Dancing with the professors, the dance event yesterday in the Erasmus Paviljoen, contained humour, al lot of glittery outfits and ‘professors’ who diligently showed their best moves. Eventually cha cha girl Sabine Severiens was the best according to the jury.
The professor of the Faculty of Social Sciences had a good laugh during her performance and for Euvgenia Parakhina, the ‘notorious’ judge in So You Think You Can Dance inter alia, was that the most important. Furthermore, Severiens had a nice stand and she even did a lift at the end, so the judges agreed unanimously that she had to win.
Wrong career
“Maybe I haven’t chosen the right career”, Severiens reacted on her victory, after she received the trophy and flowers. The couple already said in the introduction movie that they trained hard to become the best and voila, that effort has been rewarded. “I will definitely keep dancing”, said the professor for sure.
No champagne or party
Unfortunately the winning couple didn’t perform a second time at the end of the evening. And even a glass of champagne to celebrate wasn’t possible, because her dancing partner Aerjen Mooijweer was ill. So no party for Severiens, but she didn’t mind. “Tomorrow at 9 am I’ll be at the office again, business as usual.”
Sexy outfit
Except for the jury prize, the audience could vote for their favorite couple too. And the public award was awarded to Wilfred the Koning of the Medical Faculty. He really was a fanatic; he trained more than average and brought a lot of medical students to the event. He absolutely was the most sexy man of al competitors. He wore an open shirt and he even oiled his chest, so it seemed. After his smooth performance of the jive his students threw red roses on stage.
Wilfred de Koning (Photo Arie Kers)
Whoop for Henk Volberda
The tango of emeritus professor in Philosophy, Harrie de Swart, the flamenco of Inez de Beaufort of the Medical Faculty, and RSM professor Henk Volberda, who did some energetic freestyle, made the audience really whoop. The latter two were so happy after finishing the dancing, they couldn’t stop smiling. “During the rehearsal our steps went synchronous, but acting in front of the audience is quite different”, Volberda admits after the show.
No bribing
President of the Executive Board of Erasmus University, Pauline van der Meer Mohr, was one of the jury members and complimented each of the professors for their courage to join the competition. Had one of the competitors tried to bribe her, was a question of host Elfie Tromp prior to the competition. “Of course not”, Van der Meer Mohr emphasized. “Integrity is our middle name.” LJ
Missed the fun? Videos of all performances follow later
