Dime a Dozen brings energy and excitement with ValenDimes a cappella concert Four American University a cappella groups came together to perform a Valentine's Day-themed concert for a roaring crowd of energetic students, friends and family on Feb. 11 at Kay Spiritual Life Center.
The show was a massive hit and the venue for the concert could barely fit the audience who showed up to attend the event.
“I think what made something like this so extremely special was it being my senior year, and having been able to perform with my best friends up there,” Amanda Muñiz, a senior in the School of Education and president of Treble in Paradise, said.
The groups that performed included Dime a Dozen, who put on the concert, as well as Pitches Be Trippin’, Treble in Paradise and On A Sensual Note. Each group performed between two and five songs of their choosing, most of which fell under the category of ‘romantic popular hits,’ fitting the theme well.
“I try to groove with the music a lot,” Maggie Woods, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences and performance director of Pitches Be Trippin’, said. “I work on how we perform, how we move, what we do, that kind of stuff, and I really work on trying to have a positive energy — to just have fun and have a smile on your face can make all the difference.”
The music not only brought the crowd into the romantic setting, but the outfits each group prepared similarly stole the show. Each group had a distinctive theme — collectively wearing matching colors of red, pink and purple, with the occasional white and black balance, and some even had matching accessories like heart-shaped glasses and red-heart headbands.
“The energy made it special, and every other group that was cheering for each other was so nice,” Ana Bernard, a freshman in the School of Communication and new member of Pitches Be Trippin’, said.
Whether it was soloists or the chorus, each member of the a cappella groups brought their own skills and talents to shine.
“The energy all stems from how much fun we have — it’s super authentic and we never are faking any of it,” Muñiz said. “It’s because we love being with each other, performing and sharing our music with everyone, so that in itself just makes it super fun and gives us that energy to just keep it up.”
The groups had a wide variety of songs to perform as well — from embodying the early sixties with On A Sensual Note’s rendition of “All My Lovin” by The Beatles to more modern songs like Pitches Be Trippin’s performance of “Boyfriend” by Dove Cameron.
Dime A Dozen thrived with a new addition to their closing song “Missing Piece” — kazoos. Members used kazoos to do a call and response at the end of the song and it worked beautifully.
“I thought it went great, I thought all of the groups did amazing — everyone performed so well,” Audrey Mbwa-Mboma, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences and a member of Dime a Dozen, said. “Some of my friends came, so that was very nice of them. Also, I had my first arrangement performed today, which was also very cool.”
For many performers, this event was one of their first, as auditions for all a cappella groups for the Spring semester took place a few weeks ago. However, both new and old performers properly entertained a crowd full of fans who showed their support with every passing song in well-deserved applause.
“I love to sing,” Rebecca Harris, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences and a tenor in Dime a Dozen, said. “Whenever I get into it, I just kind of forget everyone else is there and pretend I’m in my shower in my home, like, belting super loud. Singing with everyone else, I just look around and feed off the energy of everyone else. We all just hype each other up.”
This article was edited by Sara Winick, Kylie Bill, and Nina Heller. Copy editing done by Isabelle Kravis and Stella Guzik.
