Cypress College’s Astronomy and Dance program held an event on November seventh, where dance students waltzed under the stars to live music as students, faculty, and parents gazed through telescopes aimed at the moon and stars.
At 6:30 pm, with live music in the background, dance majors performed a waltz, a ballroom style of dance marked by the free form movements and closeness of dancers, it views as an embraced twirl. The sentiment of the waltz, coupled with the wonders of the stars and universe Earth encamps in, parallelled the overall message of the event. After the dance was performed, Professor Frey, of the Astronomy department, gathered every one in a circle and relayed a message that was very circadian, yet very inspiring.
Frey began by explaining a few of the wonders of our stars, and pointing out the North Star with his laser pointer. He explained that the North Star, the star known for its navigational importance, is Polaris. We’ve always known our North Star to be Polaris, the star that aided in exploration and slave escapement because it sits nearly at the north celestial pole, the point at which the entire north sky waltzes around. It has not always been our North Star, nor will it always be. Polaris will be the North Star for the rest of our lifetime, and a few centuries after, but as life goes, it will change.
Professor Frey continued to explain how the Earth spins around the sun, and compared this anomaly to the waltz, as performed by the dance students. He then left the circled crowd of people with a very important sentiment. Everyone must treat the people they come across with humanity and kindness, because despite our differences, every human is connected to each other through the stars we all see when we look up at the night sky.
The event continued with live performances, song and dance, and people gazing through the many telescopes pointed at the stars and the moon. An English professor read excerpts from Huckleberry Finn about how humans are connected through the stars. All in all, the event was a great success, the dance performed by the students was beautiful and the speech by Professor Frey was inspiring, leaving people with the feeling of wonder and humanity.
