Kaleidoscope interview with Sophia Hollingworth

On 17 November, Classical and Modern Dance Society (CMD) held their Term 1 show, Kaleidoscope. I spoke to Sophia Hollingworth, the show’s coordinator, about the show, CMD, and how the society contributes to student life here at the University of Warwick.

Everyone really has a chance to shine, no matter if you’ve danced your whole life, or if you’ve never danced before

CMD is one of the biggest dance societies on campus with over 135 members. Sophia explained that they “offer a variety of dance styles with different skill levels”, catering for beginner, intermediate, and advanced dancers. They also offer classes in commercial, pointe, contemporary, and more.

Sophia told me that CMD is “a very inclusive society where everyone can join” and “everyone really has a chance to shine, no matter if you’ve danced your whole life, or if you’ve just never danced before coming to university”. She added: “If you decide to try it out, then we really celebrate that.”

She decided on the name Kaleidoscope as she felt it fully encompassed the diversity of the dances and dancers within the society

CMD host two dance shows every year in Term 1and Term 2. As the show’s coordinator, Sophia was tasked with creating the whole concept. She decided on the name Kaleidoscope as she felt it fully encompassed the diversity of the dances and dancers within the society. She loved the idea of a kaleidoscope “as a sort of object where you can see all these different, beautiful shapes and colours”, suggesting that “they’re all unique, but everyone is gorgeous in their own individuality”.

The event was completely student-run, with all participants given the opportunity to decide which dances they wanted to perform in. Sophia explained: “All the dance classes that you go to, you have the chance, if you would like, to sign up and be in the show. So, people at Warwick really get to choose how many dances they’d like to be in and in what style.” This illustrates how collaborative the show truly was.

As previously mentioned, Kaleidoscope was filled with a variety of dances. These dances were not only from CMD but in collaboration with societies such as Hip Hop Dance: EQHO and Latin and Ballroom. When asked what her favourite dance was, Sophia struggled to choose as “every single dance in that show was brilliant”. Although, she noted that both the advanced jazz dance ‘Runway’ and Act Two contemporary opener ‘Running with the Wolves’ particularly stood out.

We are a society that really loves each other, and we are a massive community… it is such a welcoming society

Putting on such a big show was no doubt a challenge. Kaleidoscope featured a variety of dances, with around 110 dancers participating. When asked how she managed to organise the event alongside her studies, Sophia revealed: “I spent the entire summer timetabling what my Term One would look like. Every week, I had certain tasks I had to do by the end of the week including sending out certain forms, emailing the Arts Centre, and making sure a teacher had their music sent to me.” This highlights the amount of dedication and work that it took to create the show.

Sophia also drew attention to how much support she has received from other members of the company during her time at CMD. She said: “We are a society that really loves each other, and we are a massive community. We really like spending time with each other. With big events, charity events or just general socials, lots of people turn up and are really excited because it is such a welcoming society.”

There is no doubt that the key values of CMD include not only community but also charity. On 29 November, they hosted a dance competition between all the sports societies for Sport Relief. Sophia added: “In Term 2, we have Pink Week, which is our Charity Week, where we raise money for breast cancer awareness. The entire week is filled with different charity events, and we hold the CMD ball at the end of the week. The ball is a really big one for us because we get to raise even more money for a cause that we really care about.”

Every year we’ve managed to get more involved in the community and expand our outreach. I hope that shows keep going

As a university, Warwick is constantly adapting and changing, and societies have to adapt alongside it. When asked what she thinks the society will look like in 60 years, Sophia said that she hopes that it remains the same fun, enjoyable, and close-knit community. She also added: “I’d like it to just keep expanding. Every year we’ve managed to get more involved in the community and expand our outreach. I hope that shows keep going and that people still get to perform.”

Thank you again to Sophia for letting me talk to her about Kaleidoscope and all things CMD.