As the curtain opened on the Neher stage, four dancers in red stood ready for the show to begin. Dance Company opened the show in a three-part medley comprising contemporary, hip hop, and jazz dance. The entire dance department, now more than a hundred strong, performed in thirty-seven student-choreographed numbers throughout the night. Lighting, choreo, stage direction, and music were chosen by the dancers themselves. Students danced in small groups of three to five dancers, as well in group dances choreographed by Dance Company members. From beginning medleys to Dance Company solos, the department showed off their skills in choreographing in A Night of Choreography on January 30th.
Beginning Dance performed in four separate medley pieces: contemporary, jazz, hip hop, and musical theater. Dancers described the struggle and fun of making and performing their own choreography, a first for most beginning dancers. “The hardest part was definitely creating choreography movements. At first, I tried to choreograph everything perfectly with the music. Obviously, I wasn’t able to do that, but even the simplest movement can express beauty in dance,” Ruixi Fan, 10, said.
Intermediate dancers had a slightly more difficult job as they performed an entire number in small groups. Pieces ranged from the explosive and entertaining “Vogue” performed by Morgan Chou, Chloe Khalili, Jaylene Reyes, and Lucy Wildeman to the haunting “Flickers” embodying see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil by Emily Bulgin, Elodie Collet, and Ava Vagenas. “We were all struggling backstage to tie the ties for ‘Double Life,’” Alice Song, 10, said.
The Advanced dancers showed their experience in three-to-four dancer groups. Dances like “United in Grief” by Hana Iptchilar, Camilla Penn, Ashley Yan, and Azalea Avila tackled tough issues such as race, while “After Hours” by Emily Jue, Allison Yang, Erica Chen, and Megan Tom brought playful energy to the stage.
To round off the show, Dance Company returners performed eight solos, from the sassy “WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!” performed by Fiona Chen to Ava Newton’s “Identity” to the Bohemian Rhapsody. First years Riley Trinh, Shireen Jiang, and Vanessa Liu choreographed their trio entitled “Green Light.” Each Dance Company member was also tasked with choreographing for one of the other dance periods, as well as performing in the two Dance Company group numbers, “DCo Mix” and “Express,” the latter being choreographed by the three co-captains, Paige Teng, Emily Xue, and Maggie Yu.
Overall, the ANOC show demonstrated not only Ms. Shen’s teaching abilities but also the individual creativity of the dance department students. Students met the end of the show with both relief and excitement. “I was so tired after the rehearsals, so I was happy when we got through the show,” Megan Tom, 10, said.
