Solstice—Catwalk's Theme Revealed

Catwalk took over the Niblick this past Friday for their sold-out launch party celebrating the reveal of this year’s theme. Amongst societies at St Andrews, Catwalk stands out through its not-for-profit vision, and the statistics are impressive. Every year, 100% of Catwalk’s profits are donated to charity, including the three university charities voted for by students annually. This year’s profits will go to Fife Women’s Aid, Centrepoint, and Médicins Sans Frontières.

Courtesy of Catwalk

Attendees were invited to sip on a Tequila Sunrise—a subtle hint of the theme to come— before heading downstairs into the R&A Museum for an over-the-top three act performance. Greeted by the models each frozen in a pose, the artistic vision of the head choreographer Sasha Saveleva was clear from the start. After the show, one model noted that ‘Sasha brings all the energy’. 

Tequila Sunrise (Courtesy of Catwalk)

The acts transitioned from night to day, the music going from eerie to more upbeat as the acts went on. The models orbited the museum-cum-runway, seemingly representing the cosmos with each rotation around the exhibit. Head of Music, Alex Askew-Renaut, performed his own choreography on the decks, as models matched his every beat. 

This year’s theme —Solstice—was so hush-hush that the models and some committee members were not allowed to know about it beforehand, and it was revealed to us all in a video directly after the performance. My only gripe was that it was difficult to see the video if you were towards the back of the room and not vertically endowed. Aside from this minor issue, the event was carried out with remarkable aplomb, and guests were invited back upstairs for an hour of music, drinks, and dancing. 

Courtesy of Catwalk

The highlight of the night, in my opinion, was the attention to symmetry. Both within the show and the event itself, each half mirrored the other beautifully, much like the cycles of our solar system. And it seemed that the cosmos were on Catwalk’s side, as the Northern lights attempted to peak through the clouds Friday night.