![A show to remember | From left to right, Dance Team officer junior Lydia Chen, historian sophomore Kate Chen, junior Danielle Lopez and historian junior Michelle Tran wrap up their Winter Wishes routinue with a pose. “It was a really fun show to do and a great experience overall. It’s cool how it was Dance Team and Advanced Dance compared to studio [shows],” Lopez said.](https://whshoofprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IMG_1045-1-1200x800.jpg)
As applause filled the room, the stage lights shined brightly on the performers coming out in small groups, all doing a unique bow. After months of hard work, dancers stood in rows radiating from their glittery costumes and neatly done hair, taking one final bow for the night.
On Thursday, Nov. 20, Dance Team and Advanced Dance students took the stage at the Performing Arts Center (PAC) for their annual Winter Wishes dance concert. Student-created choreography expressed each dancer’s wishes for the holidays, given to the audience to experience.
“For the show, Winter Wishes are like the wishes that we want to give the audience, kind of like gifts,” Dance Team president senior Kyrah Chien said.
Preparations for the performance began in the middle of October. Dance Team practiced after school or in the mornings, while Advanced Dance practiced their choreography during class time in the dance room. Leading up to the performance, all the dancers had after-school dress rehearsals in the PAC.
“We did our hair and our makeup and then we ran the dances, like each dance for our set list,” Dance Team member sophomore Isabelle Kwei said.
For choreographing, each dancer wrote a paragraph on the general theme of their dance. Themes varied from gratefulness to harmony and a few are picked by dance teacher Jenny Tomlin. A few dances are also choreographed by dance coaches.
“Sharp movement could represent anger, while soft, withdrawn movement could be more sad,” Chien said. “Our facial expressions also tell a [story].”
Props also play a part in conveying a message to the audience, telling a story of love and warmth. They also added dynamic to the dance, giving the audience a variety of things to look at.
“I think [props] do [have a symbolic meaning]. For example, in the dance ‘Home,’ they use a candle. So a candle symbolizes, home, warm[th] and gathering, that kind of vibe,” Advanced Dance junior Megha Bembi said.
Chien feels reminiscent and believes that she has improved a lot from freshman year. She feels that she has become more familiar with the behind-the-scenes on Dance Team.
“I’ll really miss just being in the camaraderie I have with my team,” Chien said. Ω
