The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

Students Perform, Choreograph Spring Dance Show

Whether it was in pointe, jazz, tap or lyrical shoes, dancers in this past week’s spring show, “‘iDance,” whirled around the stage in a frenzy of fouettes, leaps and pas de bourrees.

With shows on Thursday, May 17, and Friday, May 18, the school’s dance classes showcased numbers choreographed by the students who performed them. The dances were grouped into six different playlists–Friday Night, World Beats, Breakups and New Beginnings, Live Laugh Love, Workout, and You Only Live Once (YOLO)–by senior Gabi Hamlett. Each playlist started with a short interlude of silhouettes reminiscent of old iTunes ads that featured animated shadows dancing in front of a colored background.

“The iDance theme was something our class came up with while brainstorming possible show themes,” sophomore Lauren Brinsfeld said. “We wanted our show to be exciting and actually follow somewhat of a story, instead of just being a bunch of dances thrown together.”

Members of the advanced jazz class were required to perform small group dances they had choreographed in class as their final project. Those in the basic jazz class could choose whether or not they wanted to perform their dances. All members of the dance department performed in one of the three finale numbers based on which period they take the class during.

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The fifth and sixth period finale numbers were choreographed by jazz dance teacher April Oliver, while the fourth period number was choreographed by seniors Annie Frates, Erin Farrell, Laura Delamare and Carolyn Lau. The four girls were nominated by their fellow classmates to choreograph the number.

“Choreographing the finale with Annie, Laura and Carolyn was one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had,” Erin said. “Choreographing for a bigger group of people was challenging because we had to come up with formations that evenly spaced all of those people on the stage at one time and also because we had to make sure there was enough room for everyone to do our choreography full out.”

Some of the numbers that were performed were of styles that are not specifically taught as part of the dance program, but rather that students have studied outside of school. While performed in the show alongside numbers choreographed in class, these numbers were worked on outside of school.

These included a traditional Chinese dance performed by sophomore Elaine Zhao, a hula dance performed by junior Esperanza Medina, and a tap dance performed by sophomore Emily McKinney. Group numbers that used outside styles included a ballet en pointe dance performed by Lauren and fellow sophomores Angel Wilson and Emily Small, and a hip hop number performed by junior Zoe Gelman and sophomores Allie Barriera and Austin Campitelli.

Students who saw the show praised it for its polished and diverse look.

“I was at the dance show [on Friday], and I loved it,” sophomore Maggie Kristian said. “I thought it was cool how they incorporated some multi-cultural dances as well; [Elaine’s] chinese dance was jaw-dropping.”

“The very last number, the finale danced to “Shake It Out,” actually gave me chills,” Maggie said. “[T]here’s nothing bad I can say about [the show]. Oh, except that it ended.”

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