Let Southeast Missouri State University students entertain you

The end of a college semester is usually stressful for students — exams, applications to graduate programs, portfolios, resumes, waiting for grades.

For the community, however, the end of the college semester can be quite fun, chock-full of year-end symphony concerts, dance performances and opportunities to see what the college crop has been learning for the past four months.

The coming week holds your chance to enjoy students' work.

Tonight the wind symphony plays its last songs of the season at 7:30 in Bedell Performance Hall. The concert score contains, among other songs, "Dance Mix" by Rob Smith and "An American Tapestry" by Daniel Kallman, who has composed for the National Symphony Orchestra and "A Prairie Home Companion." For kicks, the Southeast Student Brass Quintet will perform in the atrium before the concert.

If you somehow miss the Fall Dance Concert today through Sunday, on Monday night the Department of Theater and Dance will put on its last dance hoorah, "Last Chance to Dance."

The Fall Dance Concert in the Rust Flexible Theatre is an "official" show where dancers and choreographers have to audition for inclusion. The Last Chance show is a more relaxed, come-one-come-all show at 6 p.m. Monday; same place, different dance. Anyone from first-year to fifth-year students can participate to get stage experience and have a little fun. After all, if it's not fun, why do it?

Saturday morning, the Southeast Percussion Ensemble will drum up a show in Bedell Performance Hall. If you think you need lyrics to enjoy a show, you don't. But that's just my opinion.

The percussion ensemble, though, heard your cries for lines and this holiday concert will feature Timothy Schmidt for a performance of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas." The concert, at 10:30 a.m., will also display slide shows from Christmas stories like "Frosty the Snowman" and everyone's favorite red-nosed reindeer.

Younger students from Dance Extensions will also be there to perform excerpts from the Moscow Ballet's "The Great Russian Nutcracker," which will be at Bedell on Monday and Tuesday. These students auditioned in early fall and now have parts in the official production as snowflakes, angels and mice in the Mouse King's army.

Get out, get entertained and rejoice that you get to enjoy it all without the thought of exams.