Shippensburg University’s ELITE Modeling Troupe celebrated its 10th year of fashion with a special performance on Friday night at Memorial Auditorium.
Since 2008, members of ELITE have continued to shock the crowd with their fierce choreography and confident catwalks in their signature 6-inch heels. This special event called “Pump for Blood” was performed in honor of their legacy.
The ELITE troupe thanked their former mentors for their years of service by granting them awards during a special ceremony. They especially gave thanks to their former choreographer, who came from Philadelphia to help with their show.
During the award ceremony, Diane L. Jefferson, the director of Multicultural Student Affairs, reminisced on when they first established the modeling troupe. Ten years ago, they created the program to give students an outlet to show a skill that was new to SU, and to open the ELITE culture to other students.
“Ten years later, they are here and still going strong,” Jefferson said.
They shared the spotlight with the “old school” ELITE members by having one member from each year preform with them throughout the show.
They also honored one of their old members by featuring her in a solo, which she choreographed herself. The crowd went wild as they watched their old friend killing it on stage.
The models featured the creations of entrepreneurs and clothing designers such as Beni Empire Co., Remember Who Fronted Apparel and Baltieré Urban Culture.
Special guests such as IUP’s own POIZ Modeling Group and SU’s Heritage Dance Co. joined ELITE with special performances in a “purge” theme, with tattered items of clothing and dramatic choreography as the stage was bathed in red flashing lights.
The models took the crowd by surprise and opened the show by strutting from the back of the theater with bloody-splattered clothes and creepy “purge” mask cladded faces.
ELITE kept their audience engaged and entertained throughout the night. No one’s eyes ever left the stage.
The Beni Empire Co. hosted a contest for the audience and rewarded $50 to whoever had the best catwalk. The audience screamed with excitement for their friends and chanted the name of the lucky winner.
The night was alive with an air of excitement as audience members danced out of their seats, while the DJ cranked up the music and they chanted their support for their classmates strutting across the stage.
Audience member and senior, Brandi Sartor, said, “It was definitely a good experience, a lot of good energy tonight.”
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