To not enjoy the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg is to know without a doubt that you just do not like classical music. The orchestra, which is one of Austria’s leading symphony orchestras and was founded in 1841, treated Cornell’s Bailey Hall to a mesmerizing, even glamorous concert on Friday. The musicians emitted an energetic spark and a glittering aura of perfection that not even the New York Philharmonic can match. The concert paid true homage to composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Joseph Haydn in an unusually captivating and thrilling manner.

So. You’re in Ithaca. You’re in college. What to do now?

People grabbed partners to dance, bump and grind in the aisles. Those who were too shy to get up and show off their moves had their eyes glued to the stage, watching as if in a trance. Remind you of anything? T-Pain? Ludacris? Actually, the grinding that took place this Saturday at Bailey Hall was not the result of intoxicated collegians and the mesmerized faces were not ones of horror but of amazement. In fact, I have yet to attend a Cornell event filled with a more passionate, eager or enthusiastic audience than the one that came together on Saturday to witness a performance by Eddie Palmieri’s Latin Jazz Band.

I love attending dance events that support charity — not because they’re necessarily the best performances I’ve been to, but because they put dance into context. A casual audience member isn’t going to consider the history behind each dance discipline or step, but they can recognize that they’re supporting a great cause. Such an opportunity for dance appreciate occured this past Saturday, when Cornell’s Shadows Dance Troupe presented their annual fall benefit concert in Bailey Hall. All proceeds from the show went to On Site Volunteer Services, a student-run group that promotes community service.

Shadow Dancers: Shadows Dance Troupe performs at the Fall Step 2008 concert in Bailey Hall on Saturday.