The Department of Fine and Performing Arts used dance as a weapon of social justice against the water conservation problem.
Samantha Barnes, a freshman general studies major, danced next to the Katrina-Rita Memorial Fountain on Saturday, April 12 at 3 p.m. Each group that participated in the first National Water Dance dedicated their dance to a social issue, and Southeastern chose water conservation.
Barnes hopes the water dance will bring awareness to the issue and students will take the time to think about conserving water.
“I think a lot of it is awareness,” said Barnes. “It is simple things that people don’t do today like turn off the water when you brush your teeth and only turn it on when you need to. It may be a little more disgusting, but flushing the toilet only when you need to. I think if you can’t drink local water then you should recycle the water bottle and make it easy to go green. It is the little steps you can take that makes a big difference. The small steps can go a long way if everyone takes the small steps together.”
The National Water Dance Company provided motions that were required to be incorporated into the water dance. Marty Fellom, dance coordinator of Fine and Performing Arts, choreographed the dance. Due to Barnes being the only student able to make the event, Fellom added singing to the end of the dance because she knew Barnes could sing. Barnes believed her singing added meaning to the dance.  
“It added another symbolic level,” said Barnes. “It is a little more up front than the dancing was just with the fact that every person can make a difference with this and it is something that everyone can do together.”
The Water Dance was ignited by 23 participating Fine Arts schools in Florida in 2011 and has since grown in popularity. This is the first year that it has become a national event and the students of the Dance Performance Project made sure that Southeastern was involved at the start. Barnes said Southeastern will continue to participate each year in the water dance and hopes more people will join for social issues of water justice.  
To find out more about the National Water Dance Company and everyone that was involved this year in dancing, visit www.nationalwaterdance.org.