Tomorrow and on Friday, May 2, the Jazz Dance and Advanced Jazz Dance will take to the stage to perform its annual show. The program will perform a broad range of styles, from lyrical to hip hop to Bollywood.
This year, the classes voted on the theme “The Time of Our Lives,” which includes characters that reminisce about classes, friendships, and the chaos of high school. Students choreographed their own dances and chose their own music.
“Dance is an expressive art,” dance teacher April Oliver said. “Choosing music that inspires you and creating a dance that means something to you is a very satisfying experience, and one a lot of students don’t get in other settings.”
“The process is really fun,” senior Trisha Shetty said. “I always love creating original choreography and sharing creative ideas.”
Trisha is performing a Bollywood dance duet to the song “Barso Re” by A. R. Rahman, Shreya Ghoshal, and Uday Mazumdar, as well as the song “Kamariya” by DJ Chetas and Darshan Raval.
According to Trisha, Barso Re is classical and calm, while Kamariya is “more energetic and has lots of jumping.”
Junior Svea Delingat is dancing in a group ballet performance to the music of “Waltz in E minor” by Frédéric Chopin to the choreography of “Mistake Waltz” by Jerome Robbins.
“It takes the idea of a normal ballet piece but has intentional mistakes,” Svea said. “It makes the whole piece look very chaotic and disorganized. People are actively making mistakes on stage but everything is choreographed and planned out meticulously.”
Through preparing for the show and being classmates for a year, the students have formed a close community in the dance room.
“Most of us know each other really well,” Svea said. “We all just laugh all the time and it’s really nice to perform together.”
“Building a strong community in the classes is one of my primary goals as a teacher,” Oliver said. “It’s always a little scary to take risks in front of other people, but it’s a lot easier if you’re friends with those people and you know they’ve got your back.”
For the dancers, performing on stage for an audience after a semester of preparation can be extremely rewarding.
“The most rewarding thing is the feeling after you perform your dance,” Trisha said. “Even while performing, you’re dancing with your closest friends, and the audience is cheering, and you know you’ve practiced so much. I don’t even know how to say it, it’s just so exhilarating.”
