Dance Ensemble Fall Showcase Sells Out in Under 40 Minutes
Marist College Dance Ensemble members during a rehearsal. Credit: Emmanuela Panepinto ‘24
Tickets for the Marist College Dance Ensemble’s (MCDE) fall showcase, “Encore,” sold out in under 40 minutes during the online ticket sales on Nov. 3.
“Each fall, the show is in the rec gym in McCann where we only are allowed to set out 400 seats per show,” said MCDE Secretary Jacquelyn Nasiatka ‘26. “We usually sell out in the fall, but I don’t think we have ever sold out so quickly.”
The fall showcase was on Nov. 11 and 12, and tickets were sold at $7 for students and $12 for the general public. The fall showcase is an MCDE tradition in which all dance classes perform the dance they have been perfecting all semester. There are dozens of classes offered each semester, each featuring a different dance choreographed by students.
Nasiatka’s phone was flooded with emails, Instagram DMs and texts from alums, faculty, students and family members who did not luck out with tickets.
Since the fall showcase is in the rec gym, the seating is limited to around 400 tickets. However, this year, each dancer was offered a presale code with the guarantee of two tickets to ensure their family could attend. Nasiatka explained how not all the students wanted tickets, but with over 400 students in the club, there was already a limited amount for the general public.
“We heard that because there have been issues in the past with some people getting tickets for their parents, so the board started a preorder system,” said Sierra Wiessner ‘24, a dancer in the showcase. “Everyone was guaranteed at least two tickets.”
The MCDE board met with the Office of Student Activities to figure out the logistics of ticket sales. Similar to the Student Programming Council’s Broadway ticket sales, they agreed to hold the sales online through the Hometown Tickets link on Instagram.
Wiessner has been a member of MCDE for four years, and, until this semester, she remembers going in person to purchase tickets for the show.
Photo by Sam Murphy '24
“The online platform makes it easier for people to get their tickets as soon as they are released, which is a big reason I think they sold out so quickly,” said Wiessner.
Nasiatka explained how the MCDE Board tried to move the show into the larger gym in McCann, where the spring showcase is usually held. The bigger gym can fit well over 800 people. However, MCDE runs a full dress rehearsal the week leading up to the showcase. In that five day time span, the basketball teams needed the court.
“They can’t allot five days for us to practice,” said Nasiatka. “It would be too difficult to take everything down and set it up each night.”
For those still hoping to attend, the board created a waitlist. Four days after the ticket sales, 64 names were on the waitlist. They are hoping people may have bought an extra ticket who would be willing to sell them to other students.
“We are going to try to let people sit around the track, but I don’t know if we will fit a lot of chairs up there,” said Nasiatka.