Dance Team and Advanced Dance students performed their routines and spread holiday cheer at the annual Winter Wishes dance concert on Thursday, Nov. 21 in the Performing Arts Center (PAC).
Dances for the production were brought to life through student-led choreography. Students pulled inspiration for their choreography by using their holiday wishes for the audience as anecdotes. The production featured routines to songs such as “Candy Cane Lane” by Sia, “Christmas Morning” by Luz and “Sparklejollytwinklejingley” from Elf The Musical.
Preparations for the show took place weeks in advance for dancers to both polish and practice their routines. Advanced Dance members spent time practicing their holiday routines during class with their groups. Dance Team added extra rehearsal time in their early morning and evening practices. Both Advanced Dance and Dance Team members had afterschool run-throughs of the show in the PAC.
“I was excited and nervous right before stepping on stage, but as soon as I began dancing, that feeling went away. My favorite part about the show was being able to perform with all these amazing dancers, being able to choreograph these pieces and seeing all the other performances,” Advanced Dance member sophomore Susanna Liang said.
Alongside holiday routines, Dance Team also provided a sneak peek into their competition season by performing their medium jazz, contemporary and lyrical routines. They also unveiled their kick category dance for the 2024-2025 season, which was performed to “Where I Wanna Be,” by Jasmine Amy Rogers. Dancers donned costumes of sequined ruby dresses, flashy earrings, tights and Betty Boop inspired wigs as they showcased the precise synchronization of their choreography.
“Sometimes we repeat themes from past years, but Betty Boop was a completely new concept, and it was really exciting to show everyone. The music was really upbeat and captivating and it was super fulfilling to see everyone’s faces of surprise when we first came out,” Dance Team captain senior Callie Chen said.
Dance members also utilized props in their routines such as presents, large candy canes and ornaments to convey their messages through choreography. Using the props challenged dancers in their routines, as they had to find ways to incorporate the objects into their moves.
“My partner and I had to come up with ways to turn average holiday activities like skating and movie watching into a cohesive dance,” Advanced Dance junior Lorelei Silva-Jameson said. “The dance ended up being slightly complicated. We had more formation changes than we did in Dance 2, so that was a learning curve for most dancers. We also had stunts in both dances, so figuring out how to do them and learning to trust my partner to carry me took time. It all worked out in the end though.”
As the production kicked off the beginning to the winter season, it also marked the sentimental end for senior dance members as their last Winter Wishes performance.
“I was mostly excited because since my freshman year, I’ve been looking forward to my senior Winter Wishes, but at the same time, I was pretty nervous since I knew that it would be my last time. I wanted it to be my best for my friends and family that came to support, but also for my coaches who had been preparing me for the last four years. At the end, I was mostly nostalgic and I’m proud of how it turned out,” Chen said.
