, and found many of her patients were unable to find dance classes that were affordable while accommodating their needs. Ungs and Peltz formed DWL, which is currently closing in on its second decade in Des Moines.
The partnership between the Dance Club at Iowa and DWL began in 2018. Ungs’ daughter, Madeline Ungs — then vice president of the Dance Club — proposed donating the funds from their annual benefit show to the central Iowa nonprofit.
“It has been a great partnership and we are so happy that members from the Dance Club have been able to come to Des Moines a few times recently,” Ann Ungs said.
Last year, members of the Dance Club at Iowa went a step further, volunteering to work with DWL dancers during their fall and spring sessions and joining in on some performances, including a recital in November in Des Moines. They plan to return again this April.
“I’m looking forward to seeing their Benefit Show — I haven’t seen it since Madeline was involved,” Ungs said. “And yes, hopefully [it’s] a partnership for years to come.”
The Hawkeye Sparkles are another student organization participating in the Dance Club Benefit Show. An all-inclusive spirit squad, the Sparkles provide opportunities for students and community members with and without disabilities to perform cheer and dance routines, including at Hawkeye sporting events and the UI Dance Marathon.
Guest performers from the Hawkeye Sparkles and the UI Dance Department will be featured in Saturday’s show. UI Dance Assistant Professor Gloria Sitso Ahlijah, MFA, choreographed an Afrobeat dance routine, which her students will be performing.
The Benefit Show will run approximately one hour and 45 minutes, with a 10-minute intermission. The audience will see routines in a wide variety of genres, including hip hop, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, modern, ballet, musical theater and pom. There will be club group routines, duets, solos and two guest performances. New this year, senior members of the club will perform a senior routine.
Tickets are available online on the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts website or in person on the day of the event. Students at the UI can get in for free with their student ID. Adult tickets are $18, tickets for ages 5-17 are $13, and children 4 and under get in free.
