Dance put on their annual Senior Solo Concert on Thurs, Feb. 5.
The Senior Solo Dance Concert is an opportunity for senior dancers to showcase their talents and perform a solo in front of friends and family. Dancers are not required to take this opportunity.
“I was most excited for seeing my parents watch my solo and seeing how I dance when it’s just for me,” senior Traise Wilkinson said.
Seniors that choose to perform put a lot of work into their solos, including song choice, which is often the first step in getting the choreography to come together.
“Throughout high school, I was in both dance and orchestra all four years,” senior Elieana Herrera said. “So for my solo I wanted to combine the two by having a live orchestra quartet play the music I dance to.”
Dancers also put time aside in order to make the performances exactly what some of them have envisioned since their first year dancing.
“[I practice by] sitting on my bed playing the song so I can visualize doing the dance,” senior Chloe Perez-Williams said. “I usually practice for at least an hour a day.”
Choreographing a dance can include a lot of concentration and imagination from the dancer, but sometimes it can just be a time of peace.
“I lay on the floor in my room playing my music, I close my eyes and just picture what I want [the dance] to look like,” senior Danielle Garver said.
Many of the girls that danced in the concert received help and inspiration at some point in time from dance instructor Micah Kriston.
“[Ms. Kriston] has helped me learn a lot about how to dance and move my body,” senior Megan Phelps said. “She has helped me become confident with myself; I know I can always go to her if I need something.”
Kriston has also encouraged the dancers to challenge and push themselves.
“Ms. K has pushed me to challenge myself in dance to become a better performer overall,” Herrera said.
For some, the Senior Solo Dance Concert marks the beginning of the end of something amazing.
“They are my second family and it is so sad to leave them,” Perez-Williams said. “I leave behind so many traditions, like after every concert we turn all the lights off in the auditorium and close the curtain; it’s just small things that mean so much.”
The dance program is something that will leave a mark on a lot of the seniors.
“Each year is different because your classmates change, but over the years I have made some great bonds with my fellow dancers,” Wilkinson said.
A lot of the seniors have spent years together now, and some would consider themselves more than friends with one another.
“In dance we are one big family,” Herrera said. “I love each one of those dancers and will miss them so much when I leave.”