The annual winter dance concert finds a place for every student
Excited energy and anticipation buzz through the cool air, posters and flyers lined the school walls and could be found all around social media. It is that time of year again, the winter dance concert. The posters read “The Art of Courage displayed the concert dates ranging from Dec. 14 to Dec. 16. Student hurried to buy their tickets, knowing that the seats of the performing arts center would be filled with those who were supporting their loved ones and fellow classmates.
It takes hours of practice to perfect the synchronization and moves seen by the audience. Isabella Braid, junior, has been on dance team since her freshman year and is well aware of the work put into these performances.
“For some of the dances, we have been working on them since summertime and for others we have been working on them since the start of the school year, we practice every day from 2:30 to 4:30 … from football season to the stage we practice it all,” Braid said. “The week of the concert is quite hectic but also super exciting as we have long dance rehearsals in the PAC preparing for opening night.”
The concert also included students from Cameo Carolan’s beginning and IB dance classes. Chloe Halkyard, junior, recalled her experience in the beginning dance class saying, “It was great and it was a great bonding experience with classmates.”
Halkyard decided to enroll in beginning dance class to see what she could accomplish, despite not having a dance background.
The audience’s energy contributes to the overall experience of the concert. “It’s great to see friends and family care about what you have worked on for the past few months and it is also really cool to see all of the amazing (dancers) putting out their best work,” Halkyard said. “During the concert, people are free to scream and show support for their family or friends.”
Between the collective dances, varying from lyrical, contemporary, jazz and hip-hop, student art and photos were shown along with the titles of the performances. AP Studio Art and IB Visual Art students submitted their work to be displayed at the concert. Their work was shown in the Performing Arts Center lobby and programs as well. Before the last performance of the night, a firefighter hat was passed through the audience with the hopes of raising money to help those affected by the Thomas fire.
Katelyn Miller, dance team director, commented on student involvement. “We really wanted to incorporate a lot of other students on campus. (Cameo) reached out to Mr. Lindroth and was able to come up with a theme of the art of courage. Then they were able to pick pictures that inspired these dances and then from there she had powerful quotes for each one,” Miller said. “To be honest it kind of worked out with the devastating fires that happened. The theme grew even stronger and meant even more to us.”
The winter dance concert brought together different kinds of students from dance to photography and other arts.
“My favorite part of the concert was seeing the hard work pay off and hanging out with my team because they are truly a second family to me and I feel so blessed to share the stage with them,” Braid said.
