Bouncin’ again to the 2000s: Encore Spring 2026

Photos from Cohen Miller

It’s custom that each college has their one factor that they’re identified for, so why wouldn’t they showcase the gifted college students of Anderson University? People of all majors, years, and ability units all work exhausting to placed on a themed live performance for one night time solely: calling this Encore. It is an occasion that each one college students sit up for as a result of it occurs simply 4 instances a yr, however this yr has solely occurred twice, so there are many instances to listen to some nice performances. There are additionally a restricted variety of college students which are in it, which makes it the right alternative for an interesting night time of enjoyable with mates. It is introduced by Orangehaus, the music enterprise part of Anderson’s campus, and partnered with Avanti Boosters. Avanti Boosters is a social membership that works exhausting to foster neighborhood and collaborates with different social golf equipment to create involvement throughout the campus. This happened on Saturday night time at two respective instances, 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.

The theme for Encore this yr was “Y2K.” This may’ve been thought of a throwback for the newer era, however it was what most of us grew up with. Whether it’s Usher’s “Yeah” or some Britney Spears, there’s something for everybody to hearken to. This occasion is vital to college students not simply because it’s an evening of enjoyable and chaos, however it is usually student-led. Everyone that took half in Encore are all present college students they usually all have a theme. In the previous they’ve had themes corresponding to “Disney” or “The 80s”.
Peyton Luhring, a senior pc science pupil, in addition to the Avanti Boosters president, has been in Avanti since his sophomore yr, and when requested why he took half within the social membership he mentioned, “The first time when I was involved in Encore was when I was a freshman. It was just guys having fun.” Avanti Boosters labored with Orangehaus to convey the imaginative and prescient of Encore to life. Setting the tone for this night time was crucial to make the coed physique really feel excited for what’s to return.

Starting off the night time, the group was overwhelmed with pleasure once they heard the Pokemon theme tune. Everyone was impressed and overjoyed once they heard this throwback tune together with many different iconic songs corresponding to “Jesus Freak,” “Wannabe,” and “Hey Ya!” This was actually an evening to recollect. Ella English, a sophomore majoring in musical theatre and dance mentioned the next about her expertise rehearsing for the present, “The rehearsal process is enlightening, as someone who doesn’t get to work with live bands very often. It’s incredible to see the amount of work and effort that each band member puts in to make sure that the show sounds great.”

It was not simply the performances that made the night time memorable, but additionally the “Saving Christmas in February” skit that Avanti Boosters did. There was laughter and enjoyable instances all through your complete night time and also you wouldn’t think about that Christmas and February would work as a skit, however it’s really the other. Owen Renie, a senior, dressed as Santa Claus and Peyton Luhring, made the group spiral out of their seats with pleasure.

There was one thing for everybody and the adrenaline rush was overwhelming. Besides the performances, the viewers’s power additionally made the night time actually memorable. When requested about her favourite expertise with Encore, Ozzy Tharp, a sophomore musical theatre main mentioned, “Simply celebrating music and joyous times with friends and the AU community, whether performing on stage or cheering along in the auditorium seats, is what I feel makes Encore so special. The best example of this is when the song “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield started to play between units and everybody within the viewers sang alongside collectively.”

The quantity of neighborhood that’s discovered on AU’s campus is a one-of-a-kind expertise. Every single time that it will get introduced, the campus will get concerned. People who had by no means been to Encore earlier than loved it as effectively and getting to listen to others sing and dance like you could have by no means heard or seen earlier than. Seeing classmates who you by no means knew had this sort of expertise was actually inspiring and thrilling for the entire AU neighborhood and getting to hang around and be with mates was even higher.